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Why Pokémon Go is the Best Thing that Ever Happened

Pokémon Go inspires 90s nostalgia, bringing communities out of the house and into the world.

By Samantha BentleyPublished 8 years ago 8 min read
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It’s 7:42 AM and I am running towards the canal near my house, draped in polka dot pajamas and gym trainers. There is a Dragonair somewhere in the area, greyed out in my list of nearby Pokémon, and I’m going to find the damn thing. Lifting my eyes from the phone screen on this warm Sunday morning, I notice four or five people ranging from early teens to should-definitely-know-better adults... Each with his or her phone out, walking in circles around one small patch of grass. As I approach, they look up at me expectantly. Did you catch it? No one had located the elegant, eel-like dragon Pokémon that was a favorite of mine so many years ago. I join the huddle and we continue the hunt.

If you don’t know what Pokémon Go is, then quite frankly, you must have been living under a rock for the past month. In short, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game that uses real-time and your surroundings to allow you to catch the original 150 Pokémon (although I’m sure in the future there will be expansion packs for Jungle, Diamond, and Pearl). Back in the 90s, when these Japanese pocket monsters first appeared on the geek radar, my brothers and I were hot on our heels to join in the fun.

Image via Deviant Art user Vaawl

The Original Generation

Pokémon cards were all the rage, and much like Pokémon Go, the aim was to collect all 150 characters. Every week our pocket money was spent on Pokemon cards. Each tiny metallic pack housed 11 cards and cost around £2.50, if my memory serves me well. The cards were rated based on their rarity and desirability. Circle (for your basic trainer cards, Weedles and Caterpies), Diamond (usually the secondary evolution Pokemon—Wartortle, Haunter, Nidorina), and Star (Charizard, Vaporeon, Ninetails). You were guaranteed ONE star card per pack; the best situation was a shiny card, ultimately rarer and way cooler than its non-metallic counterpart. The almost impossible situation was a Mew, Mewtwo, or one of the three legendary birds (Moltres, Zapdos or Articuno). New school Pokemon trainers will know these birds because they represent the three gym teams in Pokémon Go. The more realistic scenario was that you ended up with a star-rated trainer card which, unless you actually planned on learning how to play the card game, was pretty useless. (Although for a while my favorite card was a star-rated trainer card called "Here Comes Team Rocket.")

Photo via Deviant Art user Fishlover

An Avalanche of Pokémon Merchandise

Along with the cards came the respective toys, books, magazines, TV show, and Gameboy game (which came in red and blue—with numerous releases in different colors with different Pokémon). There was also, of course, the movie, which I saw at least four times until my parents refused to take me again. It’s fair to say that Pokémon was a gold mine. Unfortunately my card collection was stolen, and the anxiety I incur when I think about how much that original 150 is worth now is crippling. But I still have boxes of Pokémon memorabilia that have traveled with me to my new house—this includes figurines, plush toys, books, magazines, posters, t-shirts, and a Pikachu backpack (that I still wear). Last summer, my partner was working in Japan and came home with all kinds of Pokémon goodies for me, including a Pikachu onesie.

My love for Pokémon has never wavered—I shamelessly boast that I can recite the entire Pokerap from memory (this was usually played at the end of the TV show), and I would challenge anyone to try and beat me when it comes to Pokémon knowledge. I think obsession is an unhealthy and harsh word; I’m just emotionally invested in these strange creatures.

Image via The Verge

Pokémon Invade the Real World

Imagine my absolute delight when I discovered that Pokémon Go was about to be released. An augmented reality game that allowed me catch Pokémon in the real world! When tech giant Nintendo released Pokémon Red and Blue for Gameboy in 1996, my brothers and I played it consistently. We used to buy the magazines with cheats and short cuts so that we could raise our levels and catch the rarer Pokémon with ease. The Gameboy game had the same premise as Pokémon Go—you walk around, you catch Pokémon, you battle in gyms to raise your levels, and you help Professor Oak with his research. However, Pokémon Go seems to have upgraded Professor Oak to a handsomer version named Professor Willow, who despite his cheeky smile and silver fox charm, is wearing hideous crocs that I cannot forgive.

Everyone is playing Pokémon Goand I mean everyone. If you walk through town and see someone staring intently at her phone, I almost guarantee she is hunting the ‘mon. Or the kid across the street just got really epic nudes sent to him.

Whereas this seems both dangerous and anti-social (I have already seen the danger of walking out into a busy road because there was a potential Rhyhorn on the other side), it couldn’t be further from the usual video games that keep kids and adults alike holed up in a dark room, communicating via headset with people they have never met in internet dialect.

Pokémon Go cannot be played from the comfort of your home. This game was invented for adventure—you have to get up and go. It is all about exploring your world to find and catch Pokémon. Just like Ash left Pallet town to explore his world, you must do the same and leave yours!

Photo via Wall Street Journal

Power of Pokémon Bringing People Together

Pokémon—just as it did back when I was a kid—is bringing people together. I bought my house in North London almost a year ago to the day, and I’m ashamed to say I have only ever spoken to three people in my area. I’m a South Londoner born and bred, and it is taking a long time for me to adapt to my new home. Since playing this game, I have hung out with and talked to around 30 people that live in my little sub-section of London. There is one Pokestop (a key point marked in the game that, when spun, gives free poke balls and other goodies to the player) close to my house. It is on the edge of the canal, which now serves as a meeting place for all manner of persons, couples, teenagers, males, females, young families with babies and both parents playing the game, older adults taking their children out to play, cyclists stopping off for a quick Pokeball stock-up on their way past the canal, and so on. My boyfriend and I have sat with our dog for the last few nights, talking and chilling, meeting people, and discussing Pokémon.

I am aware that for anyone not invested in this game I sound like a lunatic, but it's incredible that a game can bring so many people from all over the world—of all ages and backgrounds—together. It also forces you to explore your city and exercise! One of the perks of the game is that when you spin certain Pokestops, you get a mystery Pokémon egg. The way to hatch these eggs is by simply walking the distance stated on each one. There are 2k, 5k, and 10k eggs, and it is very hard to trick the egg into thinking you are walking when you’re not. Any movement above 10 kilometers per hour isn’t counted, so riding in a car to cheat the hatching process is out.

Image via lifehacker

A Pokémon Go Work Out

Much like the star ratings on the cards, a 2k egg hatches low-level Pokémon. 5k eggs are your less likely—but still not outrageously rare—Pokémon, and 10k eggs hatch Pokémon you are not likely to catch in the wild. There are also region-specific Pokémon that you cannot get unless you are in that area of the world, OR you get lucky and hatch them in a 10k egg. The eggs might be my favorite part of the game, because I get that nostalgic feeling when they start to hatch. Which Pokémon will it be? Will I already have it? Will it be rare? It reminds me of opening a pack of cards and seeing a little monster that wasn’t yet in my collection.

To give you an idea of just how much time I have spent on Pokémon Go since I downloaded it (less than a week ago), I have walked 41.8 kilometers, caught 784 individual Pokémon, visited 263 Pokestops, registered 68 Pokemon to my Pokedex, hatched 19 eggs, and evolved 53 Pokémon.

Maybe if I put as much time and effort into literally anything else in my life, I would be living in a way bigger house... I do wish these achievements meant something in the real world, but I love Pokémon, and I'm reminded of my childhood when I play. I miss that excitement, and I’ve always been sad that my card collection was stolen. Simply put, Pokémon makes me happy. 2016 has been a year of distress for the entire planet, as there is not a day that I wake up without seeing some sort of horror on the news. So if I, and I’m sure so many others, can find some happiness while lost in this magical world of bizarre, cute creatures, is that really such a bad thing?

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About the Creator

Samantha Bentley

Born and Bred Londoner, Mother to baby Roman and my two pooches, Plant Eater, Yoga and Aerial Teacher + Learner, Music Maker... was once in Game Of Thrones, was once a Penthouse Pet, used to win awards for getting naked.

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