The feedback from Pokémon Go players on Routes and the Blaze New Trails event has been mixed, and new information about Zygarde’s spawn rates added fuel to the complaints.
Routes trigger spawns of either Regional Pokémon or Zygarde cells, and one player reported data on their own Routes experience in a Reddit thread from July, 24.
“We don’t know the spawn ratio of Pokémon to Cells. In my limited experience it’s about a 1:5 ratio of Cells vs Pokémon (so, 20% chance),” the player wrote.
“I have yet to see someone say they found a Cell on their second time through a Route, which could mean that Cells only spawn on your first daily walk, like the Route Rewards, and based on early reports, Routes seem to have a cap of 3 Zygarde Cells per day.”
In the thread’s comments, players complained about Zygarde cells not appearing often enough, which means they would have to play for a long time before being able to get the Pokémon to its complete form, which requires 250 Cells in total.
If players can only get three per day, it means they’ll have to follow Routes for at least 84 days in a row to get Zygarde’s complete form.
The thread’s author advised players to prioritize shorter Routes to complete more of them, which would grant them more chances of triggering Zygarde cell spawns.
Overall, the Blaze New Trails event and the Routes’ feature launch had a rocky start due to bugs, the lack of incentive rewards, and many players not being able to find any Routes to follow.
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Many players expressed frustration over not being able to enjoy a part of the Blaze New Trails event, which launched alongside Routes and lasted until July 24, because numerous Routes were still under review from the developer during the event and were approved towards the end of the event, and some even after it was finished.
Still, Routes are still a recent addition and are likely going to remain in the game, which means the developer might bring key improvements to them over time based on player feedback.