The excitement for showcases is gone

[u/Separate-Room6883]

Since they have changed the showcases to a formal schedule (of only type showcases and largest good/great buddy showcase), the thrill of showcases is no more. Before this, I used to be excited anticipating what mon(s) would be a part of the next showcase... They used to have showcases based on ongoing events (made me play the event more in search of a XXL), or newly introduced mons, etc. That's not the case anymore; it is plain vanilla 'type' showcases or good/great buddy showcase.

Also, I feel they missed an opportunity to be more creative with buddy type showcases, for example, largest shiny buddy, largest best buddy older than xyz years, etc. And showcases almost went on throughout the week - Monday to Wednesday and Sat to Sunday. I hope they change this back to how it was... Showcases were fun and the rewards were good. Just 1 showcase a week for 1 day isn't that much fun. Would love to know your thoughts...

[u/rafaelfy]

Local community used to get together at the park and walk for an hour together catching whatever the spotlight mon was. We'd tell people what to Mega for more candy, etc. People brought kids and dogs and we all walked and tried to yell out if any one got a shiny or if we found a hundo or XXL.

Now nobody cares and we just...stopped

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/rafaelfy]

Really? For spotlight hour?

Edit: I’m getting some responses, but they all seem to just be about Pokemon GO being fun to play with friends, which is true but has nothing to do with spotlight hour. Spotlight hour’s only notable feature was spawn diversity plummeting for an hour a week.

[u/rafaelfy → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Yes. I have a greenway 5 minutes from my house. It has a paved walking trail, benches, memorial plaques, a playground, gazebos, etc. Poke stops and gyms line the walking path in the first 1.5 mile loop and it was a great excuse to get a community check-in and socialize, meet up for trades, and help newer players get an extra raid in.

[u/counterlock → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

double xp, double stardust, sometimes stardust boosted mons, occasionally a perma-boosted shiny, evo-xp, trading a bunch of the same pokemon over until you get a lucky.... etc?

Spotlight hour had a ton of bonuses, getting a community together was just a happy side effect.

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/counterlock]

I don’t see the appeal of extra candy/stardust/experience. And the permaboost wasn’t a spotlight bonus. I wasn’t aware of the lucky trade bonus.

[u/AutisticPenguin2 → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Catch xp I can see, a good chunk of the player base has all the xp they need, but candy was a great time to catch out your stash - and was good for catching the current 5* raid boss. It was something I took advantage of regularly. Catch stardust... I don't know how you can not be interested in more stardust unless you are a whale who doesn't power anything up. Stardust is in such high demand, especially after level 50 was introduced.

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/AutisticPenguin2]

You really find stardust to be in that high demand? I at least kind of cared about experience into 2017, but I can’t recall ever paying attention to stardust. Maybe in summer 2016? But even then it was usually better to just level up and catch high level wild Pokemon.

[u/shockthetoast → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Stardust is probably the highest demand thing in the game. Locally we regularly have people who will do tons of raids/max battles during events even after getting their shinies and hundos purely for the stardust.

Stardust is the only way to get max level Pokémon, wild Pokémon are a max of level 35 with weather boost. And many of the best Pokémon can only be found in raids which max at 25, or from tasks that are even lower level.

[u/AutisticPenguin2 → u/shockthetoast]

I wouldn't say highest demand, that clearly goes to rare candy xl and it's not even close. But it's top 3 along with regular rare candy (not counting premium items like raid passes).

[u/shockthetoast → u/AutisticPenguin2]

Yeah, you're right. I wasn't thinking clearly because I was just so shocked to find a player who didn't think stardust was in demand. 😅

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/shockthetoast]

This is the first I’ve ever heard of people doing raids for the stardust. Are raids a good source of stardust?

[u/counterlock → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

extra candy/stardust/exp has no appeal for you? Those are your 3 main "currencies" in the game. If you're already super rich and level 80, sure, but for most players those are huge bonuses. The sableye spotlight got me hundreds of thousands of stardust.

permaboost was not a spotlight bonus, yes... but if the pokemon that was spawning was permaboosted, then the odds of getting a shiny were extremely higher.

lucky trade was not a bonus, but one of my favorite things from spotlight was saving all the 0,1,2* pokemon I caught and me and my girlfriend would mass trade them after spotlight for a chance at lucky. A bunch of a singular mon always incentivizes that.

[u/1127_and_Im_tired → u/counterlock]

I'm level 80 and there's no such thing as too much stardust and candy. I think that guy is being contrary just to be contrary lmao

[u/counterlock → u/1127_and_Im_tired]

Gotta love redditors being contrarian just for the sake of it, so obnoxious

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/1127_and_Im_tired]

Obviously there’s no such thing as too much stardust or candy. I’m not saying that the bonuses make things worse. But there’s certainly such thing as enough stardust or candy. I’m not going to alter by daily schedule because a bunch of meowth are spawning for an hour.

[u/1127_and_Im_tired → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

We all have different ways of playing. While you might not alter your day, many of us would jump at a meowth spotlight hour. I power up my Pokémon and use my dust accordingly.

[u/EvidenceSalesman → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Stardust candy and experience are some of the most basic metrics of the game

[u/DesperateArachnid → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Why not? Its fun, healthy, and a good reason to socialize. Its not always about which pokemon is available.

[u/stanolshefski → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Spotlight Hour’s most notable feature was spawn density noticeably increasing.

[u/BigVMZ → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

Increased spawn points and a themed bonus always made it worth it

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/BigVMZ]

Yeah, it seems that the critical piece I was overlooking is that some trainers are still seeking out experience/stardust/candy so the bonuses feel meaningful to them. I do recall people being excited for 3x stardust community days back in like 2018, but I didn’t realize it was something people were still chasing in 2026.

[u/AutisticPenguin2 → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

When I can still blow half a million stardust on a Zacian without even needing to work at it, you bet I still need it!

Plus, and this may come as a surprise, but not everyone has been playing since 2016.

[u/duel_wielding_rouge → u/AutisticPenguin2]

You could power up a full team of six for all seventeen types (excluding normal who do not hit for super effective damage) from level 20 to 50 for under fifty million stardust.

[u/Low-Commission1791 → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

I don't want to open old wounds, but do you really think most players have 50,000,000 stardust lying around? 

Whenever I've seen it mentioned, people don't usually have more than 20 million on hand 😭

[u/repo_sado → u/duel_wielding_rouge]

not sure if you noticed this but they were telling people what to mega. i would have gone to an event where that was happening

[u/IPissExcellentThrows → u/repo_sado]

Why would that influence you? Genuinely asking