Pokemon GO Season of Adventures Abound: Highs, lows, and in hopes of a better future

Pokemon GO's Season of Adventures Abound kicked off at 10 am local time on September 1, 2023, and will end at 10 am on December 1, 2023. To put it in a few words, the last three months have not been the smoothest journey for players. While Niantic offered us event after event, featuring new Pocket Monsters, shiny variants, fascinating bonuses, and more, there were fundamental gameplay aspects that the developer seemed to be ignoring.

From unannounced changes to near-absurd misprints on official posts, Pokemon GO fans faced a surprising amount of neglect from the developer. The season ending with such a whimper, therefore, as far as I am concerned, is a sort of poetic justice.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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Best moments from Pokemon GO Season of Adventures Abound

One of the most fascinating things about this season was the introduction of Pocket Monsters from the Paldean region of Generation IX. From the starters — Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly — and the beloved Pig Pokemon to the region's pseudo-legendary line, this season saw the introduction of 12 evolution families so far.

Over the three months, players got to encounter many new shiny Pokemon. Some of the biggest highlights in that regard were Shiny Phantump and Trevenant, Shiny Hisuian Growlithe and Arcanine, Shiny Shadow Zapdos, and even Shiny Shadow Lugia.

Among the four Community Days from this season, the one featuring Grubbin has to take the award. Charjabug with Volt Switch has emerged as one of the top contenders in Pokemon GO Battle League's Great League.

When it comes to events, Halloween 2023 was one of the best, possibly even when considering the lineup for the entire year. The Ultra Unlock: Paldea, Festival of Lights, and Mega Garchomp Raid Day were also among the top events from this season.

The updates to GO Battle League, including move buffs and nerfs, as well as the introduction of new Attacks and updating the move pools of certain Pocket Monsters, revamped the game's PvP scene.

Steelix with Breaking Swipe has emerged as the biggest winner from these changes and a force to be reckoned with in the Great and Ultra League.

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Worst moments from Pokemon GO Season of Adventures Abound

A look at the list of highlights might give the impression that Niantic did a tremendous job over the course of this season. While not discounting their achievements, it is impossible to ignore the areas where they failed massively.

The announcement of Shadow Zapdos raids on the Pokemon GO website suggested its availability throughout the season. However, fans were surprised to see Shadow Moltres enter the milieu after only four weekends of Shadow Zapdos raids.

While this wasn't entirely a bad thing, it was definitely contrary to players' expectations after getting Shadow Articuno raids for the entirety of the Hidden Gems season. It was the Ice-type Legendary Bird's return to Shadow Raids in November that put off the community and exposed Niantic's gross mismanagement with respect to the disparity between the birds' availability.

To make matters worse, the developer published the November event schedule with a misprint, changed Team GO Rocket lineups without notification, and even released 3-star Lucario raids with a chance to catch Shiny Lucario without one official announcement.

This put players across the world, including myself, at the mercy of kind folks from New Zealand who are blessed (or cursed) with the ability to try out each of these shenanigans from Niantic before the rest of the world.

Among other flops that Pokemon GO served during the Season of Adventures Abound was this year's Fashion Week, which many players considered rather underwhelming in terms of the costumes it offered. The fact that many critters, like costumed Kirlia, could not be evolved further pushed this sense of disappointment.

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What can Pokemon GO fans look forward to in the coming months?

December Event/Raid Leaks (From Discord) byu/Tigerclaw989 inTheSilphRoad

While official announcements for December aren't out yet, leaks suggest some really exciting events in the upcoming months. This includes the potential release of Hisuian Samurott, the shiny form of Cryogonal, and Cetitan's debut, among other things.

December will also see the recap of all the Community Day events from this year, giving you a brief window to catch some of the critters you might have missed.

All said and done, as long as the Niantic PR manages to bridge the massive communication gap, the future of Pokemon GO looks as bright as ever.

You can check out our expansive list of December and January Pokemon GO leaks here.