Jump onto Pokémon Go between now and May 2 to catch a Shiny Diglett

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It's Niantics reward to players who helped clean up on Earth Day

The official Pokémon Go Twitter announced a few in-game bonuses as a reward for meeting their Earth Day clean up project expectations. Players can log on before May 2 to find ground-type Pokémon appearing more frequently, Shiny Diglett's running around in the wild, double catch stardust and candy, and Groudon raids. 

Niantic held their second Earth Day campaign after a successful series of events in 2018. Players joined efforts across 68 events around the world picking up 6.5 tons of garbage last year. To build off that success the Pokémon Go developers partnered with Playmob, an engagement platform, and 15 other organizations to host local cleanup events this year.

Over 14,800 players joined in on the cleanup, more than enough to satisfy Niantic's requirement that 7,000 players join in order for the rewards to be released. 

Despite a big turnout, some players on Reddit are disappointed Niantic didn't market the event more widely. They announced the Earth Day cleanup on their blog and the Pokémon Go Twitter feed but didn't use the actual app to invite players to participate locally. Niantic didn't use Pokémon Go's news tab or push features to notify players which could've made a big difference in turnout.

Niantic's got a bunch of other events coming to Pokémon Go for the rest of 2019 including the incredibly popular Pokémon Go Fest Chicago in June. They've also had a series of in-game events and new content, like three new legendaries, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf becoming available for example. After two years of sensational popularity, the catch-em-all fever is still going strong. 

Still keeping up on all the Pokémon Go action? Check out our breakdown of the current raid bosses in the augmented reality adventure.

Aron Garst
Contributor

Aron Garst is a journalist and writer exploring the future of games and interactivity. Follow him on X at @GarstProduction.