Pokemon GO player complains about irrelevant wild spawns polluting every event

Pokemon GO's Ultra Unlock: Strength of Steel event concluded recently, but it appears to have exhibited a problem, as pointed out by trainers in recent events. Specifically, wild, non-event Pokemon spawns have been cluttering the world instead of event Pokemon. This was brought up in a recent GO subreddit post by the trainer u/Foulmouth232, who remarked events were being polluted.

Foulmouth pointed out several Kanto region spawns while only receiving a few Strength of Steel spawns (Image via u/Foulmouth232/Reddit)

The community's response to this Pokemon GO subreddit post was somewhat split. Many trainers agreed that finding Kanto region species in the middle of a Steel-type Pokemon-themed event was inconvenient. Meanwhile, others didn't mind, remarking that Mankey could ultimately evolve into the powerful Annihilape and that finding the likes of Electabuzz or Jynx in the wild wasn't all that bad either.

Pokemon GO players criticized the lack of featured spawns during recent events (Image via Reddit)

Despite this, many trainers agreed that they had encountered similar situations in previous events, where various wild Pokemon (usually from the Kanto region) would appear instead of event-themed spawns that should be boosted during their respective events. Many trainers seemed to suggest that the problem may stem from the reworking of wild spawns and biomes during the Rediscover Kanto event.

Trainer reactions fluctuated in response to the unusual Pokemon GO spawning behavior (Image via Reddit)

Some players like u/MongooseJesus pointed to the term "event decay" as well, which is a theory among Pokemon GO fans that states Pokemon spawns during events can decline or "decay" in favor of other Pokemon over time. While evidence directly from Niantic on this theory is understandably non-existent, Kanto region creatures appearing in Strength of Steel do leave the community to speculate.

With all of that in mind, one has to wonder, is mixing in non-event Pokemon spawns during an event a good idea?

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Should random wild spawns appear during Pokemon GO events?

When fans play events, random spawns can be a distraction (Image via Niantic)

By and large, when many Pokemon GO players join an event with featured Pokemon that are said to appear more often in the wild, it's safe to assume that players will be hunting for them specifically. As an example, August's Adventure Week event features the likes of Kabuto, Roggenrola, Aerodactyl, and Omanyte, so a random Mankey popping up could be seen as an inconvenience.

Sure, some trainers love Kanto region Pokemon, and while this is understandable, Niantic could at least suppress their spawning behavior during events so that featured Pokemon can be encountered and caught at maximum efficiency. Even for players who need Kanto region creatures, catching them in the middle of an event they're not featured in takes away from the event-themed spawns.

All things considered, this issue has cropped up somewhat regularly on social media as of late. Niantic would likely address the concern of random Pokemon spawns during the event to keep the community engaged in GO's upcoming event schedule.