Pokemon Go player “kaitcovey” is officially the first person to have caught an Articuno, a rare flying/ice Pokemon that hasn’t even been released yet. Rumors started spreading on Reddit that players in the Dayton, Ohio area had begun spotting the blue bird atop gyms like Field & Stream and a Masonic Temple. They even started taking screenshots and videos for proof. Needless to say, a lot of people were simultaneously excited and disappointed that they didn’t have an Articuno of their own.
Everything was explained when gamer “kaitcovey” posted to her local Pokemon Go Facebook group. First, she posted a video announcing that she had the bird, and then she followed up to explain how she acquired the rare Pokemon. Apparently, she got the legendary as part of an apology from developer Niantic, after she contacted them via email about an issue.
“I have no idea why Niantic decided to give me an Articuno, but I surely do have one! Pretty amazing and I can’t wait for Niantic to confirm its legitimacy, but it doesn’t really matter… it can’t be fake when people are battling it in a gym! It is what it is!… and it was obviously a promo to stir up hype, and it obviously has done that in no time at all!… and it wasn’t b/c of a ‘late response’… i had emailed them with a question on day 1 of release and they just emailed me back tonight stating they were gifting me with it!..and i’ll be darned – it was right there in my pokedex!”
Not a lot of people believe kaitcovey and instead, they think that she either hacked the game or found a glitch. What we find most strange is that if you check out that Facebook group you’ll see a photo of kaitcovey and it appears that she’s an attractive young mom– not exactly the kind of person we’d expect to be playing Pokemon Go, let alone hacking it.
Since her announcement, a few other sightings of Articuno in other places have happened.
Although we can’t find the statement, a lot of players have claimed that Niantic announced that legendary birds could only be caught during specific events. So we’re a little skeptical as to kaitcovey’s story. We’ll just sit here on Team Instinct with our sh*tty 482 Golbat.
