Pokémon Go looks set to let you increase the stats of your Pokémon, fans say, after code snippets relating to the feature were spotted in a fresh datamine.
References to systems for a “stat increase” as well as to a “Hyper Training Service” have been found by prolific Pokémon Go dataminers The Pokemod Group, and suggest players will be able to boost a Pokémon’s attack, defense or stamina.
Hyper Training is a feature from the main Pokémon games that allows you to max out a creature’s stats – referred to as its IVs – using a currency known as Bottle Caps.
The system means you can turn a Pokémon with good stats into one with better or even perfect stats, making it more competitive in battles, including with other players.
Pokémon Go has never had a system like this before, though fans have long discussed how it might work. On the one hand, the ability to boost stats brings with it questions of balance, and concerns over how much a Bottle Cap might be sold for.
On the other, there are plenty of players with 98% stat Pokémon who would love to turn them into perfect 100% Pokémon instead, and secure a “hundo”.
In Pokémon Go, hardcore fans play and pay repeatedly for the chance to earn hundo stat Pokémon from raid battles, with hundreds of tries likely needed. Any item that could be used to shortcut this system would be a major shakeup, and likely be highly valued.
Naturally, the suggestion this potentially-lucrative feature is coming to Pokémon Go now has led to discussion among fans that this is a design decision driven by changes to the ownership of the game.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that developer Niantic planned to sell Pokémon Go to Monopoly Go maker Scopely, as part of a $3.5bn deal.
Eurogamer has contacted Niantic for more.