"Full Summary of the Suspicious Happenings from These Past 24 Hours. Something Fishy is Going On, Travelers."

#PokemonGO: Well travelers,The past 24 hours have been packed with suspicious changes and intriguing rumors. Let's take a moment to summarize what has just happened:It Has Been 2 Weeks Since a Client-Side UpdateAside from the holiday break, we've seen a client-side update every two weeks. Two weeks from the current version (v55.0) was this past Sunday. We are now right in the sweet spot for a new client-side update.Significant GAME_MASTER UpdatePerhaps the most damning and unprecedented tell today was that the GAME_MASTER file (which houses settings for the app on Android devices) was updated this morning in a major way. We haven't seen a GM update of this magnitude and impact without a client-side update before. It is very likely there's a client-side update that pairs with it coming soon.For those who missed it, the avatar customization options (tons of them) which had been discovered in past APK mining were finally added to the GAME_MASTER.Also added were several types of berries, with a few settings apiece, hinting at their potential applications when capturing Pokemon.Both would be very welcome new content!Lure promo extensionWe also just saw Niantic adjust the "6-hour lure" element of their Valentine's event to extend through the entirety of Feb 18th (UTC). The new end date for this feature is midnight on the 19th UTC.Leipzig Mall Event FlyerThe most unexpected happening today, however, was that a shopping mall in Leipzig, Germany posted flyers looking for help manning an PoGo event on Feb 18th. The flyer mentioned 'Gold and Silver' Pokemon, but was promptly removed and no further comment was granted when inquired.The event is still being advertised for the 18th. ~ More info »Old APK Versions DiscontinuedIllicit 3rd party applications who handshake with Niantic's private API found their connections failing a few hours ago, as new server-side changes took root.Our HypothesisLooking at it all together, we feel confident that: something's about to happen.Our feeling is that it will happen before the 18th, but will continue through it. Perhaps propagation of a new APK will begin the 1% rollout tomorrow and we'll have access to it sometime in roughly 24 hours. Then new PokeStop locations in Europe will be announced while players are still taking advantage of whatever new content is coming.If you can't allow yourself to get hyped, travelers, we understand. :) But the Silph Road team is on board this time.We're looking forward to tomorrow/Thursday. I'd wager an incubator on something fun happening. :) We've already ordered the Dr Pepper crates for the party.- Executive Dronpes - via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2lNNFPL