Niantic teases more monsters joining Pokémon Go

The popular mobile game is set to add more Pokémon friends for Pikachu as early as next week.

Just when you thought it was safe to return to Mission Bay, Pokémon Go is poised to make a huge announcement that will set people into a hunting frenzy once more.

In a press statement yesterday, developer Niantic revealed that December 12 they will reveal the first news about more Pokémon being added to the game.

It is expected the new Pokémon will be made up of the around 90 from the Gold and Silver games first released in 1999.

After an update in October, inquisitive fans found code inside the app that revealed that these Pokémon had been put in but have not been made public yet. All the Pokémon hunters out there will likely be eagerly waiting by their phones on Monday for the announcement.

More Pokémon are coming to #PokemonGO! Stay tuned for details on 12/12, Trainers! pic.twitter.com/KOfScNpKdr

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) December 7, 2016

The game, which launched in July, currently features just 146 Pokémon out of the 892 that now exist in the games.

Upon its launch, Pokémon Go became an instant success, with 45 million active users globally at its peak. It is the fastest mobile game to hit US$600 million (NZ$836 million) in revenue, taking just 90 days to do that.

While the active users have since dropped to 30 million, Niantic is luring people back by giving daily and weekly bonuses and has started throwing mini events to increase activity.

The success of Pokémon Go has helped the original franchise, with the latest games in the console series, Sun and Moon, now the fastest selling Nintendo titles in America ever.

The company has already dominated 2016, and hopes to go out on a high by giving fans the option to add Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile to their collections.