Pokémon Go players have caught over 3 billion Pokémon in just six days as part of the mobile title’s Global Catch Challenge event, which began on Nov. 20. That’s a lot of Pokémon, but the goal was met today and Niantic Labs rewarded the players with a special, limited-time unlocking of a previously region-locked Pokémon. Farfetch’d, a previously Japan-only Pokémon Farfetch’d, is now available in all regions across the world for the next 48 hours.
Pokémon Go players have until Tuesday to make sure they capture their leek-toting friend before he returns to his permanent home in Japan. Japanese players aren’t being left out of the fun, though. They’ll have access to Kangaskhan, which was only found in Australia until the latest 48-hour event.
The Global Catch Challenge previously offered three reward tiers. The Bronze tier unlocked at 500 million creatures caught and offered double XP for Pokémon captured as well as 6-hour Lures to attract more monsters. The Bronze tier was quickly met and followed by the Silver tier at 1.5 billion captured Pokémon. Silver rewarded players with 2x Stardust and additional Pokémon appearing around the world.
Congratulations, Trainers! You did it! You’ve caught over 3 billion Pokémon and unlocked a new reward during the Global Catch Challenge. #PokemonGOtravel #GlobalCatchChallenge pic.twitter.com/slGXLg0CNb
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) November 26, 2017
With the additional XP rewards, it’s no wonder Pokémon Go players are thrilled to capture more Pokémon and stay on the app more often. The regular XP reward for catching just one monster of any type is 100 XP, 200 XP with the double XP bonus, and if a Lucky Egg is active, 400 XP. That makes it simple to level up as it is, but when new Pokémon are thrown into the mix, players are looking at 500 XP. Double that gets 1000 XP, and with a Lucky Egg in play, it’s a whopping 2000 XP. Even for players that hadn’t played Pokémon Go recently, this certainly offered a tantalizing reason to return.
With all milestones having been met, Niantic hasn’t let on as to whether or not there’ll be more rewards to unlock in the coming days as a bonus or if the challenge will end there. Some may be quick to say Pokémon Go isn’t nearly as popular as it once was, but these crazy numbers certainly prove otherwise.
