‘Pokémon GO’: Is Swinub A Seasonal Pokémon?

The Water Festival in “Pokémon GO” has ended and as expected the spawn rates of Water-type Pokémon have been altered. However, some Trainers noticed that Ground/Ice-type Pokémon Swinub has also become elusive, and this has led to speculations that the monster is very likely a seasonal Pokémon in Niantic’s game.

On Thursday, Reddit user hoonose opened a thread on why Swinub could be a seasonal Pokémon. According to the Redditor, prior to the Water Festival, the Pig Pokémon was pretty much the Rattata of Gen 2 Pokémon when the big update arrived last February. Swinub was everywhere in Cambridge, Boston that hoonose got an ice badge in a few days since the Gen 2 Update was rolled out.

Unfortunately, before the Water Festival started last week, Swinub become elusive. The Redditor initially thought that the monster would just come back once the in-game event was over, but it didn’t. This caused hoonose to speculate that Swinub could be a seasonal Pokémon for the winter and since it’s already spring in his area, the creature’s spawn rate has been significantly decreased. The Redditor also considered that this could just be purely coincidental and asked others if they noticed the same thing.

Reddit user with the handle Purple_Crayon said, “Noticed this in Chicago, too. Reminds me of how the once-notorious Drowsee spawns were diminished after the Halloween Event was over.” Redditor Hyacathusarullistad commented: “Now you mention it, Swinub has been much scarce since the Water Event ended, and the first day of spring happened to be within that event.”

Comments from other parts of the world also confirmed that Swinub has become quite rare since the Water Festival. There are also claims from certain users in different biomes that it’s the opposite for them, with Swinub becoming more ubiquitous than before.

Niantic has yet to comment on the speculations, but it has previously revealed that the rare Shiny Magikarp is staying in “Pokémon GO” for good, which opens the doors for more players to get a red Gyarados.