'Pokémon Go' update explains which monsters are the best
A Team Leader's 'appraisal' helps you decide which ones to keep -- if you can interpret it.
Despite its incredible initial popularity, Pokémon Go has faced a number of issues since launch beyond just keeping its servers working. A Bloomberg report cites analyst numbers claiming the game's active users have shrunk by more than 10 million from their mid-July peak, which makes keeping the remaining players happy even more important. An update that just arrived on Android and iOS is trying to address that, pulling in the recently-added Team Leader characters to give players advice on their Pokémon.
The only problem is that, as you can see in the screenshots, the advice is pretty vague and may not give casual players any useful info. Basically, by pressing the appraisal button while looking at a captured Pokémon, players can get feedback that indicates how that particular Pokémon's stats compare to others of its species. That's the kind of feedback you'll need before deciding which ones to evolve, battle or trade to the professor -- but only if you can understand what's going on. The Pokémon Go Database fan site has a list of all the possible responses and what they mean in terms of numbers, acting as an explainer to the explanation feature.
As-is, it's a small step towards helping players understand what's going on without needing to search out help online, while the changelog indicates that Niantic is also working on "rebalancing" the training battle. So many areas of the game could use work to provide better rewards for time invested it's hard to pick out just one, but that's apparently what's coming next. You can grab the new update on iTunes or Google Play right now -- let us know if a few one-liners from Spark, Blanche and Candela are enough to keep you playing.
