Pokemon Go News: Niantic Labs Debuts New 'Pokemon' Creature Ditto & Other Thanksgiving Surprises

By Rita Mendoza - 24 Nov '16 18:05PM

In time for Thanksgiving, Niantic Labs adds another species to the Pokemon Go lineup called Ditto. Niantic Labs is releasing more features as it strives to keep players engrossed in the game.

Ditto The Mirroring Pokemon

Looking like a gel blob, Ditto is a rare Pokemon that mimics the creatures that it encounters. In the game, players who catch Ditto will be able to copy the appearance, power, and type of Pokemon that it meets during battles.

Since Ditto is a great mimicker, the Pokemon Go character is in the guise of other Pokemon. To catch Ditto, players need to catch other Pokemon, even the most common ones. Only after it is caught will it reveal itself as a Ditto.

Nearby Tracker

After months of beta testing, the Nearby tracker feature of Pokemon Go is now available in some countries. The tracker is a nifty feature that allows players to determine the distance of nearby Pokemon to make it easier to find creatures in the game. However, the feature that was released is only available when players are near a Pokestop, and they also changed the Sightings feature in the Pokemon Go game.

Niantic revealed that Pokemon Go Nearby tracker is currently working in some areas of the United States including all west side states of the Mississippi River excluding Alaska and Hawaii. The feature will also be available in Canada particularly Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario's western half, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. The Nearby tracker for Pokemon Go is now available in all states and territories of Australia.

More XP & Stardust On Thanksgiving

Niantic is extending the spirit of Thanksgiving to Pokemon Go players. For seven days starting Wednesday, November 23, 2016, up to Wednesday, November 30, 2016, players will be able to earn twice the amount of Stardust and XP when playing the game.

The additional features Niantic Labs added to Pokemon Go game are much needed especially with the significant drop of players over the weeks. Just in time for Thanksgiving, players now have a reason to get up and walk around for Ditto hunt with Nearby tracker to boot.