Pokemon Go, the hit AR game from Niantic, may be coming soon to your Apple Watch. The recently released update for Pokemon Go - Version 1.21.0 for iOS and 0.51.0 for Android - was a patch seemingly in line with the holidays (hence the santa-hat-wearing Pikachu) and a quick-fix for some minor bugs.

However, keen-eyed players/developers noticed a few interesting changes in the latest APK and took a closer look. The Silph Road reportedly audited the update patch and found some goodies hiding beneath the surface. The first - and most exciting - piece of information is that new code for the awaited Apple Watch app has been added.

Niantic, the creators of Pokemon Go, announced way back in September of this year that they were planning to release an Apple Watch version of the augmented reality game. Since then, however, it's been radio silence concerning that area.

The latest version of the app may contain the first couple hints that the Pokemon Go for Apple Watch project still lives. Among other things, The Silph Road found code that would allow the main app to know when a watch was being paired with it. There were also features in the update that would allow the main Pokemon Go app to push notifications to the watch.

While this news bears obvious cause for excitement, 9to5Mac recently published an article concerning Niantic's vague Tweets and smokescreen statements regarding the Apple Watch version of their app. According to their article, Niantic is working on its own wearables - the Nex + Ingress Band. This piece of hardware could be the reason why Niantic has seemingly shelved the development for the Apple Watch app, or so many believe. At this point, however, it's all speculation at best.

The exact release date remains unconfirmed, but Pokemon Go is coming to Apple Watch, one way or another. Niantic has posted Tweets regarding the release of the app, proving that they plan to deliver.