The year is 1998. Children all over America begged their parents for the newest game for their portable GameBoy systems. Many of these children would go on to spend hours, days, even YEARS playing this game and its variations, from the earliest GameBoy to the newest Nintendo 3DS. Newer generations of Pokemon would come out, and the most dedicated would know all 700 of them.
I was not one of them, but I definitely did play many of the early generation Pokemon games, and I had several stacks of Pokemon cards. I even wasted a few hours in front of the TV watching the show.
But I didn't flock to the mall when the newest games came out, I don't know how to pronounce half of the names anymore, and I know there's a good number of Pokemon I don't even know exist (And apparently there's more coming? Holy cow.)
However, when I heard about this Pokemon Go that was being released this year, my curiosity spiked. How many people as children had wished and dreamed about catching Pokemon in the town they lived in?
For those of you who don't know, Pokemon Go launched this week, and because of the popularity, the servers are down more times than they aren't.
When you load up the game, you meet Professor Willow, who asks certain questions that lead into the character creation screen. There's not a lot of customization options, but that's not the point.
The point is, as soon as you create your character and give yourself a name, you are transported to a map that looks incredibly similar to the area around you. (Hint: It is.)
Three starter Pokemon pop up in front of you, and you choose whatever one you'd like by clicking on them. Here's where the real fun begins.
You can choose to enable the camera while flicking pokeballs at these Pokemon, so that these little creatures appear in your actual surroundings!
After you catch said Pokemon, you're able to rename them and see their stats. The software also tells you what Pokemon are nearby, and if you're in the app while moving around, it'll vibrate to alert you when a Pokemon pops up.
In every town, city, whatever, there are Gyms and Pokespots. There are also three teams, Red- Blue-, and Yellow. If you take over a Gym, that gym will shine in your team's colors. At Pokecenters, which are various spots and landmarks around town, you can fill up on supplies- for free!
As you progress, you will of course level up. Level five is when you can join a team and begin battling at gyms. You can transfer Pokemon you no longer want or need to get candy- which you use to evolve your Pokemon.
But enough about the game itself. Why do YOU need it?
While myself and a few friends walked around town today catching Pokemon, we ran into a wide amount of people holding their phones out screaming about how they NEEDED to find an Eevee. "Over here guys! I found it!" We were able to talk to some of the people we saw roaming about as well, asking what team they were on, what Pokemon they had, etc. It was great to socialize with people who held a common interest, even if it was a little Pokemon phone game. We even saw a kid on a bike, waiting for the light to change. As we speculated whether or not he was playing the game as well, he held the screen up and began sliding his finger across the screen in the signature "Pokeball throw" motion. It's fun to see who is playing, and how many. Everywhere you go is an adventure because you never know what new Pokemon you'll encounter.
Walking around has benefits, other than catching Pokemon you might not be able to catch in your home. You can also collect eggs that can only be opened by walking a certain distance. These eggs can have any of the 100 Pokemon available in them, and you can get them from Pokestops.
As someone who hasn't been particularly interested in Pokemon since I left elementary school, I've been hooked on this game for the better part of the last 48 hours. If you're curious about this game that literally everyone around you is talking about, go download it. It's completely free and completely addicting. And it'll get you moving!
So what are you waiting for?
*This App is not yet available in some areas.
