Niantic apologies to Pokemon Go players for “broken” Bewear Fast Attack error

Pokemon Go developer Niantic has apologized for an error that caused Bewaear to learn a Fast Attack that it wasn’t supposed to possess.

The past few years of the Pokemon video game franchise have been filled with performance issues, visual bugs, and a litany of things not working properly. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet might be the glitchiest entries in the series, with the DLC needing a patch to fix major problems.

Pokemon Go has had issues since day one, but they’re more accepted by the fans, seeing as it’s a live service game that regularly receives new content. Niantic is running a game that’s constantly played by millions worldwide, so hiccups are to be expected.

The glitches in Pokemon Go commonly involve the visuals messing up, but some have been known to affect the game’s mechanics, as was the case with a version of Bewear that was released with the wrong move type.

Niantic has apologized for a Pokemon Go glitch that caused Bewear to learn Drain Punch as a Fast Attack

The Niantic Support Twitter/X page has released an apology for an event Bewear that had an incorrect move. In this case, it had Drain Punch as a Fast Attack, which has now been changed to Shadow Claw.

Trainers, we have identified an issue with Bewear that learned the Fast Attack, Drain Punch in December. The issue has been resolved, and any affected Bewear will learn Shadow Claw as the Fast Attack instead of Drain Punch.

— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) January 11, 2024

This is an issue because Drain Punch is supposed to be a Charged Attack, which means you’re normally supposed to build up to it with Fast Attacks before unleashing it upon your foe for a ton of damage. Drain Punch is also Bewear’s signature move in Pokemon Go, giving it exclusive access to this attack.

The fact that Drain Punch was a Fast Attack meant that players could throw it out a lot quicker than normal, making it far more powerful than it’s supposed to be. It also skipped the usual charging animation, which meant other players couldn’t block it with shields.

It’s unclear how such a mistake could happen, considering moves are broken into two distinct categories in Pokemon Go. Whatever the case, the error has now been fixed, and Bewear can go back to terrorizing people in the Pokemon anime, not other creatures in Pokemon Go.