Pokemon GO is rolling out an item that catches Pokemon for you
An in-game item that throws Poke Balls and spins PokeStops on its own has started appearing in Pokemon GO. It was found in the game's code first, so treat the detail as reported rather than confirmed.
An item that catches Pokemon without you touching the screen is now being rolled out in Pokemon GO. Nintendo Life reports that players should check their game to see whether they have it yet.
The item throws Poke Balls and spins PokeStops automatically. PokeStops are the real-world locations you tap for items. Doing both of those jobs for you is a fair chunk of what playing Pokemon GO involves.
Where this came from
This started as a datamine. Dataminers dig through a game's code to find things that have not been announced. The group PokeMiners reportedly found the item's description in the code and posted it in their Discord server, and IGN covered it from there.
That matters for how much you should trust the detail. Code found early can change before release, or never ship at all. What has changed since then is that the item has begun appearing for real players, which is a much stronger signal than a line in a file.
Even so, treat everything below the headline as reported and not officially confirmed. We have seen no announcement from Niantic in the material we have.
What it could mean for the gadgets
For years, players who did not want to tap for hours bought a small Bluetooth device that clipped to a bag or a wrist and did the catching for them. Nintendo Life makes the obvious point: an item inside the game that does the same job could make a whole category of those accessories pointless.
If you were about to spend money on one, wait. Not forever, just until this rollout is clearly finished and the terms are known. There is no sense buying hardware the week the software version arrives.
The questions that decide whether this is good news
Almost everything that matters here is still open:
- How you get it. Bought with real money, bought with in-game currency, earned, or handed out. Nobody has said.
- Whether it runs out. Many Pokemon GO items work for a set number of uses or a set number of hours.
- How well it catches. An automatic throw is usually a plain Poke Ball with no bonus. That is fine for filling out a Pokedex and poor for catching something you actually want.
- Who has it so far. A staggered rollout means most players will not see it on day one. Not having it yet is normal.
Do not go looking for shortcuts
One thing worth saying plainly, because this kind of news always brings it out. Third-party apps and devices that promise the same automatic catching have a long history of getting accounts banned in Pokemon GO. An official in-game item, if that is what this turns out to be, is the only safe version of this idea.
Check the shop and your item bag over the next few days. If it is not there, it is not there yet.