Larvesta is highlighting Pokémon Go’s exhausting progression problems

Pokémon Go players are having a hard time hatching Larvesta and evolving it into Volcarona despite the fact it’s headlining the An Instinctive Hero event between May 2 and 8. The reason is twofold: first, it has a poor hatch rate, and second, because of how long it takes to earn Larvesta Candy by walking with it, especially since Adventure Sync is unreliable. Together, they highlight broader issues with Pokémon Go’s progression.

Egg hatch rates in events have been in the spotlight for a while now. That trend has continued this week due to how many players have struggled to hatch one Larvesta, let alone multiple.

Some players have hatched as many as 25 Eggs without getting one. Niantic even embraced it, insisting players need to be “very lucky” to hatch one.

To make matters worse, players need 400 Larvesta Candy to evolve Larvesta into Volcarona. Since hatching it from 2 km Eggs yields five to 15 Larvesta Candy, hatching it from 5 km Eggs yields 10 to 21 Larvesta Candy, and hatching it from 10 km Eggs yields 16 to 32 Larvesta Candy, it was supposed to be the easiest and most reliable method to evolve it. Because of the dismal hatch rates, players lucky enough to hatch one have been forced to assign it as their Buddy Pokémon, giving them one Larvesta Candy every 5 km walked.

But that method is flawed too. Players will have to walk 2,000 km to receive the 400 Larvesta Candy required to make the evolution happen, which is downright absurd in their view.

What’s more, they feel like they can’t rely on Adventure Sync, which is supposed to record kilometers traveled even if the app is closed, because it’s prone to reliability issues. Some players have reported half the distances they’ve walked have vanished.

So, what’s the solution? According to the fandom, event hatch rates need to be made fairer, but they’re not holding their breath. If Niantic made Adventure Sync more reliable, that’d help. But it would take a long time for players to get everything they need. And frankly, they’ve had enough. Some are even willing to call it quits.

The whole thing definitely can’t be helping Pokémon Go’s slumping numbers.