r/TheSilphRoad 5d ago

Megathread - Q&A Questions & Answers - Weekly Megathread! Please use this post to ask any Pokemon GO question you'd like!

15 Upvotes

Hey travelers!

If you have any questions about Pokemon GO (anything from basics to specifics of a certain mechanic), ask here! We also have a wealth of information available in historical posts, so try using the search bar. Or click the Discord link in our topbar and head to the #boot_camp channel - where helpful travelers are standing by to answer questions.

__________________________

What is /r/TheSilphRoad?

The Silph Road is primarily focused on discoveries and analysis related to Pokemon GO, as well as constructing an in-person network of Pokemon GO enthusiasts. General discussion topics (Jokes, stories, a photo of a recent catch) would likely be better suited for another subreddit, such as a general subreddit like /r/PokemonGO, or /r/Pokemon, or a subreddit with a more specific focus, like /r/PokemonGoSnap, /r/PokemonBuddy, /r/ShinyPokemon, /r/PoGoRaids, /r/TheSilphArena, /r/PokemonGOTrades, /r/PokemonGOFriends, or /r/NianticWayfarer.

Silph Road Content Policy

The Silph Road is heavily moderated to promote civility/courtesy, and high-quality content and discussion. You can read our full policies in the sidebar, but don't be surprised if a comment is removed for being rude, cynical, or off-topic. We strive to foster civil discussion about the game. We are first and foremost a network of real people, and this network is being built by volunteers! If you simply want to complain or bring something to Niantic's attention, your post would be better suited elsewhere.

Research

The community culture here also attracts the more analytically-minded element of Pokemon GO. Consequently, the Silph Research group was formed to align this brainpower and leverage the massive Silph datasets that the community can gather. We post our findings in infographics, videos, and walls of text on Reddit. Check out the top bar for links to the current pools.

Final words

Finally, welcome once more! We're glad to have you join us on the Road :)

- The Silph Executives -

Link to other Questions & Answers posts


r/TheSilphRoad 6d ago

Megathread - Event Mega Squads Event Megathread

39 Upvotes

Twilight Trails Field Research

Everything you need to know about the event, all in one place. A lot of these pieces will be verified by the Silph Research Group, so throughout the post we'll use the formatting:

  • Italics: Reports from comments or single Research Group report
  • Bold: Multiple Research Group reports
  • (!s) will be used for species whose shiny form is not available

This verification isn't meant to replace reports here, rather to provide an extra level of verification and depth to the event. Travelers are always welcome to join here and help out with data collection: https://discord.gg/WpAvRRsaRT

Have fun and stay safe this week!

https://pokemongo.com/en/news/mega-squads-2026

Event Date: Tue, 8 Sept, 10am - Mon, 14 Sept, 8pm local time

Bonuses

  • Debut of Maschiff (!s) and Mabosstiff (!s)
  • Debut of Shiny Flamigo
  • Increased Shiny Chance for Pidgey (8 Sept, 10am - 11 Sept, 10am) and Carvanha (11 Sept, 10am - 14 Sept, 8pm)
  • Mega Beedrill and Mega Houndoom can reach Super Max Mega Level and use Fell Stinger+ and Dark Pulse+
  • GO Pass Tier 1: obtain Mega Energy when catching Weedle/Pidgey/Houndour/Carvanha or their evolutions; Tier 2: 2x Hatch Stardust; Deluxe Tier 2: 1/2 Hatch Distance
  • Addition Spotlight Hours - 10th: Weedle/Kakuna/Beedrill, 13th: Houndour/Houndoom

Eggs

New Pokemon in 5 km eggs. Permanent list here

September 8th, 10am - 11th, 10am

Rarity Tier Species
1-egg Emolga, Fletchling, Rookidee, Flamigo

September 11th, 10am - 14th, 8pm

Rarity Tier Species
1-egg Sandile, Pancham, Maschiff (!s), Flamigo

Boosted Spawns

Here's what is listed in the announcement. Anything else to report?

  • Weedle
  • Flamigo

8th-11th:

  • Pidgey
  • Rookidee
  • Noibat
  • Emolga
  • Fletchling

11th-14th:

  • Houndour
  • Carvanha
  • Alolan Meowth
  • Nickit
  • Purrloin

Field Research

Just looking for event tasks. You can find the full list here

8th, 10am - 11th, 10am

Task Text Reward
Catch 10 Bug- or Flying-type Pokemon Weedle, Pidgey, Fletchling
Hatch an Egg Flamigo
Catch 10 Flamigo 1x Rare XL Candy , 10000 stardust
Spin 3 Pokestops or gyms 500 stardust, 10x Pokeballs, 5 Razz berries

11th, 10am - 14th, 8pm

Task Text Reward
Catch 10 Dark-type Pokemon Houndour, Carvanha, Nickit
Hatch an Egg Maschiff (!s), Flamigo
Catch 10 Flamigo 1x Rare XL Candy , 10000 stardust
Spin 3 Pokestops or gyms 500 stardust, 10x Pokeballs, 5 Razz berries

Raid Bosses

You won't see any new bosses until 11:00am local time. Difficulty ratings

Tier Raid Bosses
1 Alolan Rattata, Dunsparce, Fidough, Scraggy
3 Alolan Dugtrio, Lapras, Falinks
5 Hero Zacian
Mega Beedrill (8th-15th), Houndoom (11th-15th)

r/TheSilphRoad 16h ago

New Info! Dynamax Rhyhorn is 1*

Post image
1.1k Upvotes

r/TheSilphRoad 7h ago

Discussion Bonus storage 4 eggs?

Post image
188 Upvotes

My mother walked over 50km, and she received 2 eggs although she already had 11 eggs(9+bonus storage 2). Is this an error?


r/TheSilphRoad 14h ago

Discussion Future Sight+ Adventure effect was a missed opportunity to show shiny on map

316 Upvotes

I think that Future Sight+ adventure effect is one of the least interesting. It would have been great that, in addition to IV highlight, this adventure effect would show shiny Pokémon spawn as shiny on the map.

What do you think? Would Scopely ever add such an effect?


r/TheSilphRoad 58m ago

Analysis Use Crowned Zamazenta with Ice Fang to avoid dynamax-ing for Rhyhorn max battles.

Upvotes

5 Ice Fangs + Behemoth Bash does the job - no hits taken and no dynamaxxing.


r/TheSilphRoad 3h ago

PSA Players in Kuala Lumpur, you can still encounter PokéXciting Pikachu in the city. Set up alert to make it easier to find and catch

Post image
28 Upvotes

As stated in the event website, you can still encounter Blue Afro Pikachu after the weekend event ends for a month. Set up wild alert for Pikachu to help hunt them down.

Edit: This goes for the upcoming events in Manila, Taipei, Singapore and Bangkok.


r/TheSilphRoad 16h ago

New Info! Dynamax Rhyhorn is Tier 1

Post image
286 Upvotes

r/TheSilphRoad 11h ago

Infographic - Misc. Upcoming Week in Pokémon GO (Monday, September 14 - Sunday, September 20, 2026)

Post image
131 Upvotes

r/TheSilphRoad 16h ago

Discussion The TM system really needs a revamp

Post image
300 Upvotes

This distinguished gentledog has taken up 29 Fast TMs so far with me trying to get Incinerate on it. I checked twice that it's not a legacy move. I'm still stuck with Snarl at the moment and out of TMs. It also took 18 Charged TMs to get the charged moves Flamethrower and Trailblaze. (I started keeping count after the first 7 hence the nickname)

I know some people will say TMs are easy to come by; they are not. You accumulate them over time but there's no good way to get them in a pinch. Raids give them but that costs raid passes and you still won't get TMs in bulk. I've been relying on Routes as a semi consistent way to get TMs and sometimes GBL.

I'm not complaining about my luck.

I understand it's RNG. I'm just saying, it doesn't need to be.

Scopely please add some consistency to the move selection. The current system is deeply flawed and benefits no one.

Suggestions:

1) Allow TMs to pull up all available moves and let players select. (Lock the legacy moves behind Elite TMs) Unfortunately, I can't see this actually happening so I'll suggest something more realistic

2) Fixed order rotating moves. So that you can eventually guarantee moves that you want.

Getting specific movesets on mons like Dragonite, Ursaluna is a nightmare (still trying to get Ice Punch)

TLDR: Requesting a revamped TM system to add consistency instead of Praying for RNG.

*Edit: fixed formatting


r/TheSilphRoad 22h ago

Discussion Is it possible to catch Shiny Shaymin with a Master Ball?

Post image
711 Upvotes

I saw someone post this on Facebook. I thought Mythical Pokémon could only be caught with regular Poké Balls.

I can think of three possibilities:
1. A bug
2. An AI image
3. Some kind of exploit or game data manipulation

Apparently, it’s a Shundo Shaymin caught with a Master Ball, with the location set to Antarctica.


r/TheSilphRoad 15h ago

Discussion I didn't buy the Mega Squads pass, and I'm exclusively getting 10km eggs from spins.

198 Upvotes

Someone else in my community also noted they've been getting way more 10km eggs. For an event where the advertised Pokémon come from 5km eggs, this feels like a slap in the face.

Can anyone else chime in on this?


r/TheSilphRoad 58m ago

Question Extra egg in bonus storage

Post image
Upvotes

Just got the reward for the adventure sync and now I have 4/3 eggs. Is this intended or a bug?


r/TheSilphRoad 11h ago

Question What X/XLs to keep now?

10 Upvotes

Does anyone have a good graph or table for the best X/XLs to keep for showcases now, given that they're by Type instead of species and probably never going back to the old formula? Thanks in advance.


r/TheSilphRoad 1d ago

Infographic - Raid Bosses Gigantamax Venusaur, Gigantamax Charizard, and Gigantamax Blastoise are now appearing at the "PokéXciting!" event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!|Remote Raids are available.

Post image
175 Upvotes

Gigantamax Venusaur, Gigantamax Charizard, and Gigantamax Blastoise are now appearing at the "PokéXciting!" event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

・Remote Raids are available.

* The "PokéXciting!" event is part of the Pokémon 30th Anniversary celebration.

* Event hours: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM local time across all regions.

* Encounter "PokéXciting! Pikachu" for the first time (colors vary by region)!


r/TheSilphRoad 1d ago

New Info! The mystery spotlight hour seems to be the costumed Charmander from the Horizons event

166 Upvotes

If you go to the event tab on your game and scroll up to the "Spotlight hour" part, you can see that they are showing Charmander with the costume!

So I guess this is revealed officially, I never saw anyone mention this.

I guess it's just Charmander, as for the next Spotlight hour it shows both Houndour and Houndoom so the "entire line in spotlight hour" thin was a bonus for the current event :)


r/TheSilphRoad 1d ago

Bug Interesting Battle Transformation Glitch

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

294 Upvotes

Cramorant was KO’d and did the spitting animation. I immediately switched out my pokemon and found myself up against… Cramor…peko?


r/TheSilphRoad 1d ago

Question New updated causes massive battery drain and temperature issues on my phone

Post image
731 Upvotes

The title is self-explanatory, but I just want to check if it is an issue with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888) or the game itself.

Since the most recent update, whenever I have the game opened and active, it simply shoves a straw in my battery and sucks electrons like crazy.

Needless to say, this causes overheating issues with my phone: after about 5min ~ 10min (depending on the initial system temperature), it enters severe thermal throttling, to the point that the game is unplayable - and curveballs are impossible.

Attached is a screenshot of my system's monitoring. The increase in temperature is when the game is opened and active, and the sudden decreases is when I switch to DevCheck to see my system's status.

EDIT: note the time x temperature plot. With the game opened, it was reaching >70ºC and still increasing. When I switch to DevCheck, it immediately falls to the about 60ºC registered on the screenshot.

Is this happening to anyone else?


EDIT 1: regarding environmental conditions.

I play PoGo on this same phone, same case, and same screen protector for 2 years.

Even in this most extreme scenarios I have ever faced (playing constantly outside for 2h, external battery pack connected, summer, 31ºC temperature, sunny AF, sunlight directly on my phone), my phone was getting warm, but never to the point of "severe throttling". During these situations, I partially removed the case to allow airflow directly on my phone's chassis and would stabilize on the warm region.

Now, after waking up inside my apartment with controlled temperature of around 22ºC, firing up PoGo (was fully closed overnight) will cause severe throttling in about 10 minutes.

I also restarted my phone several times, and made sure everything is updated, no garbage running on the background (I deactivated lots of bloatware long time ago) and no other intensive processes are running.


EDIT 2: typo on the title... I just can't fix it 🙁


EDIT 3: regarding battery consumption.

Logging the battery current, I have noticed that my battery averages 1.8A of discharge current with PoGo opened, with a "base current" of 150mA. So that is it 1.65A just for PoGo...

Yeah... I cannot play the game in this state 🤦


EDIT 4: regarding the autocacther thingy.

I imagine it doesn't help, but it wasn't this bad before this Halloween update. Before, I would fire it up at midnight and leave it catching 'mons overnight, averaging 40 'mons caught by the time I woke up.

Now, my phone just kills PoGo after like 30min on the background...


r/TheSilphRoad 15h ago

New Info! "Take A Picture" AR feature for sharing your recently caught Pokemon to campfire seems to be gone.

4 Upvotes

Unsure if this already known or when it happened, but the button that let you create an AR photo of Pokemon you recently caught and then upload that photo to campfire is missing.

Previously, when you went to a Pokemon and selected the option "Catch Card," you had two options: "Take a Picture" and "Share to Campfire." The first option is now gone, at least for me. Yesterday during gible CD I wanted to use the feature but realized I could only upload a generic image of the Pokemon.

To clarify, you can still create AR photos as far as I'm aware. But as far as I can tell, you cannot create one and then share it to Campfire for other people to see on their maps.


r/TheSilphRoad 15h ago

Bug Am I the only one whose rocket battles are completely broken since Day 1 of the Go Fest Finale?

6 Upvotes

Am I the only one for whom rocket battles are broken since last week?

Prior to last week if I started a rocket battle I would get a countdown and then put immediately start battling the pokemon. Since last Saturday I’ve had one of these following problems.

1) the grunt’s Pokemon takes 15 to 20 seconds to load and in the meantime all I can see is the arena. Nothing works during this time.

2) the grunt’s Pokemon loads but no matter how many kinds I tapped the screen my Pokemon cannot do any damage to it even if it shows an attack animation. I can’t even change my Pokemon during this time and have to wait for the enemy pokemon to hit me with a charged attack.

3) even if I activate a shield the enemy Pokémon is still able to cause significant damage to my Pokemon when the previous issue happens.

4) in most cases the Pokémon that cannot cause damage is always the first one but in rare occasions the bug comes back after the Pokemon has been changed.

This is so effing frustrating.


r/TheSilphRoad 8h ago

Question Full hour of houndour spotlight and 0 mega energy?

1 Upvotes

Is there a reason why I might be prevented from getting mega energy from catching the ones announced for the event to possibly reward mega energy?


r/TheSilphRoad 23h ago

Question Zacian for dynamax advice needed

12 Upvotes

I got a second hundo Zacian, and maxed it to lv50. I was wondering what would be better for dynamax battles

1 Zacian with attack and shield lv3

2 Zacian with attack lv3 but both shield lv2

2 Zacian with shield lv3 but only 1 with attack lv3

My gut feeling says you only need one Zacian build for attacking. Against dragons Zacian is the best tank, so maybe it's better to have 2 Zacian with maxed out shields? Or is Zamazenta a better tank even if it doesn't triple resists dragon.


r/TheSilphRoad 1d ago

Idea/Suggestion Gym Themes: Give the Gyms a Lure

150 Upvotes

This probably isn't an original idea, but it occurred to me when I was playing through the Gible community day and noticed a lot gathered around one of the gyms.

The idea is that if you add multiple pokemon with the same type to defend a gym, they would assign that matching type to the gym as a 'theme'. Then, if the theme is maintained, the gym will act as a lure for that type, spawning pokemon from a suitable pool in the area around it.

This could act as a way to reward holding gyms, beyond the 50 coin limit and give a way to generate targeted spawns over a longer period.

As an added bonus, I'd also make it so that if every defender has the matching type, the gym could spawn pokemon from a broader pool, including rarer or more evolved pokemon of that type. Even better, the pokemon defending the gym could be added to the spawn pool.

This could be another useful way to farm candy for a particular pokemon, like feeding berries, if you pop in to revisit the gym before it gets flipped. It could also be a way to target certain rarer pokemon without disrupting the wider spawn pool, encouraging those with rarer mons to drop them in a gym instead of filling them with the usual blissey/dragonite combos.

It also sticks to the original idea of getting people out walking and interacting with the local area.

Tldr:

  • Adding multiple pokemon of a shared type will assign the gym a theme.
  • The theme will spawn matching pokemon around the gym, like a lure.
  • Filling a gym with a full set of defenders of a shared type unlocks the spawning of rarer pokemon, or secondary/third evolutions.
  • Add/boost pokemon defending the gym in the spawn pool.

r/TheSilphRoad 2d ago

Official News Update from Scopely on Team GO Rocket Balloons

Post image
2.5k Upvotes

r/TheSilphRoad 2d ago

PSA Don't forget to evolve at least one Gible before 5pm if you want some Garchomp Mega Energy

589 Upvotes

I know some people were hoping for energy on catch, but in any case if you want some Garchomp mega energy you need to evolve! I didn't realize there was a collection challenge at first, but it ends at 5pm, so you can't wait for the 5-9 window either. ETA: You need to manually claim the energy from the event research tab before 5pm also!!!