Pikachu, Ash, Brock, and of course Misty were all huge characters and leaders in our childhood quest to become the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world. Unfortunately... we don't live in a world of Pokémon... The cute and obnoxious Pikachu, Pidgey, and tons of the other creatively designed Pokémon we have all come to know and love do not actually exist.
But now the game, and world, have changed.
The newest and most interactive edition of Pokémon was released this month via the App Store and Google play. Pokémon GO is an augmented reality game developed by Niantic Studios and is available for download on mobile devices now.
But what exactly is different about Pokémon GO?
Pokémon Go allows you to travel the world and truly act like a Pokémon trainer. You get to catch wild Pokémon and battle friendly trainers in public.
The simple object of the game is to catch all the Pokémon you can and level them up as much as possible. The only true 'battling' like in other Pokémon games are at gyms around your community and with friends. Gyms and Pokémarts can be located at any major landmark in your community from water towers to graveyards: don't be afraid to go exploring!
How does it work?
Essentially what Niantic Studios created was an online map that you follow. The green areas on the map are the 'grass' that you would walk through just as in previous Pokémon games. While walking, a wild Pokémon will pop up in your circle and be available for capture. Once the target is selected, you are then prompted by a screen to throw a Pokéball at one and attempt to catch it.
Depending on the quality of the throw you make and the CP (Combat Power) of the Pokémon, the catch will be successful or a miss.
What Pokémon are available to catch?
Currently, the game consists of 50+ Pokémon. Of course, this doesn't even scratch the surface of what the full Pokémon world has to offer. But as updates are made and the game becomes better equipped to handle the millions of Pokémon trainers, Niantic Studios has said that they are attempting to input "as many Pokémon into our universe as possible."
Keep in mind...
Just like in the Pokémon world only certain Pokémon are available in specific areas, such as water type Pokémon are only available around bodies of water, dark Pokémon are only available at night, and bug Pokémon in forests. So be sure to look EVERYWHERE.
Pokémon GO is opening the door to millions of childhood dreams of becoming a Pokémon trainner, just like Ash Ketchum.
So far, Pokémon GO has unfortunately shown a lot of bugs and technical crashes. Other issues include multitudes of kids roaming random areas in the middle of the night. In fact, according to 'The Verge' news outlet, a teen in Wyoming stumbled onto a dead body when traveling around looking for Pokémon...
She was probably just trying to find a Caterpie...
But no matter the dangers of Pokémon life, as this game is free to download and looks to be one of the top games in 2016.
