In mid-April, a major update to Pokémon GO was released. Called “Rediscover GO,” it changes a lot of things, like capture screens, biomes, and spawns. This guide will explain exactly how the biome system works.
What are Pokémon GO biomes?
The update focuses on a graphical overhaul of the capture screens and the mapwhich now more clearly reflect the type of “biomes” you’re in. The visual aspect you see in the game depends heavily on where you are in the real world. These biomes are also interesting from a gameplay perspective since the Pokémon you’ll see in them depend on them.
Biomes are based on your real-world environment. They describe the habitats in which you will find different Pokémon. This was already the case before, but now it seems that the corresponding spawns are more associated with the biomes. This should therefore be used more in the future for events, because currently, the old Pokémon from Kanto are for example distributed in different biomes.
How do you know which biome you are in?
This change is therefore visually visible during the capture of your Pokémon. So if you’re at sea, you’ll see water in the background. If you’re in a city, the screen will show houses. Also, it seems like there are multiple screen variations for each biome, so it’s not always the same.
The base map you move around on has also been changed. It now makes it clearer which biomes are in which location. Unfortunately, it is still quite difficult to tell which biome you are in at a glance at the game map.
Since the game’s map was inspired by OpenStreetMap, fans then created a tool called Overpass Turbo allowing you to list the different biomes around you and in particular the famous “beach” biomes where Taupikeau lives.
- Open Overpass Turbo in your browser,
- Enter the name of your city at the top right of the screen in the search bar,
- Click the “run” button at the top left,
- The “beach” biomes will then appear on the map.
List of biomes and the Pokémon living inside them
Specifically, Niantic announced 4 main biomes but they are themselves composed of subcategories.
It is important to note that there is no real list of Pokémon to find in each biome, but there is indeed a higher spawn rate for certain creatures in a defined biome. This will depend in particular on current events and the rarity of a monster. In the “coastal” biome, for example, we now find the new Pokémon Mollet.
The 4 main biomes of Pokémon GO
The Pokémon listed are those during the “Rediscover Kanto” event:
- The forest biome : the spawn rate of Pokémon originating from Kanto like Bulbasaur, Chenipan, Weedle or even Mystherbe is higher but also others like Cotovol, Absol, Lewsor, Brocélôme, Araqua, Mimantis and Pohm.
- The mountain biome : it provides a landmark for Pokémon like Sabelette, Clefairy, Nosferapti or Diglett. But also others like Volcaropod, Phanpy, Tarinor, Charmina, Skélénox, Strassie and Sonistrelle.
- The coastal biome is home to, among others, Carapuce, Psykokwak, Otaria and Magikarpe. But also others like Maraiste, Caratroc, Akardo, Coquiperl, Sepiatop, Flingouste and Têtampoule.
- The urban biomefinally, welcomes Pokémon like Chenipan, Roucool, Machoc or Fantominus. But also others like Togetic, Gardevoir, Delcatty, Gloupti, Moufouette, Chacripan and Baggiguane.
Subbiomes
It’s not yet known how many different types of biomes there are in total. It’s quite possible that the list will grow even longer. As it stands, it seems that it’s more interesting to explore different biomes in order to find more different Pokémon, rather than finding more or less the same thing everywhere. The coming days will tell us how biomes work more precisely, but here are some subcategories that players have identified:
- City
- Mountain
- Ocean
- Forest
- Lake
- River
- Park
- Meadows
