Pokemon Go Ultra Unlock event forgets Alola region and players are outraged

Some Pokemon Go players are unhappy with Niantic following the Gen VIII reveal for the Ultra Unlock event as it skips over the Alola region entirely, yet again.

The Ultra Unlock event was announced after Go Fest 2021 in Pokemon Go after players completed enough Global Challenges. Running from July 23 to August 31, it consists of three parts, each with different rare ‘mon appearing in the wild and raids.

Parts one and two were Time and Space-themed, focusing on Gen V, and on August 3, Niantic revealed that part three is going to center around the Galar region. Some players are frustrated, though, as they expected Alola to be added instead.

Alola Pokemon still not added to Pokemon Go

While some Alolan Pokemon are in Go, it’s only the regional forms. The starters and Legendaries still haven’t been added to the Pokedex, despite demand being there for years now, and Litten, Popplio, and Rowlet were even featured in the fifth-anniversary promo art. So it was expected, then, that the third part of the Ultra Unlock event would be based around Gen VII – and not Sword & Shield.

Some players are unhappy with this announcement, confused as to why Niantic has “skipped” Alola entirely, and instead added in Gen 8 Legendary mascots, Zacian and Zamazenta. “LMAO THEY JUST SKIPPED ALOLA,” one fan tweeted, alongside a screenshot of the Niantic blog post. “What was the purpose of teasing the Alola starters if they are skipping ahead to Galar,” another wrote.

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These are just two complaints among many, with “Alola” even trending worldwide on Twitter at the time of writing.

Twitter

Pokemon Go players were really hoping for the full Alolan Pokedex.

Serebii’s Joe Merrick also weighed in. “I do wonder if GO skipped Alola temporarily because they didn’t want to figure out how to deal with the fact there are 22 Legendary Pokémon not counting alternate forms,” he said. “Or they just wanted to throw a curveball.”

It is currently unclear whether Niantic does actually have a plan to include more of the Gen VII Pokedex and whether it’ll have its own event later on in the year, but one thing is for certain either way – the demand is most definitely there.

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Part three of the Pokemon Go Ultra Unlock event starts on August 20 and runs all the way until August 31. Unfortunately for Shiny hunters, Zacian and Zamazenta will be Shiny-locked, which is common for new additions.