Pokemon Go is adding 80 new Pokemon later this week

Niantic has announced that it will add 80 new Pokémon to its hit augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go "later this week". The new critters will be from the second generation of Pokémon added in the Gold and Silver GameBoy games.

The introduction of new Pokémon began last year when eggs began hatching baby Pokémon who evolve into existing first generation 'mon such as Pikachu, Jynx, Clefairy and Jigglypuff. Now, many more are being introduced.

Niantic made the announcement in a video (see below) and also confirmed in a statement that new berries and other items will also be added to the game.

"While catching Pokémon, Trainers can use two new Berries – the Nanab Berry, which slows a Pokémon's movements, and the Pinap Berry, which doubles the amount of Candy received if the next catch attempt succeeds.

"Trainers will also be able to customise their avatar's appearance with a new selection of hats, shirts, pants, and other items. Additional items will be available for purchase from the in-game Pokémon GO shop."

Each of the new Pokémon will appear as normal, popping up in the real world thanks to Go's use of location data. The augmented reality, free-to-play game became a monster hit when it launched in July 2016.

The new batch brings the total of second generation Pokémon in the game up to 88, meaning there are twelve absentees. These will include the six legendary Pokémon: Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Lugia, Ho-Oh and Celebi. It's not clear what the other six absentees are.

Perhaps those not included in this 80-strong batch will be subject to events held across the year. It's easy to imagine one for Unown and its variations for example.

Given players have still not been given the chance to catch first generation legendaries Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo and Mew, this was to be expected. Niantic has still not detailed how or when it plans to introduce them.

The additional Pokémon will also react to players in new ways during battles. For more details, check out Niantic's blog post about the update.

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