Pokemon! // Gotta catch 'em all! // It's you and me // I know it's my destiny, Pokemon! // Oh you're my best friend // In a world we must defend // Pokemon! // A heart so true // Our courage will pull us through!
I never played Pokemon. Not once. I never understood it, and when it came on TV I changed the channel. When Pokemon Go was released a few days ago, I didn't understand the big craze. I saw Tweets all over Twitter about hunting down Pokemon, got Snapchats of it, and saw it trending of Facebook, but I didn't bother to learn what it was until my friends downloaded the game.
What is Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go is a free "augmented reality-infused" app (basically a virtual reality game) that was released on Android and iOS app stores on July 6 in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Basically, the app uses your GPS and clock to catch pokemons. The GPS tracks where you are and uses a map as a game board. As you walk in real life, your character moves. The game gets you to get out and explore because in order to get to pokestops (to get more pokeballs to capture pokemons) you have to go to real life events, objects, and buildings. You have to physically get up and go to these places, you can't just sit and walk there on the virtual map.
How do you play?
So once you download the app, you can start catching all the pokemons! You create an avatar, get instructions from Professor Willow, and catch your first Pokemon. After that, you're left on your own. So you just start walking around hunting for pokemons. Your phone will buzz when a Pokemon is nearby and you can try to get them. But in order to catch them, you need pokeballs from pokestops. Pokestops are important landmarks you need to go to. At these stops, you can get pokeballs, potions, revives, and eggs. You can also purchase these items if you're too lazy to walk to a pokestop. Easy enough, right? There's more.
Level Ups & Battles
Once you have a few pokemons you can level up. You can level up through experiences in the game by catching pokemons, fighting at the gym (more on that later) or visiting pokestops. Once you reach level five, you can join a faction. There's the red Team Valor, yellow Team Instinct or blue Team Mystic. Joining a faction will let you battle other trainers.
Battling is when pokemons face off one-on-one and attack. I don't actually understand the point of this because it can hurt your pokemon if you loose (the battle is over when one faints).
Gyms
Thankfully, you don't have to go the gym for this. Gyms refer to major places in the real world, such as Times Square, Chicago Bean, etc. You can battle other trainers at these places and earn points. Gyms are often held by factions and if you loose, you lower your team's prestige.
Understand it a little bit better? Just go out and download the game and try it for yourself! Just make sure to have plenty of phone battery and watch where you're going.
