Mega Evolution in Pokemon GO is an Absolute Disaster

Oh, boy. This is going to be a rough one to get through, but we have to be honest and we have to throw it out there. Mega Evolution in Pokemon GO is just plain horrible, and Niantic needs to be aware of how bad this addition to the game is for all of us, including them.

For those unfamiliar, Mega Evolution, which originated in Pokemon X & Y, has made its way to Pokemon GO. Fans and players have been waiting for this update for quite some time now, as this update genuinely adds some of the most powerful Pokemon in the series’ history. Pokemon like Mega Rayquaza, Mega Mewtwo X & Y, Mega Tyranitar, and Mega Lucario, for example, would provide Pokemon GO players with Pokemon that easily break the 4000CP mark and add a dangerously high level of attackers for Raids and Rocket Battles.

Sadly, we have only received five Mega Evolutions at the start of this update; Mega Venosaur, Mega Charizard X & Y, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Beedrill. The three Generation 1 starter Megas are all currently featured in the newly introduced Mega Raids, and Mega Beedrill and its Mega Energy are distributed in the new task line “A Mega Discovery”.

This early limitation has not only been unfortunate for players because of the lack of early Mega Evolutions, but is has also exposed a slew of design problems that are clearly designed to siphon money from the salmon and whales of Pokemon GO.

First of all, the whole process of getting Mega Evolution Pokemon is a sick cycle that keeps going round and round and round. As Nicholas Oyzon said on Twitter, “You do Mega Raids for Mega Energy so you can Mega Evolve for more damage so you can do more Mega Raids faster for more Mega Energy so you can Mega Evolve again for more damage so you can Mega Raid faster for more Mega Energy so you can Mega Evolve again for more damage so you can…” (And the cycle keeps going).

There is nothing about this that benefits the casual player, and to be quite frank, there is nothing about this that genuinely benefits the players throwing their money away to get through the process faster. With the current system, you cannot have more than one Mega Evolution at a time, so after you spend the initial 200 Mega Energy (50 Mega Energy to Evolve every subsequent time) to evolve something like a Mega Charizard X, you have to wait until your Mega timer runs out to evolve another Mega OR you just cancel the previous Mega Evolution in favor of the next.

This is incredibly problematic when currently raiding and you have that Mega Charizard X, and all of your friends want to do a Mega Blastoise Raid. The typing is off, and you need to make a stupid decision; not use my current Mega Evolution and waste its valuable time OR use my Mega Evolution and get destroyed by type advantage. Why are we putting ourselves in such a horrible position, and why is Niantic supplementing this poor gameplay?

This leads to a couple different problems that have been revealed since the update, and Niantic should be just as concerned as the players. For starters, Mega Evolution requires way too much real money and time, and the current pool of Pokemon is nothing to get too excited about. Each Pokemon have their own Mega Energy, so if you want to invest in a particular one, you need to not only find a Mega Raid, but you need to find that Mega Raid.

Secondly, we have already been exposed to two different price systems when it comes to Mega Evolving (500 Mega Energy for the Starters and 100 Mega Energy for Beedrill). What does this mean for Legendaries down the road? How much is Mega Mewtwo X or Y going to cost once they are released? 500 Mega Energy? I hope not. And besides, how are we going to get that much Mega Energy from those Legendaries when they only exist in 5-star raids (Or Mega Raids) for a short period of time?

Finally, and one of the biggest problems currently with a lot of the game’s structure and the global circumstance, and this is about Raid Passes. Since the pandemic started, Niantic introduced Remote Raid Passes, which allow you to raid at spots outside your current range, including different countries around the world if you are invited. The problem is that these tickets cost Pokecoin, which can cost real money for those who cannot go out and battle gyms.

Most Pokemon GO players are unable to use their free daily Raid Pass at the moment, so it should be a given that Niantic would supply a free daily Remote Raid Pass instead, right? Well, wrong, and that is hurting the community tremendously at the moment, and the interest in Mega Evolution is dwindling because of it.

YouTuber FLW Videos made an excellent video going over some of these topics and other areas that he finds to be quite toxic and problematic. He is a major Pokemon fan that currently has over 140K subscribers and has a big voice, and earlier I mentioned Nicholas Oyzon, also known as Trainer Tips, who is one of the most popular Pokemon GO players in the world. Nicholas also has major problems with this update, and he has a subscriber base of nearly 1 million people. Just these two players alone can create major damage for Niantic, and they need to listen to this criticism as soon as possible and rectify it immediately.

This Mega Evolution update does not necessarily hurt the entire Pokemon GO playing experience, but for long time fans and advocates of the series, this feels more like a slap to the face than an exciting new addition to the popular application. As for me and my household, we refuse to participate in Mega Evolving until these various issues are addressed, and I would recommend the same for you.

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Thank you for stopping by Nintendo Link for all of your Pokemon GO news and needs. What do you think about the new Mega system? Has it been something that you have enjoyed? Or do you feel very sour about the experience so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Happy gaming, everyone.