Gigantic building-sized Pokémon might be all the rage in Sword and Shield‘s Galar region but in Pokémon Go, Trainers have come to expect the mobile game’s wildlife to more strictly obey the laws of nature.
You can imagine one player’s surprise, then, when an otherwise ordinary daily routine quickly became a scene straight out of Godzilla. Presumably having mistakenly tapped on a nearby wild Pokémon during their latest in-game session, sD3d3D recalls how, following an attempt to flee the encounter and continue their hunt for something else, the seemingly normal Chikorita in question had other ideas. Undergoing an abnormal growth spurt before their very eyes, the Generation 2 starter Pokémon promptly filled the entire screen, returning what can only be described as a chilling death stare as recompense for being abandoned.
Check out the nightmarish encounter for yourselves below:
As of writing, it’s unclear what caused the phenomenon, though fans responding to sD3d3D’s tale over on Reddit appear to be in agreement that the event was caused by a glitch rather than Niantic making a stealth update to the game.
With that said, however, the developer has already introduced several Galarian forms to Pokémon Go over the last few months, so it’s not outside the realms of possibility that it would one day opt to borrow Sword and Shield‘s Dynamaxing gimmick. For now, though, efforts are laser-focused on ensuring players are able to continue enjoying the title’s various gameplay features without interruption by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As a community-focused and primarily social experience, Niantic has found itself with little option than to account for existing social distancing regulations by making several adjustments to core mechanics. You can learn more about all the coming changes by heading over here.