‘Pokémon Go’ Articuno Is Real But Niantic Has Revoked It

The case of the mysterious Articuno in Pokémon Go has been solved...somewhat.

After reports of Ohio-based trainers receiving Articuno in-game from Niantic themselves, of all places, the Pokémon Go creator has come out to address the Legendary Bird Pokémon appearing in the game before its time.

In a statement to IGN, a Niantic spokesperson provided the following:

"We recently noticed that a few Legendary Pokemon got into a few accounts when they shouldn’t have, To preserve the game’s integrity and as a measure of fairness, we have rectified the situation and revoked the legendary Pokemon from the Trainers’ accounts."

So it seems that these trainers were not gifted Articuno as they suggested but how they got the Ice-type Pokémon in Pokémon Go is still not known, but one can deduce they hacked into the game to either bring the Pokémon into the game or reskin another Pokémon.

Whatever the case, those who “caught” Articuno no longer have it.

The first Articuno sightings appeared on a now deleted Reddit thread and then a Ohio Pokémon Go Facebook page had a video of a Gym that housed an Articuno. When the trainer was questioned, they said that as a gift for losing their account Niantic gifted the Pokémon.

When pushed for proof, the trainer in question hesitated to provide the Niantic email.

So what do you think of Niantic’s response to the curious Articuno captures? Sound off in the comments section below.