Pokemon Goisn’t very fun any more. I still sometimesjoin my local communityfor good events, but they’re few and far between. Everything feels like you need to buy a season pass now, pay for Special Research with an additional microtransaction, or simply spend a tenner on Raid Passes just to encounter whatever Legendary Pokemon has been released this week.
One newPokemonreleased into the wild each month isn’t enough to satisfy my hunger for collecting Pokemon. I miss the mania when the first 151 were originally released en masse, the hysteria when large batches of Gen 2 Pokemon were set loose upon the world. Now, a new monster is just the latest silhouette on my radar, and I know I’ll get ten of them before the event is out so that I’ve got enough candy to evolve it. I don’t have the time or money to hunt shinies or hundos, and aftersweeping changes to its Remote Raid pricinglast year, my local community is in tatters even if I wanted to get together for a day of grinding in the park.
And yet,Pokemon Gois still immense fun when you’re on holiday. I packed my trusty 3DS for the plane rides to America and back a couple of weeks ago – I couldn’t trust my Switch or Steam Deck to last a fraction of the journey – but while I was exploring Los Angeles, Pokemon Go was the only game on my mind.
I didn’t play the whole trip. I only had a short time to explore any of the city itself after work, and was also limited by my restrictive data roaming plan. If my phone connected to a brief patch of WiFi, however, I always logged on to see what monsters were appearing.
LA is full of PokeStops. It’s a huge, bustling city so that makes sense. With PokeStops come Pokemon spawns, and while most of the monsters were similar to those I could find at home in Liverpool, there were a few distinctive shadows on my nearby radar: regionals.
Now, I’m somewhat of a lapsed player. I logged on daily for years, went on walks especially to catch monsters and grind experience, and participated in Raids from across the world. The first silhouette on my radar I recognised was Cetoddle, a Gen 9 Pokemon released over Christmas. Not regional, not exciting, but new. And on my route. I just about kept myself in range of the WiFi emanating from a Sephora or something, and added it to my Pokedex.
The next Pokemon I saw on my radar was Passimian. Another shadow, this time it was a regional. I’ve been told since that it appeared over here in some event recently anyway, but I’ve got one with that US geotag. As somewhat of a collector, this means something to me. I’ve still got the shiny Metagross I caught in New Zealand, the first ever Pokemon (a Rhydon, how appropriate) I caught on the game, while on holiday near Barcelona. Pokemon Go is a game about getting outside, but it is propelled to new heights when you’re on your hols.
I followed Passimian’s shadow down new streets and past new sights. I saw some cool street art I wouldn’t have noticed without following the trail of this long-tailed monkey. The LA sun beat down on me as I hunted. I stopped for a drink, found a great store for snacks, got some advice from the friendly attendant of cool places to check out in the area. I saw a new side to Santa Monica, and it was all thanks to Pokemon Go.
I followed the Passimian, tracked it through the sweating streets, and explored a new city in the process. PokeStops notified me of cool artwork to check out along my route, short detours down side streets and off the beaten track. I caught the Passimian. Then I saw a wild Charizard. I clicked on the wild Charizard. It was shiny. I have dozens of shiny Charmander – countless Community Days when I was an active player ensured that – but I’ve never seen a shiny evolved Pokemon in the wild before.
I have a new regional Pokemon now. I have a shiny Charizard with that delicious LA geotag. But, best of all, Pokemon Go helped me explore a new city by taking me on a chaotic adventure hot on the tail of a rare monkey. I’m Kerouac, I’m Bourdain. I’m Ash freaking Ketchum.
