Pokmon Go’s February Community will be decided upon by a player vote.
It’s the first time players have been given the ability to pick which Poke will be featured next – and already, the game’s community is picking sides.
Four creatures are standing as candidates: Vulpix, Rhyhorn, Dratini and Machop. Each has their pros and cons.
Vulpix, for example, would get the Community Day move Weather Ball. It wouldn’t be particularly useful in the game’s meta, but its Shiny is pretty. And while only a two-stage evolution, the sought-after Shiny-possible Alolan Vulpix would also be offered in Field Research and Raids.
Rhyhorn, meanwhile, would get its signature move Rock Wrecker. There’s no definitive stats for how powerful it would be, but its evolution Rhyperior could potentially become the second best Rock-type in the game. But it seems a safe bet for a Community Day down the line regardless of this vote, making it seem an obvious pick, and one which will come around again.
Dratini is, perhaps, the easiest to ignore. It has already had a Community Day, albeit two years ago, and was featured again in 2018’s December catch-up. Dragonite has long been outclassed by better Dragon candidates. But it remains an attractive fan favourite, and new Community Day move Superpower could be useful in PVP.
Machop, finally, has also been Shiny before. Its Community Day move Payback wouldn’t affect its meta relevance, and it is now the third best Fighting-type behind Conkeldurr and Lucario. But it remains a cheap and super effective attacker – and the allure of having six of these to sweep through gyms is certainly attractive.
Who will be crowned victorious? Well, Rhyhorn is currently way ahead in a straw poll on fan reddit Silph Road, though it represents a particularly hardcore subset of the game’s global community.
Regardless, it’s great to see developer Niantic shake things up in this way – especially as the usual cycle of Starter Pokmon is drawing to a close. Whoever wins – except for perhaps Rhyhorn – it will signal a shake-up in Community Day precedent. Vulpix winning would show people are still interested in a two-stage evolution, while Dratini would show people are interested in repeats with new moves. Machop, meanwhile, would indicate people are happy for an already-released Shiny which has not had a Community Day already.
You can vote for your choice on Saturday, 1st February by completing a research task from a PokStop. You’ll find ones labelled “Vote Vulpix”, “Vote Machop”, etc. to complete, and the totals will then be tallied.
The winning candidate will then be announced on Monday, 3rd February, before the Community Day itself on Saturday, 22nd February (11am-1pm in the northern hemisphere, 3-6pm in the southern hemisphere).
