Niantic's Pokemon GO Gen 2 update is expected to release on 7 December, according to a leaked corporate email from a Starbucks employee who claims to have seen an internal memo regarding the Pokemon-inspired business deal between Startbucks and Niantic Labs.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife that around 100 Generation 2 Pokemon were added to Pokemon GO recently, after their names were found in the app's code. Although there has been no official announcement about the new Gen 2 content being added into the popular augmented-reality game, the freshly leaked internal memo from Starbucks further strengthens this claim.
The Starbucks employee, who leaked this information, has shared the screenshot of the leaked internal memo along with the corporate email via Reddit. The memo clearly outlines plans for launching Pokemon-inspired drinks along with an exclusive deal between Starbucks and Niantic to facilitate the use of Starbucks stores as drop zones for luring more Pokemons.
The leak which originated via Reddit presumably stirs up some suspicion regarding the legitimacy of the corporate email, especially given the poor language used with some glaring spelling mistakes in it.
I work at Starbucks and this is one of the most recent updates we received from corporate. Now, it's hard to say whether or not this specifically refers to Generation 2 (although what else could it mean?), whether or not Starbucks and Niantic are partnered up, or if this will even be pushed out on the date specified (things don't always go to plan). However, it all makes sense to me, but this would be a huge update. Based on the description of the event, it would require Niantic to put a Pokestop at every Starbucks. Lastly, I realize this may seem strange, especially with the "Pokeman", but it's a real email and I can send proof to the mods if required. Regardless, this isn't anything concrete and pretty vague, and no other information was given to us. As a huge fan of Pokemon and Pokemon Go, I couldn't NOT share the news with everyone. Fingers crossed that it's gonna happen!
It is evident that both the original leaked photo of the internal memo and the above post has now been removed from Reddit, fearing the ill-consequences of getting caught and facing legal hassles from Niantic.
The leak should be taken with a pinch of salt as the source doesn't seem to be substantial to support the claims, especially when Nintendo has not commented about these rumours yet.
[Source: Reddit]
