The newest rumors for the popular ARG game from Niantic and Nintendo, come not from a major leak, but strangely, from Starbucks.
Leaked Starbucks employee guides have found their way online, and while they’re not verified, alleged Starbucks employees claim they’re legit. The actual guide is a ‘Barista need-to-know’ guide that states ‘The world of Pokemon GO is about to expand with new Pokemon and a new Starbucks beverage!’.
The flyers indicate, furthermore, that the second generation of Pokemon will arrive on Thursday, December 8th. T.o add to this, certain fans mined through Pokemon GO’s data last November, finding references to about a hundred Pokemon from the Gold and Silver, as well as Ditto from the first generation. And as time passed, Ditto indeed appeared in Pokemon GO by November’s end.
The employee guide also hints at a new corporate partnership between Pokémon Go and Starbucks. If the flyers are right, then a majority of Starbucks stores across the US will become designated PokeStops or Gyms. Also, Starbucks will introduce a new Pokemon-branded Frappuccino. This would mark one of the first times that Niantic reached out to another corporate entity specifically to promote Pokemon GO. However, for their older game Ingress, they’ve had experience using sponsored locations, such as a Japan launch in partnership with McDonald’s.
No word from either Niantic, Nintendo, or Starbucks as to whether or not this barista guide is the real deal, though.
