A tweet featuring a photo of Snorlax was posted by Pokemon GO earlier this week and hinted that the July Research tasks and Breakthrough would be Kanto-focused. Some players are disappointed to hear of yet another Kanto-themed month, but at least the Research Breakthrough seems to have something special to offer.
An in-game announcement confirms that Snorlax will be the July Research Breakthrough, but this time around he’s featuring the legacy move ‘Body Slam.’ For players who remember the original Gym metagame, it should come as no surprise that this particular Snorlax is a pretty big deal.
There’s no point in pretending that Snorlax is as exciting as another chance at four or five Legendary encounters, but at least this Gen 1 Pokemon will be a very strong Gym defender. For rural players who are still having trouble completing the Kanto dex, it’s also just a good opportunity to pick up a fairly rare Pokemon.
One impact this reward has on the community that Niantic may not have predicted is from players who have been holding on to Body Slam Snorlax in hopes of using them for high value trades. Although that crowd may be unhappy now, the Research Breakthrough still only offers a few chances to catch the Pokemon, so it should maintain some level of rarity.
The July Research Breakthrough rewards should be available starting on July 1. Until then, good luck out there, trainers.
Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
