CultureGaming

Friday, 27th September 2019, 08:17 am

It might have been a while since Pokemon GO received the kind of obsessive attention that it did in the beginning, but Niantic's addictive mobile monster catcher hasn't gone anywhere.

The game's community remains so active that just this August it enjoyed its most profitable month since 2016, bringing in $176 million.

A big factor in the game's impressive stamina has been the steady supply of new content that Niantec has kept up. This month saw a major new addition, with monsters from the series' fifth generation (Pokemon Black and White) appearing for the first time.

Hailing from the Unova region, these critters included the likes of sneaky feline, Purrloin and the snooty-looking lizard, Snivy. With the addition of Unova stones, some of the new 'mon can now be evolved into their more powerful forms.

For anyone who still has ambitions of being the very best, like no-one ever was, here's everything you need to know.

What are Unova stones?

Since the original Gameboy games, stones have featured in the Pokemon universe as been a key way to evolve certain monsters. However, rather than the various elemental rocks found in the original series, Niantec have chosen to streamline things a little by creating new stones that can be applied more widely.

When Pokemon from the Sinnoh region were introduced, the Sinnoh stone was added to handle all of the older critters who had been given new evolutions in Diamond and Pearl Rhyperior, Lickilicki, Ambipom and various others.

The Unova stones are similar except that, rather than evolving old 'mon into their newer forms, the Unova stones will be used to handle some of the evolutions of Pokemon that were first introduced in Black and White, such as Panpour and Lampent.

What Pokemon can I use them on?

As there haven't been that many Unova Pokemon added as of yet, the list of compatible critters is pretty short just now.

The three elemental monkeys Pansage, Panpour and Pansear can all be evolved into their bigger, badder selves Simisage, Simipour and Simisear while spooky lantern Lampent can be upgraded to a Chandelure (it's like "chandelier" but not).

However, it is worth keeping in mind that more Unova Pokemon are probably on the way, some of whom will no doubt also use the stones. Before long, it's very possible that they will be used to turn a Woobat into a Swoobat, a Boldore into a Gigalith, or a Minccino into its far fancier evolution, Cinccino.

How do I get one?

At the moment, there is only one way to get your hands on a Unova stone by completing your seventh day Field Research reward.

The Field Research tasks, added to the game last year, are daily missions which challenge the player to catch, hatch or battle in a specific way. Completing seven tasks across seven days unlocks a Research Breakthrough and lets the player reap a variety of rewards, one of which can now be a shiny new Unova stone.

While this is currently the only way to acquire the new evolutionary item, it seems likely that this will change in the future. Sinnoh stones can be earned through player versus player battles, so its easy to imagine that this will eventually happen with the newer region's stones as well.

Original post:

Pokemon GO Unova stone locations: how to get the evolution items, and full list of Gen 5 Pokemon it works with - iNews