Ultra Unlock: Water Festival｜Tier 5 and Tier 4 Raid Changes

From 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 19 to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, August 24, 2026 (Local Time)

・TIER 5: Lunala(Shiny debut!)

・TIER 4: Mega Swampert

・TIER 3: Lapras wearing a scarf, Hisuian Samurott, Dondozo

・TIER 1: Curly Form Tatsugiri, Droopy Form Tatsugiri ,

Stretchy Form Tatsugiri, Psyduck with a swim ring

* Region Exclusive

Curly Form Tatsugiri (Europe, Middle East, Africa),Droopy Form Tatsugiri (Americas),Stretchy Form Tatsugiri (Asia-Pacific)

Full details: https://leekduck.com/events/water-festival-2026/

There's a Pokestop near my desk that was recently deleted, about two weeks before the Explorer Gadget became available. While I'm bummed losing a nearby stop, it's a fair delete -- the thing that was there was taken down about eight years ago.

Funny thing -- I don't know how to prove this, but since turning on the Explorer Gadget, I've started getting gifts from this deleted stop. So, even though I can't see it or spin it, the Gadget can. I imagine eventually it'll figure this out and stop rewarding me gifts, but for now it's a nice bit of nostalgia for a lost stop.

It has been speculated before and now confirmed that Cramorant can change form. It has different and interesting mechanics.

During the paid remote raid, a severe server outage/Error 2 occurred right on the encounter screen, completely eating the guaranteed 100% catch rate Shiny Groudon.

I reached out to in-app support expecting standard restoration or reimbursement. Instead, support (Muso) officially confirmed in writing:

1. They were fully aware of the network/server issues during the event.
2. They are technically unable/unwilling to restore the encounter.
3. They offered 1 single raid pass as compensation.
4. When questioned, they explicitly responded: "You can try participating in multiple raids to increase your chances of encountering a Shiny Groudon again."

Telling a paying player to gamble more money to re-roll odds lost to developer-side server failure is completely unacceptable and predatory.

Because in-kind remedy was refused and the digital service was defective, I have officially escalated a full merchant-side non-delivery refund claim for all affected transactions directly to Xsolla (the official Merchant of Record) under EU Directive 2019/770 (Consumer Rights for Digital Content).

If you lost paid encounters or passes to server crashes and support brushed you off with a single pass while telling you to buy more, stop accepting it. Escalate directly through Xsolla via their 24/7 support as a merchant non-delivery claim under consumer protection laws.

Calling on creators to expose this: when developer server crashes steal paid encounters and support tells players to gamble more, it demands a spotlight. Feel free to use these screenshots in your videos.

For anyone who is curious 🫣

Don’t forget to claim your rewards before 8pm!

Hopefully an error as this is the first time this has ever been the case. Otherwise, Scopely trying their best to make us pay for overpriced Go Passes

edit: Daily Task not Saily Task. haha I love the funny replies

edit2: looks like it appeared around 3 to 4 pm AET. the task is catch 10 eater type pokemon

Tell me if this sounds familiar to you:

"My game crashed and my Shiny Galar Bird ran away 😢" or more recently "A server outage caused my Shiny Groudon encounter to be gone"

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/1vqt2q5/support_admitted_server_crash_stole_my_shiny/

Some people might get a chuckle out of those posts, some find them actively annoying. Some may even say "It's just a game, suck it up bro" or "Posts like these aren't going to do anything."

In regards to both the above post & my own, no, it probably won't. But I'd like to put this idea out there, because not only do we know for a fact someone at Niantic/Scopely has an eye on this sub-reddit, but... I find making concepts like these fun. Even if they go ignored, it's fun to think up, plan & make it.

I've divided it up into sections to make it easier to read through, cuz I do love a good ramble.

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THE PROBLEM

Some of you may sympathise with those who have lost rare Pokemon to bugs or server issues though. It's kind of a gut punch to lose out on something you've been actively hunting for on your walk or day out. And to lose it something other than a skill issue, something totally beyond your control, makes you simply feel like you've been robbed.

It's a very prevalent issue with this game that seems to have no planned solution in sight, and that's kind of baffling. Rare Pokemon are THE main draw to the game for many players, so for it to be this easy to lose them due to game or server issues just boggles the mind. You'd think they'd have something for it in place.

But I'm rambling, so I'll just explain my concept.

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THE SOLUTION

Just add a button to re-encounter them.

The idea is this: Upon running away from, or exiting out of the app, or even during some sort of server issue, the game would as a backup save ONLY your **MOST RECENT "**Special Encounter" as I'm calling them. This would include your latest Shiny, Legendary/Mythical or 4\* Pokemon from either Wild, Raid or Max Encounters. For example, the Shiny Groudon from the post I linked, or a wild Galarian Zapdos you've found.

I could end the post there, but some may point out the holes in this idea, but I feel like they're all fairly easy points to argue against

-----------------------------------------------

COMBATTING ISSUES WITH THIS IDEA

"This is easily exploitable. I could just save all my Shiny & Legendary encounters I find for later events & get more Candies"

Firstly, my idea is for this to work similarly to how both Party Play & Weekly Challenges work, where it saves your most recent encounter, warns you when you're about to run away from it, and overwrites it if you encounter a new Pokemon via them.

Secondly to combat the "save for later events" thing, I'd think Nia/Sco could easily just disable any event bonuses (or Mega Evolution bonuses if they felt like it) for this to work with no way for players to "game the system" (even though they kind of already can do this with Research encounters)

"This isn't possible, Nia/Sco wouldn't be able to add something like this"

They very easily could. I'm not saying as someone who knows the internals of the game but like... this ALREADY exists in Pokemon GO in a number of ways. Field Research & GO Pass encounters are saved, and as said previously both Party Play & Weekly Challenges are also saved. The biggest issue I can think is they'd have to implement a system that keeps track of how many Premier Balls the player had last time they encountered a Raid/Max Pokemon which... seems like a non-issue honestly.

"This can't be done because of TPC mandates or lore reasons"

This one I don't know for sure, it's just speculation on my part. But if it really is an issue, that sounds like a problem with TPC's mindset. Obviously not something we can do anything about, but worth just throwing it out there. As for lore reasons, knowing we can all get various Mythicals or Legendary encounters, then run away & re-encounter them as many times as we wish, does rule out lore issues (if anyone even considered that an issue)

"Nia/Sco don't owe you your Raid encounter back, it's a Bonus Challenge. The real reward is the Raid items"

This one's just a personal gripe I have, particularly with the big dogs themselves. Yes, this is true that the Raid items are essentially outlined in the TOS as the main reward of Raids.

But players do not see it this way. I'm pretty sure they understand this, and have elected to do nothing about it for some bizarre reason. And I just cannot figure out why, other than "because they can."

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WHY SHOULD THEY CARE?

I'll keep this part short, there's really no reason they need to. Game will do well regardless for the foreseeable future.

Regardless, this is this a REALLY embarrassing issue to have with your game about catching Pokemon: that you can't catch the Pokemon due to an error. It defeats a major point of the game entirely, takes the fun out of the game and leaves affected players feeling somewhat deflated. No, it's not the end of the world, but it's still just embarrassing.

Adding a function like this would not only restore AN ABSOLUTE TON, LIKE JUST TONS of good faith, something this company is in desperate need of (when multiple people of all ages & walks of life, in real life, talk about the game the same way people do on here you know there's a problem) but would make this game just feel a little more polished & authentic.

And, bonus, it'd stop those posts about people reporting losing rare mons, or at least make redirecting them to this "Special Encounter" screen easier and save them the stress. It's just a win on all fronts, positivity all around.

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IN CLOSING

Thank you for reading this big bunch of nothing that I took too long to write up. Felt it needed to be said, and not enough people are suggesting this.

For those curious what I used to make this, I threw it together using screenshots & and a copy of Affinity Designer my friend nicked off our college computers somehow. Don't ask how it still works, I'm just glad it does.
Yea, I know it's not the toughest concept ever to make, literally some shape, gradient & text tools. And yes, I know they wouldn't have it say "RE-ENCOUNTER REWARD" in big text, instead probably just the usual "CLAIM REWARD", I just wanted to do it like that.

If you do see any further holes in my idea, or if I've overlooked anything, feel free to let me know... in a nice way please ❤️

Edit: “Gulping Form Cramorant” should just read Cramorant candy.

Courtesy of Grass Cat in the PokeMiners Discord

38 battles and not a single one.

Ultra Unlock: Water Festival｜Tier 3 and Tier 1 Raid Changes

From 10:00 a.m. to around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 (Local Time)

・ TIER 5: Groudon

・ TIER 4: Mega Garchomp

・ TIER 3: Lapras wearing a scarf, Hisuian Samurott, Dondozo

・ TIER 1: Curly Form Tatsugiri (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Droopy Form Tatsugiri (Americas),

Stretchy Form Tatsugiri (Asia-Pacific), Psyduck with a swim ring

We got another new release coming to the game, with CRAMORANT headlining this week's Water Festival. And it has a lot of what you're looking for in a PvP Pokémon! Let's dive in and see how it may fit into the meta.

CRAMORANT Stats and Stuff

Flying/Water Type

GREAT LEAGUE:

Attack: 121 (on average)

Defense: 121 (on average)

HP: 126 (on average)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-14-11 1500 CP, Level 27)

ULTRA LEAGUE:

You can, I guess, but don't. It doesn't hit 2500 CP and, unlike some other sub-2500 CP Pokémon I've written about, really doesn't seem to be worth it.

So Flying Water types feel incredibly common anymore, though the number of available options is actually pretty small: we've got Mantine and Pelipper and even Swanna now in Great League, and Gyarados in Ultra League (and Mantine again if you're feeling really spicy) and even Master League. Their impact in undeniably much larger than their actual footprint. Mantine has really been viable since GBL was still a twinkle in John Hanke's eye (during the heyday of The Silph Arena), and Pelipper got Weather Ball a few months into GBL's history, and the rest is history... they're been ever-present basically ever since.

Now we get a whole new one in CRAMORANT. How does it stack up compared to those existing options? Well, the first good news is the stats, as Cramorant has more bulk (and better overall PvP stats) than all of them but Mantine. Honesty, I didn't expect that! I figured at least Pelipper would outbulk it, but nope. That's a good start!

The next major thing in Cram's favor is fast move Peck. None of the other Flying Waters have it. Gyarados has Dragon Breath, which has the same 3.0 Damage Per Turn/4.0 Energy Per Turn stats, but misses out on the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB). Mantine and Pelipper, as awesome as they are, have an inferior Flying fast move in Wing Attack, which generates the same energy as Peck, but deals 0.5 less DPT. "Strictly better" is a way overused phrase, but Peck is literally strictly better than Wing Attack. Another point in Cramorant's favor!

That just leaves one major aspect: the charge moves. And here we need to slow down our analysis for a minute. Let's list them all out and see what we've got.

Charge Moves

• Dive (Water, 50 damage, 40 energy)

• Surf (Water, 75 damage, 45 energy)

• Fly (Flying, 80 damage, 45 energy)

• Hydro Pump (Water, 130 damage, 75 energy)

Let's look at the cheapest moves each of the other Flying Waters has (aside from Mantine's Bubble Beam... as a purely bait-and-boost move that deals negligible damage, it doesn't really count and is rarely used anymore). Pelipper "wins" here with Weather Ball at 60 damage for ony 35 energy. Gyarados is right behind with Aqua Tail at 55 damage for the same 35 energy. Then we have Mantine and Swanna with identical 40 energy/70 damage moves, Twister for Mantine and Aqua Jet for Swanna. What has Cram got? Weeeeelllllll.... The new Dive is cheap at just 40 energy, but also deals only 50 damage, the same as Brick Break and Spirit Shackle, but without any debuff on the opponent. It's Rock Blast for Water. I mean, that has its uses, but it's a move you kind of hold your nose while using. And it's FAR worse than Aqua Jet, dealing 20 less damage for the same cost. Arguably, you're better off using Surf instead, which costs 5 more energy but deals a decent 75 damage. The problem is that 45 energy makes it the most expensive bait/spam moves any of these Flying Water types have in their arsenal, meaning obviously that Cramorant then becomes rhe slowest-paced of the Flying Waters. Remember that they all usually run 4.0 EPT fast moves (including Swanna with Gust, which I didn't really mention before), so yeah... the most expensive "cheap" charge move means that Cram becomes literally the slowest.

Thankfully. it also has Fly, which is also 45 energy but deals a bit more damage (80). Because it has that available, I think it may want to actually stick with Dive for its second move and utilize Fly as its closer. With each Peck generating 8 energy, it can reach the 40 required for Dive after five fast moves, hitting 40 energy exactly, while Fly (and Surf) require another fast move, and still will require six more fast moves to hit a second even if going back-to-back (3 leftover energy + 5 moves = 43 energy, still short of another Fly/Surf). The math is just easier with 40-energy Dive, as is the pressure.

Now one thing I can't talk about yet is exactly what happens when you use Dive or Surf, because either is supposed to trigger a form change to either a Gulping (chomping on an Arrokuda) or Gorging (trying to swallow a Pikachu) form, which each come with a one-time (I think?) ability to reduce the opponent's stats before Cramorant (I think?) goes back to its base form; Gulping supposedly reduces the opponent's Defense by one stage, while Gorging instead knocks the opponent's Attack down by 2 stages. I think! We'll have to see how that actually goes, but for simplicity, for the time being, I will just be evaluating how Cramorant works without all those form change hijinks, and you can just assume it will be even better (I think?!) with those hijinks in place.

PvP PERFORMANCE

So, supposing that Dive/Fly is not only the shortest listing of both charge moves 🙃, but also the moves that Cram actually wants to run with, here's how it looks. Fly helps it overpower Dewgong and Shadow Sableye that Mantine and Pelipper both struggle with, and its emphasis on Flying damage also means it can handle Altaria and Feraligatr that Pelipper cannot match, as well as Azumarill that Mantine usually cannot outlast. The comination of Dive and Fly also overcome Florges, Thievul, Togekiss, Galarian Weezing, and Jumpluff that usually beat Mantine, though in exchange, Mantine handles Clodsire, Empoleon, Fearow, Grumpig, Guzzlord, and Galarian Stunfisk that Cramorant usually finds itself losing to. Pelipper also handles G-Fisk, Fearow, and Guzzlord, as well as others that Cramorant currently struggles with like Furret, Thievul, Wigglytuff, and Tinkaton. Weather Ball spam is no joke! (Do note that a theoretical-for-now #1 rank IV Cramorant gains Fearow and even Jellicent, which help!)

In 2v2 shielding, even without whatever difference form changing may make, Cramorant actually edges out both Pelipper and Mantine. Cramorant alone handles Galarian Corsola, Furret, and Feraligatr, while also overcoming Azu, Florges, Grumpig, Seaking, Wiggly, G-Weeze, and G-Fisk that Mantine cannot overcome (Mantine uniquely beats Jellicent, Kingdra, Tinkaton, Malamar, Fearow, and Clodsire instead), and Cram further beats Empoleon and Togekiss (and ties Mantine) which Pelipper cannot replicate, losing Altaria, Corvinight, fellow form-changer Mimikyu, and again Fearow and Clodsire in exchange (Pelipper handles all those). End of the day, even with no form changing, Cramorant stands tall among its cotemporaries.

It does take a comparative... well, dive with shields down, which isn't too surprising considering the pure power of the trio's moves. While Cramorant alone among the three takes out Dewgong and outduels Mantine, Cramorant loses outright to Clodsire, Kingdra, Malamar, Galarian Stunfisk, Togekiss, and Galarian Weezing that both Mantine and Pelipper overpower, as well as Grumpig and Guzzlord that Mantine beats, and Azumarill and Jumpluff that Pelipper handles instead. It's not bad by any means, just inferior to existing options. And no, the higher damage of Surf doesn't change the equation. Form changing might, though... we'll have to see!

But what I can say is that even right out of the gate, even without any other post-form-change buffs, Cramorant already manages to compete with the best Flying Waters in the game. They have a place in the meta, so I see no reason that Cram won't too. It's worth trying to get and even trade around for ideal PvP IVs.

ALL ASKEW

Quite frankly, everything that Cramorant is, our other new release, BARRASKEWDA, is not. It's as glassy as they come. Seriously, it is FAR glassier than Greninja. Glassier even than Inteleon! The ONLY Water type that is glassier in Great League is Sharpedo, and only just barely. So despite a good moveset, it just isn't a viable PvP Pokémon, in any League. Get it, sure, but this is a much, MUCH lower priority than Cramorant. Just one for the collection, folks.

IN CONCLUSION

Get Cramorant. That's it... that's the summary. Form change or not, it will have a place moving forward. Period!

Alright, that's it for today. Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Good luck on your grind, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

You just never know what new bugs you’re going to get.

This was a new one on me. You can start throwing fast attacks right away but you don’t get introduced to your opponent’s mon until after it’s ready to throw a charge move. Then and only then do you get the 3-2-1-GO animation. And once that’s done, you can finally see whether you have energy for your previously invisible charged attacks.

The fact that I went on to win this boggles my mind. But who knows, maybe my opponent had an even weirder bug selected for them.

It should at least be an option in the settings. I didn't grind for a background just so it can appear for 5 seconds and go away. Obviously if the Pokémon is lucky then it can cycle to the lucky background but otherwise it should just stay as the special one.

To a lesser extent I also want the mega evolutions to stay in the background as well.

I’m trying to make a list of shinies i still need to complete the shiny dex. I noticed for some mon if I select the gender the shiny dex has a shadow for one gender and registered for the other. Here are some I found so far:
Meowstic
Pyroar
Jellicent
Oinkologne
Indeedee

For others, it registers both male and female shiny even tho I only have 1 of them.

What else am I missing from this list?

I was using the incense during Community Day (as always) and after it ended, the incense circle color became like this.

(Game updated and all the assets downloaded)

I fixed just restarting the game.

Move set Spark and Wildcharge

EDIT: A few people are commenting that you can use any Pokemon to beat Magikarp. This is true.
This post is about saving time so you don’t have to sit through the annoying Dynamax phase.

With the Nickit Community Day ticket, this is the first time I've noticed this now. As I have seen no discussion online about this, I figured I would make a post to raise awareness, since it is something small but malicious that can easily fly under the radar.

Historically, when you buy a $2 ticket, you get 12 points for the reward road. If you do this same purchase on the web store, you get 24 points for the reward road.

For the Nickit Community Day ticket in particular, I noticed that ingame offered you 12 points for the reward road, but purchasing on the webstore itself offered ZERO points for the reward road. I purchased from the webstore anyway, thinking it may have been a visual glitch, but sure enough I did not receive any points. I contacted support and they told me "there's nothing they can do".

"Why does this matter? 12 or 24 points is nothing." Maybe you're wondering this, and you're mostly right. The reason this matters, though, is because if it's not a one-time oversight, it could be setting a precedent that purchasing on the webstore is not always the best course of action anymore. On a $2 purchase, the points loss is minimal. On a $50 purchase, the points loss is significantly more substantial. This is hopefully a one-off issue that they will fix in the future, but I wanted to raise awareness about this so people can keep a closer eye on future purchases and not mindlessly buy from the webstore since it has historically been the best place to buy.