Pokemon GO Starbucks Update News Official: Not Quite Gen 2

Starting this afternoon, approximately 7,800 Starbucks stores will begin to roll with all-out Pokemon GO madness. In this case it means Starbucks – almost every location in the United States – will be transformed into a PokeStop or Pokemon GO Gym. Each Starbucks will remain named "Starbucks" on the Pokemon GO map in-game for mobile devices of all sorts.

Just as predicted (and leaked), Starbucks will be one of several store chains to run with new Pokemon GO cross-branding. This cross-branding adventure begins with a Pokemon GO Frappuccino blended beverage which users can purchase at will. Unlike some reports earlier this week, this drink will not be limited to "real" Pokemon GO players – anyone can buy one.

Also unlike previous supposed employee reports from forums, Starbuck's official report makes no mention of new Pokemon appearing during this launch event. We hypothesized that the event could include a single Pokemon appearing more common nearby Starbucks locations – that's not true. Not yet, anyway. If this does become the case, it'll begin on the 12th, when Niantic makes its next big announcement.

SEE: When Gen 2 is coming to Pokemon GO

Starbucks update to Gym and PokeStop will begin at approximately 11AM PST across the United States. This will be a server-side update, but may require players to close their app completely and re-open to see these new locations appear on the map. All users will need to have the latest version of Pokemon GO to see these locations, but the newest version of the app was released yesterday, so it'll likely be on many users' devices already anyhow.

This is just the latest Pokemon GO event to come to pass after SlashGear reported on it days (or in the past, sometimes weeks) before it was made official. Have a peek at SlashGear's Pokemon GO Twitter portal to see more tips, tricks, news breaks, and notoriously accurate early information before it becomes public knowledge!