Pokémon Go turns 10 this month, and the celebrations have been building all week. On Thursday evening, the festivities expanded to include a limited “surprise live event” in New York City’s Times Square, where Mewtwo made a special appearance.
The event wasn’t publicly announced until the day it took place, though many of the roughly 1,000 attendees—including content creators and community ambassadors—had received invitations in advance. At the event’s conclusion, players joined forces to battle and catch a Mega Mewtwo that was guaranteed to be a “hundo,” meaning it had perfect Individual Values (IVs), the highest possible stat combination in Pokémon Go.
Since the event, players have flooded official social media posts and online forums with complaints, arguing that such a powerful reward shouldn’t have been locked behind an invitation-only event.
“I think this achieved the exact opposite of what Pokémon GO should be celebrating. We’ve supported and played this game for 10 years, yet for the NY event, you allowed only a small group to participate,” one player wrote in a response to the game’s official X account. “An anniversary should bring the community together, not leave us out.”
Perfect-IV Pokémon are among the most sought-after catches in Pokémon Go because they represent the strongest possible version of that species, even if the gameplay advantage over lower-IV Pokémon is relatively modest. Many players argued that an exclusive cosmetic reward—such as a special background, which changes only a Pokémon’s appearance—would have been a more appropriate anniversary prize than a guaranteed perfect-stat Pokémon.
“The decision by Scopely to do this has seemingly annoyed a lot of people because they’ve basically shown a few people are worth more than the majority of the playerbase,” one Reddit user wrote. “They probably expected this to boost sales over the weekend and while they’re still going to make millions, it’s left a lot of players annoyed.”
Destructoid has reached out to Scopely for comment, asking why the event was invitation-only, how attendees were selected, and why the company chose to award a guaranteed perfect-IV Pokémon rather than an exclusive cosmetic reward. We will update this story if we receive a response.
Exclusive rewards for in-person Pokémon Go events aren’t unheard of. Previous events have offered attendees early access to new Pokémon, exclusive Special Research, or cosmetic rewards such as location-exclusive backgrounds and costumed Pokémon. But guaranteed perfect-IV Pokémon have generally not been part of those incentives. Just last month, for example, attendees at Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Chicago received a Mega Mewtwo with an exclusive event background, giving them a cosmetic distinction without guaranteeing perfect stats.
The game’s 10th anniversary celebrations continue this weekend with Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Global. Players around the world will be able to encounter a variety of featured Pokémon through wild spawns and raids, including Mewtwo. Trainers can also work together to complete Global Challenges, unlocking redemption codes on Pokémon Go’s social media channels for rewards including Poké Balls and Link Charges.
