a to zygarde research steps

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How to complete A to Zygarde Special Research in Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go has recently been releasing a lot of awesome content. From the new user-created routes to shadow Pokemon. However, one Pokemon that has garnered a lot of interest is Zygarde, the legendary Ground and Dragon-type Pokemon from Kalo. If you want a piece of this incredible creature, then you’ll need to make way into the A to Zygarde Special Research. Not only will this net you Zygarde, but loads of other rewards as well!

A to Zygarde: all Special Research tasks and rewards

Below I’ve listed the six steps that need to be fulfilled to complete this Special Research. But don’t worry, there are only really four sets of tasks, as two of the steps are simply a bunch of free rewards! In the later steps, after you’ve got Zygarde, there are a lot of tasks that revolve around the new routes feature. Bear in mind that this is a new feature, and so there may not be many or any near where you live.

Also note that you don’t need to complete them all to get Zygarde!

• Walk 1 km –  x5 Pinap Berries
• Catch 10 Pokémon –  x5 Potions
• Use 5 Berries to help catch Pokémon – x5 Pokeballs
• Complete all tasks in this step – x500 Stardust
• Make 5 Great Throws –  x10 Razz Berries
• Power up Pokémon 5 times – x10   Nanab Berries
• Hatch an Egg –  x10 Pokeballs
• Complete all tasks in this step –  x1,000 Stardust

On this step, you get to simply claim x10 Great Balls, x10 Super Potions, x1,000 Stardust, and you get Zygarde (10% form) and a Zygarde Cube! No work required on this step!

You can carry on pursuing the A to Zygarde Special Research for even more incredible rewards.

Image via Niantic

Related: How to find Zygarde Cells in Pokemon GO

• Follow 3 Routes –  x1 Incense
• Catch 20 Pokémon while following Routes –  x3 Revives
• Find a Zygarde Cell –  x5 Ultra Balls
• Complete all tasks in this step –  x1,000 Stardust and x1,000 XP
• Use Incense while following a Route –  x15 Great Balls
• Earn 3 Candies with your buddy –  x1,500 Stardust
• Follow 5 Routes –  x10 Ultra Balls
• Complete all tasks in this step –  x2,000 XP
• Claim Reward : x1 Star Piece
• Claim Reward : x2,000 XP
• Claim Reward : x1 Golden Razz Berry
• Complete all tasks in this step : x2,500 Stardust, x2,500 XP

Once again, simply reaching this step will grant you even more rewards! No work on your part.

I hope you enjoyed our breakdown of the A to Zygarde Special Research for Pokemon Go. For even more Pokemon Go help, PC Invasion has got your back.

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Pokemon GO: From A to Zygarde Special Research Guide

Zygarde is making its Pokemon GO debut with the latest Special Research, From A to Zygarde . Zygarde is an interesting Pokemon in that it’s comprised of Cells and Cores, and can change its form depending on how many Zygarde Cells it’s obtained. During the course of From A to Zygarde, you’ll get a chance to learn more about these Cells, how to get them and how to catch Zygarde in Pokemon GO.

From A to Zygarde Special Research in Pokemon GO

The From A to Zygarde Special Research is comprised of six parts , with multiple tasks within those parts. This Special Research is part of the Blaze New Trails event highlighting the latest feature in Pokemon GO, routes. The initial stages of the research doesn’t require you to head off on a route, exploring the new feature is a task later on. Here’s all the tasks needed to complete each stage of From A to Zygarde as well as the rewards.

From A to Zygarde Stage 1/6

• Reward: Pinap Berry x5
• Reward: Potion x5
• Reward: Poke Ball x5

Stage Reward: Stardust x500

From A to Zygarde Stage 2/6

• Reward: Razz Berry x10
• Reward: Nanab Berry x10
• Reward: Poke Ball x10

Stage Reward: Stardust 1,000

From A to Zygarde Stage 3/6

• Reward: Great Ball x10
• Reward: Super Potion x10
• Reward: Stardust x100

Stage Reward: Zygarde Encounter , Zygarde Cube x1

From A to Zygarde Stage 4/6

• Reward: Incense x1
• Reward: Revive x3
• Reward: Ultra Ball x5

Stage Reward: Stardust x1,000, XP x1,000

From A to Zygarde Stage 5/6

• Reward: Great Ball x15
• Reward: Stardust x1,500
• Reward: Ultra Ball x10

Stage Reward: XP x2,000

From A to Zygarde Stage 6/6

• Reward: Star Piece x1
• Reward: XP x2,000
• Golden Razz Berry x1

Stage Reward: Stardust x2,500, XP x2,500

Those are all the tasks for each stage of the From A to Zygarde Special Research in Pokemon GO . If you’re only looking to obtain Zygarde, you’ll be able to encounter it when you complete stage 3. For more on Zygarde and routes, along with other guides, checkout our Pokemon GO guide library .

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All Pokémon Go: From A to Zygarde Special Research tasks and rewards

One of the most exciting debuts in Pokémon Go this season has to be Zygarde, the Order Pokémon, making its first appearance in a new event, Blazing New Trails.

The Gen VI Legendary will be appearing alongside a new Special Research story from July 21 at 10am to July 24 at 8pm, local time.

This event is also part of the introduction for Routes, a new feature where you can either create your own unique paths while playing the game or follow ones made by other players to earn rewards and encounters. Niantic cleverly tied this feature into the Special Research story, which will net you an encounter with Zygarde and give you a Zygarde Cube to begin hunting down Zygarde Cells .

For your first opportunity to catch it, you’ll of course need to work through the From A to Zygarde Special Research tasks. Thankfully, the Research is completely free this time around with six pages of tasks to keep you busy.

All tasks and rewards for Pokémon Go : From A to Zygarde Special Research

From a to zygarde special research page one.

• Five Pinap Berries
• Five Potions
• Five Poké Balls

Total Reward: 500 Stardust

From A to Zygarde Special Research page two

• 10 Razz Berries
• 10 Nanab Berries
• 10 Poké Balls

Total Reward: 1,000 Stardust

From A to Zygarde Special Research page three

• 10 Great Balls
• 10 Super Potions
• 1,000 Stardust

Total Reward: Zygarde (10 percent Forme) encounter and a Zygarde Cube

From A to Zygarde Special Research page four

• One Incense
• Three Revives
• Five Ultra Balls

Total Reward: 1,000 XP and 1,000 Stardust

Related: Pokémon Go players label new feature ‘disappointment’ despite Zygarde debut, bonuses

From A to Zygarde Special Research page five

• 15 Great Balls
• 1,500 Stardust
• 10 Ultra Balls

Total Rewards: 2,000 XP

From A to Zygarde Special Research page six

• One Star Piece
• One Golden Razz Berry

Total Reward: 2,500 XP and 2,500 Stardust

Once you complete page three of this research and grab your Zygarde, you can begin collecting Zygarde Cells and working to turn your Zygarde 10 percent Forme to Zygarde 50 percent or 100 percent once you find enough of them.

All Pokémon Go Blazing New Trails exclusive Field Research tasks and rewards

• 2,000 Stardust
• Yungoos encounter

Related: Pokémon Go received a friendly new feature and Niantic didn’t tell anyone

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Pokémon Go From A to Zygarde: all Research tasks

• Author: Marco Wutz

Zygarde has finally made it into Pokémon Go and can be obtained in a free Special Research story available to all players of the mobile game. You can claim the questline simply by logging into the game at the moment, after which you can work on the missions without any time limit.

From A to Zygarde not only allows you to get a Zygarde, you’re tasked with engaging with the brand-new Routes feature as well. Routes are paths made by players, which can be followed and completed by other users to get special rewards.

Here are all Pokémon Go From A to Zygarde Research tasks and their rewards.

Pokémon Go From A to Zygarde: all Special Research tasks

This Special Research consists of six steps, though only four of them actually have any tasks for you in store – two of them just ask you to claim your rewards, so that’s nice. Here’s what you’ll need to do to get your very own Zygarde:

Step 1 of 6

• Walk 1 km : Pinap Berry x5
• Catch 10 Pokémon : Potion x5
• Use 5 Berries to help catch Pokémon : Pokéball x5
• Complete all tasks in this step : Stardust x500

Step 2 of 6

• Make 5 Great Throws : Razz Berry x10
• Power up Pokémon 5 times : Nanab Berry x10
• Hatch an Egg : Pokéball x10
• Complete all tasks in this step : Stardust x1,000

Step 3 of 6

• Claim Reward : Great Ball x10
• Claim Reward : Super Potion x10
• Claim Reward : Stardust x1,000
• Complete all tasks in this step : Zygarde, Zygarde Cube x1

Step 4 of 6

• Follow 3 Routes : Incense x1
• Catch 20 Pokémon while following Routes : Revive x3
• Find a Zygarde Cell : Ultra Ball x5
• Complete all tasks in this step : Stardust x1,000, XP x1,000

Step 5 of 6

• Use Incense while following a Route : Great Ball x15
• Earn 3 Candies with your buddy : Stardust x1,500
• Follow 5 Routes : Ultra Ball x10
• Complete all tasks in this step : XP x2,000

Step 6 of 6

• Claim Reward : Star Piece x1
• Claim Reward : XP x2,000
• Claim Reward : Golden Razz Berry x1
• Complete all tasks in this step : Stardust x2,500, XP x2,500

You may need some patience at first, as it takes a while for a submitted Route to be approved.

Keep in mind that the Routes feature is brand-new and roll-out of it is slow, so some players may not even have access to it yet. It also takes at least 24 hours for a new Route to be approved by Niantic once it’s been submitted, so if you’re the first in your area to get access to the feature and want to create a Route you should lay your plans with some patience.

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Pokemon GO Special Research ‘From A to Zygarde’ All Tasks and Rewards Listed

Pokemon GO’s latest event Blaze New Trails brings exciting new content to the game. From Routes which provide the opportunity to both explore and map out interesting locations in your area, to the collection of Zygarde Cells to create the unique legendary Pokemon. The special research ‘From A to Zygarde’ coincides with the event to give players further insight into both Zygarde and the unique method of obtaining it. Here are all of the tasks and rewards that you will come across during the special research ‘From A to Zygarde’.

All Tasks and Rewards in ‘From A to Zygarde’

Below are the following tasks and rewards that you will complete and receive during the special research ‘From A to Zygarde’.

Step 1 of 6

• Walk 1km – 5 Pinap Berries
• Catch 10 Pokemon – 5 Potions
• Use 5 Berries to help catch Pokemon – 5 Poke Balls

Reward:  500 Stardust

Step 2 of 6

• Make 5 Great Throws – 10 Razz Berries
• Power Up Pokemon 5 times – 10 Nanab Berries
• Hatch an Egg – 10 Poke Balls

Reward:  1000 Stardust

Step 3 of 6

• Claim Reward! – 10 Great Balls
• Claim Reward! – 10 Super Potions
• Claim Reward! – 1000 Stardust

Reward:  Zygarde 10% Form and a Zygarde Cube

Related: Pokemon GO Blaze New Trails: Event Times, New Features and More

Step 4 of 6

• Follow 3 Routes – 1 Incense
• Catch 20 Pokemon while following Routes – 3 Revives
• Find a Zygarde Cell – 5 Ultra Balls

Reward:  1000 XP and 1000 Stardust

Step 5 of 6

• Use an Incense while following a Route – 15 Great Balls
• Earn 3 Candies walking with your buddy – 1500 Stardust
• Follow 5 Routes – 10 Ultra Balls

Reward:  2000 XP

Step 6 of 6

• Claim Reward! – 1 Star Piece
• Claim Reward! – 2000 XP
• Claim Reward! – 1 Golden Razz Berry

Reward:  2500 XP and 2500 Stardust

Once you have completed the special research, you will now have your Zygarde Cube and will be much closer to collecting enough Zygarde Cells for your newly caught Zygarde.

Pokemon GO: From A to Zygarde Special Research Tasks and Rewards

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Niantic has started to roll out the new Routes feature in Pokemon GO , allowing trainers the opportunity to create paths that other players can travel on to earn rewards and catch Pokemon. It gives players something else to do while walking around that's not just battling gyms or spinning PokeStops, adding a little flair to the monster-catching mobile game. And to celebrate the new mechanic, Pokemon GO 's Blaze New Trails event is live for some people.

The Blaze New Trails event actually kicks off on July 21 at 10 am local time and runs until July 24 at 8 pm local time. The main draw for this event is the inclusion of Zygarde , the legendary Ground/Dragon Legendary from Pokemon X and Y (gen 6) . While the Order Pokemon doesn't evolve, it does have three forms that it switches to and from. However, to change Zygarde's form, PoGo trainers will need to collect Zygarde Cells. With that being said, there is Special Research starting now that involves Zygarde, called ' From A to Zygarde .' We have the tasks and rewards here for players to check out.

Updated on July 21: We've added a new section to our Pokemon GO guide that goes over the Field Research Tasks for the Blaze New Trails event . A new note has also been added to give players info on how to join a Route to get the chance to collect Zygarde Cells to change its form.

RELATED: Pokemon GO Exploit Lets You Unlock Nightcap Snorlax Much Quicker

The Research Tasks and Rewards for the 'From A to Zygarde ' story can be found below (thanks, Leekduck ).

To find new Routes to follow in Pokemon GO , players can press the Nearby menu and then hit the tab on the right that says ' Route .' This will show nearby Routes that other players have created. If you get lucky, you can find Zygarde Cells on the Route. Collect 50 of them to change Zygarde's form .

Pokemon GO: Blaze New Trails Field Research Tasks and Rewards

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MORE: Pokemon GO Season of Hidden Gems Guide: Events, New Pokemon, GO Fest, and More

From A to Zygarde

• View history

From A to Zygarde is the Special Research to catch Zygarde , the Legendary Pokémon from the Kalos region. It was made available since July 20 th , 2023. [1]

Task sets [ ]

Professor Willow dialogue [ ]

• Hello, TRAINER ! What’ve you been up to? Catching Pokémon? Exploring a new Route, perhaps?
• As for me, I’ve been absorbed in reading a research article about the Order Pokémon, Zygarde.
• The writer hypothesizes that Zygarde monitors the ecosystem from deep within the cave where it lives. And when the ecosystem falls into disarray, it appears and reveals its secret power.
• I wonder if it ventures outside for other reasons. Here’s an idea for a paper: “Zygarde Habitats and Migration Patterns”!
• What do you think? I wonder what other activities and locales might interest Zygarde...
• Try to come up with a few theories while you’re out exploring!
• Welcome back, TRAINER !
• While you were out, I caught up on observational reports from local Trainers.
• Curiously, several mentioned amorphous, green blobs they found along Routes. Some Trainers even thought they might be alive!
• I have a theory about what those wobbly blobs might be, but I’d like to review my research materials first. Maybe even reread that article from earlier...
• In the meantime, please continue your fieldwork. I’m positive I’ll have a less amorphous update by the time you get back.
• Oh, and I suggest you power up your Pokémon, just in case you run into anything unexpected out there!
• There you are, TRAINER ! You’ll never guess what happened!
• As I combed through my notes, I saw something blur past me and come to a screeching halt outside the lab.
• It moved fast, but I’m almost positive it was the very Pokémon I’ve been investigating: Zygarde!
• It might still be there. Check it out, and here—take this. I’ll explain how to use it once you’re back.
• Incredible, TRAINER !
• So it really was Zygarde!
• Zygarde is a curious Pokémon. It’s made of Zygarde Cells, and its appearance depends on the number of cells it has gathered.
• I’d say this one has about 10% of its cells. It’ll change and grow as it collects more.
• And that’s what my gift is for! The Zygarde Cube can be used to store the Zygarde Cells that you find. You can think of it as a nest for those cells.
• And as for where can you find those cells... Do you recall those green blobs that have been found along Routes? I reckon they were, in fact, Zygarde Cells!
• Could I ask you to test that hypothesis, TRAINER ?
• Excellent work finding your first Zygarde Cell, TRAINER !
• You’re off to a great start to assembling Zygarde’s forms, but there’s a long journey ahead of you.
• It looks like this Zygarde needs to collect 250 cells to reach its Complete Forme. It seems the cells are only gathering along Routes, so you’ve got a lot of traveling in your future!
• I can’t wait for you to get started—just think of all the Pokémon and friends you’ll meet on the way!
• Explore a few more Routes, and I suggest you use an Incense while you’re out there. We’ve got to keep up with our studies of other Pokémon as well!
• You traveled five entire Routes?! Well done! That adventurous spirit is what makes you such a joy to work with.
• I’m sure Zygarde appreciates your perseverance too. And your efforts will be well-rewarded! In its Complete Forme, Zygarde has enough power to overwhelm even Xerneas or Yveltal.
• Zygarde can radiate high-powered energy from the orifice on its chest. It uses force to neutralize those who harm the ecosystem.
• That’s some good motivation for us to each do our part, eh? Even little things, like recycling when we can. But I don’t think we should need a threat to want to care for our surroundings.
• After all, Pokémon and even Trainers like yourself do their best in a healthy environment—we should all work hard to make the world a place where everyone can thrive.
• I’ll leave you with that thought, TRAINER . Smooth travels on your journey to gather Zygarde Cells, and let me be the first to know when you’ve collected enough to see its Complete Forme. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat!

References [ ]

• ↑ Celebrate the launch of Routes with the Blaze New Trails event! . Pokémon GO Live . Retrieved on 2023-07-20.
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From A to Zygarde

Event research, latest content.

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How to complete a to zygarde special research in pokemon go.

A to Zygarde: Complete Special Research for Zygarde in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go has been releasing exciting new content, including user-created routes and shadow Pokémon. One highly anticipated Pokémon is Zygarde, a legendary Ground and Dragon-type Pokémon from the Kalo region. If you’re eager to add this incredible creature to your collection, you’ll need to embark on the A to Zygarde Special Research. Completing this research will not only reward you with Zygarde but also with various other prizes!

A to Zygarde: Special Research Tasks and Rewards

Below, you’ll find a list of the six steps required to complete this Special Research:

• Walk 1 km – Receive x5 Pinap Berries
• Catch 10 Pokémon – Receive x5 Potions
• Use 5 Berries to help catch Pokémon – Receive x5 Pokéballs
• Complete all tasks in this step – Receive x500 Stardust
• Make 5 Great Throws – Receive x10 Razz Berries
• Power up Pokémon 5 times – Receive x10 Nanab Berries
• Hatch an Egg – Receive x10 Pokéballs
• Complete all tasks in this step – Receive x1,000 Stardust

In this step, you’ll automatically receive the following rewards:

• x10 Great Balls
• x10 Super Potions
• x1,000 Stardust
• Zygarde (10% forme)
• Zygarde Cube

Once you’ve acquired Zygarde, you can continue the A to Zygarde Special Research to unlock even more incredible rewards.

• Follow 3 Routes – Receive x1 Incense
• Catch 20 Pokémon while following Routes – Receive x3 Revives
• Find a Zygarde Cell – Receive x5 Ultra Balls
• Complete all tasks in this step – Receive x1,000 Stardust and x1,000 XP
• Use Incense while following a Route – Receive x15 Great Balls
• Earn 3 Candies with your buddy – Receive x1,500 Stardust
• Follow 5 Routes – Receive x10 Ultra Balls
• Complete all tasks in this step – Receive x2,000 XP
• Claim Reward : x1 Star Piece
• Claim Reward : x2,000 XP
• Claim Reward : x1 Golden Razz Berry
• Complete all tasks in this step : x2,500 Stardust, x2,500 XP

Reaching this final step will once again reward you with additional prizes, requiring no further effort on your part. We hope you’ve found our breakdown of the A to Zygarde Special Research for Pokémon Go helpful. For more assistance with Pokémon Go, check out PC Invasion.

How to get Zygarde in Pokémon Go

How to catch the Order Pokémon in Pokémon Go.

Zygarde is a Gen 6 Pokémon who debuted in Pokémon Go during the Season of Hidden Gems .

Released as part of the Blaze New Trails event during July 2023 in Pokémon Go , Zygarde is a Legendary Pokémon part of the 'Aura trio' along with Xerneas and Yveltal.

While Zygarde doesn't evolve, it can change Formes, but you only need to catch this Pokémon once if you want to complete your Pokédex.

Below you’ll learn how to get Zygarde in Pokémon Go to help you add this Pokémon to your Kalos Pokédex.

Update: On Wednesday 27th September a running count of how many Zygarde Cells you've collected was added to the Zygarde Cube.

How to get Zygarde in Pokémon Go

Zygarde made its first appearance in Pokémon Go on Friday 21st July as part of the Blaze New Trails event.

Here’s how to get Zygarde in Pokémon Go:

• Complete Step 3 of the From A to Zygarde special research

Since there’s only one way to catch a Zygarde right now, you must log into Pokémon Go and pick up the special research before Blaze New Trails ends on Monday 24th July at 8pm (local time). You can take your time once you have the research, as special research stays until you complete it. Just make sure you actually pick up Blaze New Trails to ensure you don’t miss out!

We recommend taking the time to catch a Zygarde during Blaze New Trails, because, at the time of writing, we don’t know when this Pokémon’s will return to the game once the event finishes. There’s a good chance that Zygarde may become a rare Pokémon when Blaze New Trails ends, so it’s worth adding to your Pokédex while you have the chance.

Since Zygarde doesn’t evolve, you only need to catch one to add it to your Gen 6 Pokédex. However, Zygarde does have three Formes: Zygarde 10%, Zygarde 50%, and Zygarde Complete Forme.

To change Zygarde’s Forme and add it to your Pokédex as well, you have to use the Zygarde Cells stored in your Zygarde Cube. The Zygarde Cube is rewarded along with Zygarde in Step 3 of the From A to Zygarde special research, and you can collect Zygarde Cells by travelling through Routes .

Look out for balls of light sparkling on the ground - these are Zygarde Cells! You need to use 250 Cells to achieve Zygarde’s Complete Forme.

Good luck getting Zygarde!

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How to Catch Zygarde in Pokemon GO

The Legendary Pokemon Zygarde is finally coming to Pokemon GO – here’s how to catch Zygarde and change its form with a new item.

Zygarde, the Order Pokemon, made its debut in Pokemon X & Y, and for a while was rumored to be the focus of a ‘Z’ installment that never surfaced.

Now, Zygarde is arriving in Pokemon GO, and players can even change its form with Zygarde Cells.

Pokemon GO: How to Catch Zygarde

The only way to catch Zygarde in Pokemon GO is to complete the first 3 stages of a new Special Research Story ‘From A to Zygarde.’

The new Special Research will become available on July 21 at 10 AM local time .

The missions you need to complete in each step are as follows:

After you’ve claimed all your rewards in Step 3, you’ll receive Zygarde in its 10% Forme.

You’ll also receive a Zygarde Cube, allowing you to collect Zygarde Cells while out and about.

Check out the full list of From A to Zygarde Research Tasks and rewards here !

How to Get Zygarde Cells in Pokemon GO

Zygarde Cells can only be found when walking along Pokemon GO’s new Routes. When following the blue paths created by the game’s community, you’ll occasionally encounter green sparkles on the map .

Tap on these mysterious lights to find a Zygarde Cell, which is then stored in your Zygarde Cube.

To find a Route in Pokemon GO, simply press the nearby button in the bottom right (the one with silhouettes of Pokemon on it). Then, select Routes, and choose a nearby Route to follow.

While on your chosen walk, keep your eyes peeled for the green sparkles shown in the image above.

Here’s everything you need to know about creating or following Routes in Pokemon GO !

What Are Zygarde Cells?

Zygarde Cells are individual cells that come together to make up the Legendary Pokemon Zygarde. In Pokemon GO, players can use Zygarde Cells to change Zygarde’s form.

Zygarde has three forms in total:

In Pokemon X & Y, players had to find Zygarde Cells across the Kalos region in order to assemble the Pokemon outright.

This time, players will receive a 10% Forme Zygarde from the ‘From A to Zygarde’ Special Research, and must then collect enough Zygarde Cells to power up their Legendary Pokemon until it’s complete.

How to Change Zygarde Form in Pokemon GO

To upgrade Zygarde, simply find the Pokemon’s page and select Change Form. You’ll need a certain amount of Zygarde Cells, found while following Routes, to change Zygarde’s form.

Pokemon GO players can change Zygarde’s form from 10% Forme to 50% Forme, and eventually to Complete Forme by using Zygarde Cells:

• Zygarde 10% Forme -> 50% Forme: 50 Zygarde Cells
• Zygarde 50% Forme -> Complete Forme: 200 Zygarde Cells

Reaching Zygarde’s Complete Forme is no easy task, but it’ll be worth your time. After all, Niantic teases:

“In its Complete Forme, Zygarde has enough power to overwhelm even Xerneas or Yveltal.”

Be sure to get collecting those cells!

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Pokémon Go reinvents a classic Pokémon feature: Routes

Explore like a local

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A new feature for Pokémon Go rolls out Thursday, letting players create and explore custom Routes. Unlike in classic Pokémon games, the Routes feature in Pokémon Go will introduce in-game pathways that lead players from destination to destination with, hopefully, exciting encounters and intriguing sights along the way.

Routes in Pokémon Go are designed to be something like an in-game walking tour, connecting the game’s PokéStops and Gyms in creative ways to encourage players to get moving and to discover interesting landmarks.

Players will also be rewarded for walking the game’s Routes, Niantic said in a blog post, doling out extra XP, Buddy Candy, and other bonuses as they explore players’ creations.

In an interview, Pokémon Go senior producer Chad Jones told Polygon the goal with Routes is to give the game’s players a way to explore cities, towns, and parks like a local. Routes, Jones said, will let trainers “share knowledge that they have about the world to create the in-between spaces between the points of interest that we already have.” That means things like interesting hikes or “cool secret paths that people wouldn’t know unless they were a local — hidden gardens or art or things that they are just aware of that most people wouldn’t be,” Jones said. He likened the feature to other popular mapping apps, like AllTrails and Strava.

“In my neighborhood, we have a park where we have a back entrance that goes over a wooden footbridge, and is like objectively more enjoyable for humans, who are just walking around the world that Google [Maps] wouldn’t lead you to it because they don’t know about it — and it’s inefficient,” Jones explained. “You wouldn’t know about it unless you were there with a local. We’re hoping that trainers will have an experience that they get to be shown the world through the eyes of people that are locals.”

One can easily see other examples of useful Routes: historical walking tours, pub crawls, “raid trains” leading to Gyms where Pokémon Go players regularly raid together. Routes can be short (500 meters), or very long (up to 20 kilometers), and can also be just, well, interesting drawings on the map. Using Routes, players could draw a map that looks like Pikachu, for example. (Don’t draw inappropriate things, Niantic says; players’ Routes will go through a review, so your rude drawing probably won’t make it through anyway.)

Players will be able to create Routes in-game, simply by choosing a PokéStop or Gym as their starting point, hitting “record” to start mapping their Route, writing some info about the Route, and submitting it for review. If approved, other players will be able to see it in-game from the Nearby menu.

To entice players to walk Routes, players will get the following bonuses:

• A new Route Badge by completing a Route
• Earning Buddy Candy more quickly
• More Pokémon attracted to Incense when exploring a Route for the first time
• An XP bonus for the first Route completed each day (completing Routes for seven days in a row will offer an increased XP bonus)
• A Buddy Heart when completing a Route while adventuring with your buddy

On Routes, players will also find a new item: Zygarde Cells. Pokémon Go is adding Zygarde, the “Order Pokémon,” as part of a new Special Research story called “From A to Zygarde.” While that Zygarde will be relatively weak upon catching it, it can be upgraded with Zygarde Cells (stored in a Zygarde Cube) to change Zygarde’s form. In its Complete Forme, Niantic says, Zygarde is powerful enough to overwhelm fellow Legendary Pokémon Xerneas or Yveltal.

Jones says Niantic expects Routes to benefit not just players in larger towns and cities, but those in more rural areas as well. “The rural communities are where we’re hoping it has the hugest impact,” he said, “because it’ll be a massive way for them to really get after it and start progressing the way that they would be able to if they lived in an urban area.”

Niantic itself has created a handful of Routes, but some Pokémon Go players using the company’s Wayfarer app have already started creating Routes ahead of the feature’s launch. It sounds like Route creation will roll out to players over time, and that Niantic has plans to evolve the feature with improved ratings and recommendations, perhaps even some kind of rewards for players who create well-liked Routes.

“We’re open to all sorts of different things,” Jones said, “with the intention that [Routes] becomes a nice addition to how trainers think about their normal play sessions.”

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Mayo Clinic biostatisticians power every step of medical research

Kris Schanilec

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From groundbreaking discoveries in breast cancer treatment to advancements in genomics, biostatisticians bring a unique perspective and skill set to medical research. Last year, Mayo Clinic's Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics supported about 5,000 studies spanning discovery science, clinical trials, translational science and population health.

"As one of the largest biostatistics groups in the U.S., Mayo Clinic biostatisticians are integrated into research programs to ensure that the statistical methods we use are the most appropriate in the context of the research question," says Jennifer Le-Rademacher, Ph.D. , chair of the Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics. 

Biostatistics staff support every step of a research study, starting with the research question. They advise on protocols and study designs. They build, curate, clean and analyze datasets. They report results, co-author papers and respond to statistical review comments.

The division has multiyear federal grants and serves as the statistics and data coordinating center for investigator-initiated, multicenter cancer research programs. Its staff members serve on National Institutes of Health committees and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panels, and they lead committees that guide national standards. They are faculty in national and international clinical research training programs.

Contributing to team science

For most of her 33-year career, Mayo Clinic statistician Vera Suman, Ph.D. , has worked in the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center statistical unit, where she is the lead statistician for breast cancer and melanoma. She also directs the Biostatistics Core in Mayo Clinic's Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE).

She supported a major phase 3 clinical trial of the drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) with chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment. She was part of the team that decided the assay process for confirming participant eligibility, helping to ensure data integrity.

"I'm just one piece in this whole operation. We couldn't do the kinds of trials and the number of trials we do without everybody involved," Dr. Suman says. "This is team science. It is collaboration."

Finding the story in the data

At any given time, principal biostatistician Ryan Lennon may be supporting 20 projects at various stages of development. He currently supports Mayo Clinic's Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory as well as the Gastroenterology and Rheumatology departments.

Lennon provided statistical expertise for a large pharmacogenetics clinical trial conducted at 40 centers worldwide. He helped plan the trial and played a key role throughout the seven-year study . The researchers found that genetic testing may be useful in selecting antiplatelet medications — a significant step forward in genetic-guided treatment.

For Lennon, it's about getting the best data for the research question. "I love getting to know the data and finding out what the story is inside it, and getting a number that helps people understand what the data is trying to tell us," he says.

Translating ideas to improve patient care

As a principal biostatistician at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Katie L. Kunze, Ph.D., likens her work to that of a translator. "My goal is to understand where the investigators and study team are coming from, what is the background research and then build a study or an analysis, or create a body of work, to investigate those questions and support patient care," Dr. Kunze says.

She supported a study that found that 1 in 8 patients with cancer may have an inherited, cancer-related gene mutation that is clinically actionable — ushering in a new era of genetic screening and detection.

Dr. Kunze supports gastroenterology, Center for Individualized Medicine and other areas. "It brings me joy when I feel the work I'm doing is actually helping patients," she says.

Stretching the limits of database design

Statistical programmers like Regina Herges ensure data quality and use various programming tools and techniques to support database design, data management, statistical analyses and results reporting.

Herges advises study teams on electronic systems to capture and house data. She also builds study databases and provides ongoing support. She has worked in many research areas and currently supports radiation oncology.

Shortly after Mayo Clinic launched a nationwide program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Herges and Laura A. Nelson were recruited to help solve an issue with a database serving more than 2,000 medical teams across the country. The Mayo team designed a single-system solution that could automatically link data on the back end when clinicians requested convalescent plasma for patients. 

"It was a really unique challenge, and we helped come up with a great solution," Herges says.

Read more about Mayo Clinic's biostatisticians.

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Google's AI is going to change the Google Search experience soon

Published on May 14, 2024

• Google Search is getting a major AI upgrade with new features like multi-step reasoning and planning capabilities.
• You’ll be able to ask complex questions, and Google Search will break them down to find the answers.
• Google Search will also understand video queries and help you plan meals and trips.

Google has been slowly integrating generative AI into the Google Search experience. It started with its Search Generative Experience (SGE) initiative, and at Google I/O today, the company announced a significant leap forward in integrating AI into its core search functionality.

First off, Google announced the introduction of multi-step reasoning capabilities to Google Search. This means you’ll be able to ask complex questions that involve multiple steps or sub-questions, and Google Search will intelligently break them down, solve them in the correct order, and deliver the answers in seconds.

At the event, Google showcased this feature with a complex query: finding the best fitness studios in a user’s neighborhood, factoring in walking distance from home, and any introductory offers they might have for new customers.

Google Search was able to understand the various parts of this question, process them simultaneously, and provide relevant suggestions. These improved reasoning capabilities will roll out as part of the updated AI Overviews feature, starting with English language queries in the US.

Another exciting addition is the ability to ask questions using video directly within Google Search. Google showed a demo in which a user filmed a malfunctioning record player with their phone camera and asked why it wasn’t working.

Based on the video and voice command, Google Search recognized the record player model and offered AI-generated suggestions for fixing the problem. This feature will be available soon for US users with English searches, with a planned future expansion to other regions.

Google has also added AI-powered planning tools to Search, designed to assist with tasks like meal planning and vacation itinerary creation. Users can input queries like “create a 3-day meal plan for a group that’s easy to prepare,” and the AI will generate a starting point with recipe options. Currently available in Search Labs for English-language users in the US, these planning tools will expand with more categories and customization options later this year.

Furthermore, Google is introducing an AI-organized results page to enhance the idea-generation process. When seeking inspiration for various topics, such as anniversary celebration venues, users will be presented with a streamlined page that categorizes relevant results under AI-generated headlines. This feature will initially focus on dining and recipes, with other categories to follow.

The company announced a range of other AI-enabled enhancements to Search at I/O, signaling that Google Search is on the cusp of a major transformation powered by the ever-evolving potential of Google’s AI.

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Justice Department takes 'major step' toward rescheduling marijuana

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department took a significant step toward rescheduling marijuana Thursday, formalizing its process to reclassify the drug as lower-risk and remove it from a category in which it has been treated as more dangerous than fentanyl and meth.

President Joe Biden announced the “major” move in a direct-to-camera video posted to his official account on X. “This is monumental,” Biden said in the message. “It’s an important move towards reversing long-standing inequities. … Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana, and I’m committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.”

The Biden administration has been signaling that it would move to reschedule the drug from Schedule I — a strict classification including drugs like heroin — to the less-stringent Schedule III, which would for the first time acknowledge the drug’s medical benefits at the federal level. The Drug Enforcement Administration submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on Thursday afternoon, triggering a 60-day comment period that will allow members of the public to submit remarks regarding the rescheduling proposal before it is finalized.

Biden first directed federal agencies to review how marijuana is scheduled in October 2022, weeks before that year’s midterm elections. The process was led by the DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Look folks, no one should be in jail for merely using or possessing marijuana. Period,” Biden said in Thursday’s video, his third time speaking extensively on the topic since his directive two years ago.

The second time Biden addressed the issue was during this year’s State of the Union address, making history by referring to marijuana from the dais in the House chamber. “No one should be jailed for using or possessing marijuana,” he said at the time.

Vice President Kamala Harris also released a video Thursday, hailing the progress.

“Currently marijuana is classified on the same level as heroin and more dangerous than fentanyl. We are finally changing that,” Harris said. “We are on the road to getting it done.”

During the first 30 days of the comment period, interested parties could request a hearing regarding the rescheduling proposal. Under the statute, the DEA would be required to hold a hearing before an administrative law judge.

After the DEA reviews and considers the public comments, and at the conclusion of any requested hearing, the DEA will issue a final order to reschedule marijuana. (The DEA could decline to reschedule the drug but that’s unlikely given the administration’s strong support).

The entire process can take anywhere from a few months to up to a year.

Once completed, federal scientists will be able to research and study the potential medical benefits of the drug for the first time since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted in 1971. It could also open the door for pharmaceutical companies to get involved with the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

For the $34 billion cannabis industry, the move would also eliminate significant tax burdens for businesses in states where the drug is legal, notably removing it from the IRS code’s Section 280E, which prohibits legal cannabis companies from deducting what would otherwise be ordinary business expenses.

The Justice Department’s rescheduling decision could also help shrink the black market, which has thrived despite legalization in states like New York and California, and has undercut legal markets, which are fiercely regulated and highly taxed.

Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the anti-marijuana legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, blasted the decision. “It’s become undeniable that politics, not science, is driving this decision and has been since the very beginning. This decision won’t legalize marijuana, and it won’t release anyone from prison or jail,” Sabet said. “This is setting the stage to create the Big Tobacco of our time.”

During his time in office, Biden issued pardons for prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana and issued a proclamation granting additional pardons for simple possession, attempted simple possession and use of the drug.

The White House has also urged governors to do the same in their states and some have heeded the call, including in Oregon and Massachusetts.

Democrats in Congress are pursuing a partisan effort to remove cannabis entirely from the Controlled Substances Act, empowering states to create their own cannabis laws and prioritize restorative and economic justice for those affected by the “war on drugs.”

“Congress must do everything we can to end the federal prohibition on cannabis and address long-standing harms caused by the War on Drugs,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said earlier this month.

Julie Tsirkin is a correspondent covering Capitol Hill.

Monica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.

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Using ideas from game theory to improve the reliability of language models

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Imagine you and a friend are playing a game where your goal is to communicate secret messages to each other using only cryptic sentences. Your friend's job is to guess the secret message behind your sentences. Sometimes, you give clues directly, and other times, your friend has to guess the message by asking yes-or-no questions about the clues you've given. The challenge is that both of you want to make sure you're understanding each other correctly and agreeing on the secret message.

MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers have created a similar "game" to help improve how AI understands and generates text. It is known as a “consensus game” and it involves two parts of an AI system — one part tries to generate sentences (like giving clues), and the other part tries to understand and evaluate those sentences (like guessing the secret message).

The researchers discovered that by treating this interaction as a game, where both parts of the AI work together under specific rules to agree on the right message, they could significantly improve the AI's ability to give correct and coherent answers to questions. They tested this new game-like approach on a variety of tasks, such as reading comprehension, solving math problems, and carrying on conversations, and found that it helped the AI perform better across the board.

Traditionally, large language models answer one of two ways: generating answers directly from the model (generative querying) or using the model to score a set of predefined answers (discriminative querying), which can lead to differing and sometimes incompatible results. With the generative approach, "Who is the president of the United States?" might yield a straightforward answer like "Joe Biden." However, a discriminative query could incorrectly dispute this fact when evaluating the same answer, such as "Barack Obama."

So, how do we reconcile mutually incompatible scoring procedures to achieve coherent, efficient predictions? 

"Imagine a new way to help language models understand and generate text, like a game. We've developed a training-free, game-theoretic method that treats the whole process as a complex game of clues and signals, where a generator tries to send the right message to a discriminator using natural language. Instead of chess pieces, they're using words and sentences," says Athul Jacob, an MIT PhD student in electrical engineering and computer science and CSAIL affiliate. "Our way to navigate this game is finding the 'approximate equilibria,' leading to a new decoding algorithm called 'equilibrium ranking.' It's a pretty exciting demonstration of how bringing game-theoretic strategies into the mix can tackle some big challenges in making language models more reliable and consistent."

When tested across many tasks, like reading comprehension, commonsense reasoning, math problem-solving, and dialogue, the team's algorithm consistently improved how well these models performed. Using the ER algorithm with the LLaMA-7B model even outshone the results from much larger models. "Given that they are already competitive, that people have been working on it for a while, but the level of improvements we saw being able to outperform a model that's 10 times the size was a pleasant surprise," says Jacob. 

"Diplomacy," a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe, where players negotiate alliances, betray friends, and conquer territories without the use of dice — relying purely on skill, strategy, and interpersonal manipulation — recently had a second coming. In November 2022, computer scientists, including Jacob, developed “Cicero,” an AI agent that achieves human-level capabilities in the mixed-motive seven-player game, which requires the same aforementioned skills, but with natural language. The math behind this partially inspired the Consensus Game. 

While the history of AI agents long predates when OpenAI's software entered the chat in November 2022, it's well documented that they can still cosplay as your well-meaning, yet pathological friend. 

The consensus game system reaches equilibrium as an agreement, ensuring accuracy and fidelity to the model's original insights. To achieve this, the method iteratively adjusts the interactions between the generative and discriminative components until they reach a consensus on an answer that accurately reflects reality and aligns with their initial beliefs. This approach effectively bridges the gap between the two querying methods. 

In practice, implementing the consensus game approach to language model querying, especially for question-answering tasks, does involve significant computational challenges. For example, when using datasets like MMLU, which have thousands of questions and multiple-choice answers, the model must apply the mechanism to each query. Then, it must reach a consensus between the generative and discriminative components for every question and its possible answers. 

The system did struggle with a grade school right of passage: math word problems. It couldn't generate wrong answers, which is a critical component of understanding the process of coming up with the right one. 

“The last few years have seen really impressive progress in both strategic decision-making and language generation from AI systems, but we’re just starting to figure out how to put the two together. Equilibrium ranking is a first step in this direction, but I think there’s a lot we’ll be able to do to scale this up to more complex problems,” says Jacob.   

An avenue of future work involves enhancing the base model by integrating the outputs of the current method. This is particularly promising since it can yield more factual and consistent answers across various tasks, including factuality and open-ended generation. The potential for such a method to significantly improve the base model's performance is high, which could result in more reliable and factual outputs from ChatGPT and similar language models that people use daily. 

"Even though modern language models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, have led to solving various tasks through chat interfaces, the statistical decoding process that generates a response from such models has remained unchanged for decades," says Google Research Scientist Ahmad Beirami, who was not involved in the work. "The proposal by the MIT researchers is an innovative game-theoretic framework for decoding from language models through solving the equilibrium of a consensus game. The significant performance gains reported in the research paper are promising, opening the door to a potential paradigm shift in language model decoding that may fuel a flurry of new applications."

Jacob wrote the paper with MIT-IBM Watson Lab researcher Yikang Shen and MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science assistant professors Gabriele Farina and Jacob Andreas, who is also a CSAIL member. They presented their work at the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) earlier this month, where it was highlighted as a "spotlight paper." The research also received a “best paper award” at the NeurIPS R0-FoMo Workshop in December 2023.

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MIT researchers have developed a new procedure that uses game theory to improve the accuracy and consistency of large language models (LLMs), reports Steve Nadis for Quanta Magazine . “The new work, which uses games to improve AI, stands in contrast to past approaches, which measured an AI program’s success via its mastery of games,” explains Nadis. 

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• Article: "Game Theory Can Make AI More Correct and Efficient"
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• Language & Intelligence @ MIT
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• Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab

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Climate Change Is Making Rooftop Solar More Valuable, Research Shows

In a warmer world, it will take more energy to cool people off. Rooftop solar could step in to fill the energy gap.

As temperatures rise and places get sunnier, solar can be more valuable.

Last year was the hottest year on record . This year could beat it .

Thanks to the past and ongoing fossil fuel use that drives climate change, more people are going to need more energy to keep cool, comfortable and safe. When it comes to the increased electricity demand for household cooling, rooftop solar panels  can fill some of that void and save homeowners even more money down the road than it does today.

That's according to new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change , which models the value of a rooftop solar system in a changing climate. For nearly all the 17 cities the researchers analyzed, rooftop solar got more valuable in 2050 and 2100 than it is today.

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"Across all but one of our cities, households see an increase in the value of their rooftop solar by midcentury and by end of century," said Michael Craig , a professor in energy systems at the University of Michigan and one of the researchers involved in the study.

How climate change makes solar more valuable

Solar is valuable to homeowners in two ways: by helping them avoid buying energy from their utility and by earning them more savings for sending energy back to the grid. Recent regulation has made returning electricity to the grid less valuable in some places. 

"In general, it's better to consume the electricity you produce than it is to sell it off onto the distribution grid," said Craig. "You basically get paid a better premium for it if you consume it yourself."

That's why solar batteries , which let you avoid even more grid electricity by saving solar energy for later, can be a money-saving investment for some people. (The impact of battery storage is one thing the study doesn't fully consider, Craig said.)

Considering Solar Panels?

In a changing climate, solar panels can be more valuable because they'll produce more energy in places where it gets sunnier and offset more energy with an increase in demand for air conditioning.

Air conditioning uses 6% of all the electricity generated in the US, according to the Department of Energy, and makes up a significant portion of a home's electricity bill . Besides keeping people comfortable, it can also keep them safe as  dangerously hot weather is expected to increase .

Projected average maximum temperatures for May from 2090-2099.

Miami, the city with the largest jump in rooftop solar's value, sees a 14% increase by the end of the century because cooling demand will go up while the city gets less cloudy. 

The only city that saw the value of solar decrease, Minneapolis, is likely to see solar panels produce less energy because it will be cloudier in the future. Other cities will also get cloudier, but the increased demand for cooling still makes solar panels more valuable.

Rooftop solar systems, which can last for decades , are often sized to match a house's past demand. Considering future conditions could help unlock even more value from rooftop solar.

"When you put a rooftop solar system in place, that's gonna be operating for 10, 20, maybe 30 years," Craig said. "If you put a panel on your roof today, that's gonna be operating in a midcentury context."

It can cost thousands of dollars to install solar panels on your home , but they can recoup that cost and more. Some sources put the payback period on rooftop solar panels at eight to nine years , though that timeline varies depending on factors like a state or utility's solar feed-in tariff . 

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Article updated on May 17, 2024 at 6:00 AM PDT

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