When is Pokemon Go Generation 2 being released? Leaked Starbucks email suggests early December!

Upon its release less than five months ago, the augmented reality geolocation video game Pokémon Go became a worldwide phenomenon as the mobile app quickly shattered numerous records, including becoming the fastest app to ever to reach $500 million in revenue — beating out Candy Crush Saga by more than 135 days!

Hoping to keep as many of its millions of users playing as possible, the app’s creators at Niantic Labs have continued to update the app and create special events, including a week-long Halloween themed event which rewarded double candy (of course) and saw a HUGE increase in the number of spooky Pokémon popping up. (Niantic reportedly made $200 million from their Spookémon event.)

Currently, Pokémon Go users are enjoying a Thanksgiving event that is rewarding players with double experience points and double stardust while also introducing one of the last Pokemon from Generation 1 to not make an appearance yet — the much bally-hooed Ditto! (Ditto is a shape-shifting Pokémon and he disguises himself as other Pokémon until he is caught, at which point he reveals himself.)

With the addition of Ditto to the game, that only leaves the “Legendaries” (Zapdos, Articuno, Moltres, Mew and Mewtwo) to round out the complete list of 153 Pokémon originally available in Generation 1. That, of course, has many fans wondering when Pokémon Go will introduce Generation 2, which features 100 new Pokemon, including additional evolutions and pre-evolutions for some Pokémon already available in Generation 1.

That question may have been answered earlier this month thanks to an alleged corporate email shred by a Starbucks employee on reddit which suggests Pokémon Go will be introducing Generation 2 on December 7!

Here is a photo of the “leaked” Starbucks Pokémon Go Generation 2 email — click to enlarge:

Th redditor who posted the image shared this comment:

I work at Starbucks and this is one of the most recent updates we received from corporate. Now, it’s hard to say whether or not this specifically refers to Generation 2 (although what else could it mean?), whether or not Starbucks and Niantic are partnered up, or if this will even be pushed out on the date specified (things don’t always go to plan). However, it all makes sense to me, but this would be a huge update. Based on the description of the event, it would require Niantic to put a Pokestop at every Starbucks. Lastly, I realize this may seem strange, especially with the “Pokeman”, but it’s a real email and I can send proof to the mods if required. Regardless, this isn’t anything concrete and pretty vague, and no other information was given to us. As a huge fan of Pokemon and Pokemon Go, I couldn’t NOT share the news with everyone. Fingers crossed that it’s gonna happen!

Some commenters pointed at the “Pokeman” misspelling as a reason to discredit the validity of the email, but I completely agree with many folks who point out that it is a common mistake and, if anything, makes the email even more believable. (I know I was still spelling it “Pokeman” after I had been playing the game for a week lol.)

The Silph Road is reddit’s premiere group of Pokémon Go researchers and they shared an update soon after the email was posted suggesting that there was no evidence to think it was fake. “The email appears, on our inspection, to be a legitimate Starbucks communication,” Silph Executive DRONPES wrote, “though the last line (about ‘Pokeman version 2’) may still have been altered or added after the fact.”

DRONPES added:

Notably, there are rumors that leaks like this have soured deals still in progress for Niantic in the past, so we aren’t sure what the fallout of a leak like this will be. Surely, Starbucks would have purchased a promotional package and would have wanted to get some mileage out of the announcement, intending to make it newsworthy and build hype for the marketing drive.

Either way, it could potentially be more evidence that Niantic is moving forward quickly towards Gen 2. December may just be a crazy few weeks!

Another redditor did a little research in an attempt to read some of the other words behind the main text in the email. “I´ve played with the rest of the letter and could read some of the other text behind but it was only boring stuff about deliverys and refrigerator stuff,” revealed NatalsLegacy. (Sounds like legitimate, boring company communication to me.)

The original poster of the email has since deleted his/her account, but was a member of reddit for four years prior to the posting. (It would make sense that he/she would do that because this is a pretty big deal and could actually lead to getting fired.)

As far as the other promotions listed in the email, the $5 Groupon deal was already in effect at the time. The $3 Facebook deal on holiday drinks was a day away and did apparently happen. I couldn’t find anything yet on the Verizon $50 eGift card promotion that will reportedly begin on December 2.

It’s interesting to note that the email states that “Lures will be dropped at all SBUX stores.” Obviously, not all Starbucks stores are currently Pokestops, so its unclear if Niantic will make that change (if the email is legit). You may recall a similar partnership between Niantic and McDonald’s for the launch of Pokémon Go in Japan.

The email also mentions a Pokémon Frappuccino! I can’t imagine all the possibilities if they open the door to Pokémon-themed Starbucks drinks! Actually, I can imagine some of the possibilities 🙂

Available soon at Omastarbucks:

Pikaccino
Arabicadabra
Chaimander
Iced Caramel Mukiato
Pidgelatte
Rattatea
Burnitung
Koffee
Exeggnog latte
Ventinat (and Ventimoth of course)

Annnnnnyways…I’ve been a Pokémon Go player since the first week it came out and I can say that I’m getting a little weary myself. I still have two Pokémon left to catch to fill out my North American Pokedex (Dewgong and Charizard — I’ve kinda been delaying hitting the right nests because part of me doesn’t want to complete it I think) and after that I think it’s going to be hard to stay motivated to keep playing. BUT, if there are all of a sudden 100 new Pokémon running around my neighborhood, well that certainly changes things! 🙂

Speaking of which, it’s about time I wrapped up this post so I can head out and try to get a less sucky Ditto that the one I have.

UPDATE – More evidence that Pokemon Go will be introducing Generation 2 — albeit one day later — has surfaced online! Click here for that photo, which has a lot more details and seems pretty darn legit!