Are you New to Pokemon?
So you’re not 10 or even 20, and you have no idea what this Pokémon thing is all about? You may remember some anime series your siblings might have watched in the late 90’s. This is really the real world/virtual reality version of the cartoon. You, the human trainer, must find the Pokémon and train them for battles. Or you can just catch them all. First, there are 150 little creatures from a common Rattata to a Pinsir or Wartortle. I’m going to give you a very top level category of what to do so yes, even YOU can play along.
rt to save a life #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/ZyXo7zGbyd
— Catch Em All (@CatchthemalI) July 11, 2016
You catch these by tossing a poke ball toward them. They have colored circles around them, green is easy, red/orange are hard. Press and hold the pokeball until the color circle zeros in on the Pookemon. Then flick it towards the pokemon. You should almost always catch it. BUT what I didn’t know is sometimes they can jump out or take a lot of tries to capture. This rapidash took me 10 tries and it kept moving. I was doing laundry yesterday and decided to walk to hatch one of my eggs and came across this feisty fire horse.
He was hanging out in the garage of a nearby apartment structure. As I was tossing my pokeballs with great intensity a woman came out to get in her car and looked at me strangely. “Sorry, I’m playing Pokemon.” Her: ….. okay …. It was too hard to explain.
What’s a PokeStop?
Pokestops are places to get a few free items. In my experience, they have been graffiti street art, monuments, statues, even houses of worship big and small.
Once you get to the pokestop, it will change shape. Swipe on it and supplies will pop out. You need this because your pokeballs are not unlimited. Sure you can spend money on them, but why when they are free. There are several beginners guides out there like this one or this one or this one. So get more tips and tricks from them. What I haven’t figured out yet? How to battle at a gym, actually, how to battle. And how to evolve my catches. Right now, I’m just going to catch them.
Just so you know: Everyone is Doing it!
Not that peer pressure should every make you do something, but really, everyone is playing! I went shopping on Saturday, and in the store sat a 7-year-old little boy who had been drug along by his mother. She was trying things on, he was sitting on the floor. When I saw what he was doing I asked him “Did you find one in here?” He looked up, suspicious. I pulled out my phone and showed him my 30 or so pokemon and his eyes got really big. “I just caught a rattata!” We talked a little bit and he showed me collection. His mother looked at me like I was from another planet. His look? See mom, even grow-ups play this game! It was kinda a priceless moment and I thought, “I’m cool with the kids.”
I want to be like this adult! (and yes, there were comments that WHY are kids going to strangers houses and safety first but i’m not talking about that side of this, yet.) Or even this one: (follow Pokémon Go Memes on Facebook for even more fun stories!)
Even our own Jamie caught a few this morning.
So, yes, everyone is doing it and that means there are consequences and you know, why we can’t have nice things. From the girl in Riverton, WY who found a dead body, to the horrible guys in Missouri who have used to rob nine people. Seriously? Why do you have to make good things bad!
My sister sent me this on facebook:
Warning: They Pop up everwhere
Some of the best searches on social media reveal the random places Pokemon show up. From the hospital for a C-Section to… well take a look at a few of my favorites.
OF COURSE a wild Machop appeared at the gay bar last night #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/LSHHRYYAqZ
— Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) July 9, 2016
Looks like there’s serious turtle power outside XFINITY Center! #FearTheTurtle #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/0WTH5AVWVb
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) July 11, 2016
And overheard at church?
And for those of you going to Comic-Con…
Hopefully you’ll have fun catching the Pokemon… and if you’re like my friend Jenny, maybe you’ll find this version of it!
So, download it for iPhone and Android, play along and be too old for this with us. Are you already playing? What have you caught? Where is the weirdest place you’ve had to go for a pokestop or a gym?
