How to Get Generation 2 Pokemon in 'Pokemon GO'

Niantic released a new update to the hit AR video game, Pokémon GO, which includes a slew of new Pokemon originally found in the Johto region of Pokémon Gold and Silver. Unfortunately there’s a catch for would-be trainers — you can’t just just go out and find these new Pokémon out in the wild. Instead, players have to go to PokéStops for a chance to receive an egg, which in turn has the chance of hatching into one of the new Pokémon.

Despite introducing popular new Pokémon in the update like Pichu, Togepi, and others from Pokémon Gold and Silver, the update excludes these new creatures from being caught the traditional way in Pokémon GO. That is, by walking around the city hoping for a random encounter with them. Instead, players will have to go the literal extra mile if they hope for a chance at encountering the first new Pokémon in the game since the last update.

The egg hatching mechanic in Pokémon GO mirrors the gameplay found in the main Pokémon games where players are required to walk a certain amount of in-game steps before the egg hatches into a rare Pokémon. In GO, players are required to walk real-life steps, using their phone’s built-in step-counter, before the egg hatches and reveals a new Pokémon.

Unfortunately, hatching a egg after the new update doesn’t necessarily guarantee a rare, new Pokémon. However, Niantic promises that special partnerships with North American retailers like Sprint, Boost Mobile, and certain RadioShacks that turns those stores into special PokéStops, will give players more chances to encounter one of these rare Pokémon eggs.

It’s unclear at this point whether or not these new Pokémon will later be available for random encounters in the streets, or whether or not they will stay exclusive to the egg-hatching mechanic, but as of currently, eggs are the only sure way to catch new and exclusive Pokémon in Pokémon GO.