The global version of Pokemon Go Fest is finally here. But a new item released in the game this week could make this year’s grind more exciting than ever before.

As the main reward for completing the Go Pass Deluxe: Ancients Recovered event pass that was released this week, trainers can redeem a gold bottle cap and trigger a hyper training mechanism to increase the individual values of any non-shadow Pokemon in their account.

A free version of the pass was given to all players who logged into the game during the Ancients Recovered event, which began Monday. However, in order to earn the gold bottle cap, players had to purchase the deluxe pass for $19.99.

Although it may seem outrageous to pay that price for the opportunity to give a Pokemon 100% IVs, I think it’s well worth it if you are someone like me who plays the game consistently every day.

If you didn’t purchase the deluxe pass earlier this week and are unable to seriously grind Go Fest this weekend to catch up, I would strongly encourage you to save your money.

Although bottle caps are going to be very rare items in the game, I believe they will return at some point, and since the Go Pass expires, you have to reach a certain rank to claim the item by the end of the day Sunday or you will lose your money.

Players only have one week to determine which Pokemon they’re going to use the gold bottle cap on because the item itself will expire at 11:50 p.m. Sunday, July 6, regardless of when they claim it.

I’ve seen a lot of comments online with trainers voicing their frustrations with the $20 price tag. While I understand why some people might not want to pay that price for a gold bottle cap, I am saying, “Thank you, Scopely. May I please have another?”

The reason I feel the price is worth it is because $20 is nothing compared to what it costs to purchase additional raid passes and try to grind for a hundo — a Pokemon with perfect IVs.

One premium battle pass is equivalent to about $1 and the odds of encountering a hundo from a raid are one in 216. That means you could easily pay over $200, spend hours battling raids with your local community and still not encounter a hundo.

For $20, you can theoretically catch any shiny Pokemon and turn it into a shundo — a shiny Pokemon with perfect IVs, which is essentially the holy grail to Pokemon Go collectors.

If you have any mythical Pokemon in your account, it’s worth considering the idea of using a bottle cap on Pokemon like shiny Mew, Celebi or Meloetta since players could only receive one of each of them.

I’m heavily considering the possibility of using my bottle cap on a shiny Jirachi I caught on my birthday in 2023. If I don’t go that route, I may end up using the item on a shiny Pokemon one of my friends gave me through a trade because I value having a lot of sentimental Pokemon in my account.

Once trainers have chosen their trainee, they have one year to complete various tasks themed to the stats they want to raise.

To increase the attack stats, you’ll have to battle alongside your trainee while it’s your buddy. For defense stats, you’ll have to set your trainee as your buddy and catch Pokemon together. For HP, you have to explore alongside your trainee as a buddy, which includes tasks like spinning Pokestops, earning buddy candy and other adventures.

The tasks are said to be “a long and challenging course,” which I’m excited about. The more difficult the tasks are, the more fun and rewarding it will be to have a perfect hyper trained Pokemon in the game.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520 and mchurella@altoonamirror.com.