A new in-game event has just been revealed, and subsequently started, in Pokémon GO. This event centers around Fighting-types and participating in battles.
Niantic recently announced the Battle Showdown event, which also just recently began, in Pokémon GO. The event is currently underway, as of 1:00pm PST/4:00pm EST today (March 5) and will continue until March 12 at 1:00pm PST/4:00pm EST. During this event, Fighting-types will appear more frequently, with Niantic mentioning Mankey, Machop, Makuhita, and Meditite specifically as Pokémon that will receive increased spawn rates. Also, Shiny Mankey and Shiny Machop will start appearing as well.
Additionally, this event gives players a greater incentive to participate in various types of battles. During the week of the event, players will earn twice as much Stardust as normal from Battles, Raids, and Catching Pokémon, and twice as much XP as usual can be earned for earning new or continuing progress on old Gym Badges. Lastly, a new move has been added to the game: Power-Up Punch. This Fighting-type move can only be learned by a few specific Pokémon, with the announcement pointing out Poliwrath, Hitmonchan, Kangaskhan, Medicham, and Lucario as some of the ones that can learn it. With the inclusion of Kangaskhan on this list, it is apparent that the move isn’t exclusive to only Fighting-types.
