Pokémon GO – The craze to catch them all

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If any one of you saw me taking a stroll in the university premises with my mobile in my hand , I assure you I wasn’t aimlessly wandering around. I sure had a purpose. And that was to catch some Pokémon. And I’m quite certain this isn’t the first time you’re hearing this. Because I ain’t the only one who’s tring to “catch ‘em all” in our faculty.

As a 90’s kid I grew up with Pokémon, watching and playing. But for those who aren’t really familiar with what Pokémon is; it’s a media franchise which gave rise to many video games, a trading card game, a television series and movies. It originated in Japan and is centered on a group of fictional monstrous creatures called “Pokémon“. Us humans can be Pokémon trainers and catch the wild Pokémon using Pokéballs and train them to battle against other Pokémon.

Though these Pokémon are monsters, the cute cuddly appearance of most of the Pokémon made it possible for them to win our hearts as kids.

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The most loved Pokémon (Left to right: Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle)

The latest addition to the franchise, Pokémon Go, was released few weeks ago and this is a location based augmented reality game developed to celebrate the 20th year anniversary of the Pokémon media franchise.

(So what’s an augmented reality game? It’s a game which uses the information of the existing environment of the user and overlay new information on top of it. In the case of Pokémon Go, the app receives information of the real time location and shows us the presence of a Pokémon though our mobile phone.)

 

This is the first Pokémon I caught inside the faculty right in front of the Department of Physics. Right next to the Rattata, is the fellow Pokémon trainer Warren

So all you have to do in Pokémon Go is to walk around with the app on in your mobile device till you come across a Pokémon. Then you can throw a Pokéball at the Pokémon and capture it within the ball. There are Pokéstops located at a lot of special monuments where you can collect items like Pokéballs and eggs. Walking will help to hatch the egg. Normally an egg needs a walk of 5km or 2 km to hatch and will give you a Pokémon.

There are Gyms located at specific points. You can go to such a location to train the Pokémon you own by making them battle against the Pokémon in the Gym. If you win, you can claim a position in the Gym until you get overthrown. Before battling you can pick a team to be in. There are three teams (Mystic, Instinct and Valor) out of which you can pick one.

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This is what a gym looks like and how a battle happens.

That’s Pokémon Go simplified.

Though the game has not been released officially in many countries including Sri Lanka, Pokémon Go managed to take over the world by storm to the level of being a nuisance to some and also causing a lot of accidents. But the world has started to walk and gain physical activity as a result of Pokémon Go. So despite of all the accidents and nuisance caused, we will be hearing a lot of weight loss stories thanks to Pokémon Go in the near future.

image credits : http://www.wallpapersbyte.com/games

 
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