"6/7, just one more year!": Pokemon GO player turns daily Field Research mechanic into annual practice

Official artwork for Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)
The Field Research package is known for its weekly rewards, but one player is taking the feature a step far (Image via Niantic)

Research Breakthroughs were some of the most anticipated aspects of Pokemon GO at the peak of their value. What once included powerful Legendary Pokemon now holds a rotating selection of more uncommon standard monsters. These breakthroughs could be accessed by completing at least one Field Research task and redeeming it per day for a total of seven days.

One player on the Pokemon GO subreddit shares their experience with the feature but with an unusual twist. Rather than redeeming the once-per-day research task for progress toward their Research Breakthrough, user IceT77 has earned progress towards their Research Breakthrough once per year on July 28th. They had this to say about their journey:

"6/7, just one more year!"

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As seen from the post, the user has been redeeming their research tasks one time per year for the last six consecutive years. At this rate, they will be able to redeem their Research Breakthrough next year. Given recent trends, it might not be worth the wait, as most Research Breakthrough rewards only contain uncommon spawns like Furfrou or Onix.

IceT77 provides insight into how they can pull off this tradition (Image via Reddit)
IceT77 provides insight into how they can pull off this tradition (Image via Reddit)

The original poster explains the method to their madness, stating that this is a very easy task to pull off for a player who is not very active in Pokemon GO anymore. This would make sense, as one would not be tempted to be constantly redeeming their daily Field Research task if they simply do not care about the game very much.

Comment byu/IceT77 from discussion inpokemongo

User eggboy1205 references the past of Research Breakthroughs, back when the feature rewarded players with Legendary Pokemon. Since the original poster has been on this personal mission for six years straight, they surely missed out on a few valuable catches from these breakthroughs, but that only shows their commitment to the joke.

Comment byu/IceT77 from discussion inpokemongo

User Eaglewolf13 makes another similar comment, stating how the stark decrease in the quality of Research Breakthroughs has made them significantly worth less over time. Nevertheless, the commitment to the occasion cannot help but be respected.

While the original poster may find it easy to go years without cashing in their Field Research, some players may want a few pointers on how they can complete the requirements normally. Thankfully, optimally completing a Research Breakthrough can be incredibly easy with regular and consistent gameplay.


Tips for obtaining Research Breakthroughs in Pokemon GO

Players only need to cash in one Field Research per day to fulfill the Research Breakthrough requirement (Image via The Pokemon Company)
Players only need to cash in one Field Research per day to fulfill the Research Breakthrough requirement (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The best way to fulfill the requirements for a Research Breakthrough in Pokemon GO is to stockpile completed Field Researches and cash them in one per day as the week progresses. Field Researches are relatively easy tasks that can be completed by accident on many occasions.

These quests can be collected from spinning Pokestops. Since this is required to receive most items in the game for free, obtaining more Field Research tasks to earn progress should not be very difficult.


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