Pokémon Go: Where you can Catch Them on Campus

Player’s view of Pokémon Go. Photo Courtesy / Vincent Gervasi Player’s view of Pokémon Go. Photo Courtesy / Vincent Gervasi
Player’s view of Pokémon Go. Photo Courtesy / Vincent Gervasi
Player’s view of Pokémon Go.
Photo Courtesy / Vincent Gervasi

Tyler Zuk
Staff Writer

As a 90s kid, I remember back to when I was young and used to watch Pokémon with my cousins, always wishing that I could be like Ash Ketchum and go on a Pokémon adventure of my own.

On July 7 of this past summer, my wish finally came true; Niantic games, Inc. released a free augmented reality (AR) game that can be downloaded through any smartphone known as Pokémon Go!

My three friends and I downloaded Pokémon Go and excitingly ventured throughout the streets of Stroudsburg to catch, train and battle Pokémon.

There are a total of 151 Pokémon, and in order to win you have to catch them all!

The game had initially only been released in three countries in early July of 2016, and since then it’s been downloaded more than 500 million times, making the game the most trafficked mobile app of the year so far!

In the game, players can access a digital world that is controlled by the GPS of the player’s smartphones.

All players are given a bag, which holds items such as Pokéballs, potions, incense, eggs, etc.

Eggs come in three groups, 2k, 5k, & 10k. In order to hatch the eggs, you must walk the set kilometer distance.

Only certain Pokémon will hatch out of each egg. The ever elusive 10k holds the rarest ones.

Players can ultimately achieve experience points, which help players move to higher levels of the game through a variety of ways.

First, Pokémon, such as Pikachu, Lapras, Gyrados and Bulbasor can be found throughout towns, bodies of water and landscapes globally.

By taking out your phone with Pokémon Go open, you can walk around the streets of your town and catch all the Pokémon you can find, gradually increasing your experience which will help you move to higher levels in the game.

Once players reach level 5 of the game, each player must choose one of three teams to play for.

The three teams are Team Valor, which is represented by the color red, Team Mystic, which is represented by the color blue, and Team Instinct, which is represented by the color yellow.

Each team has certain strengths that are unique to their members.

In addition to this, players can gain experience in the game by battling other Pokémon in Gym Battles.

If a gym is owned by another team, players can choose to battle the Pokémon of the other team!

The more battles a player wins, the more experience they will gain.

Gyms on ESU’s campus include Dansbury Commons, the Carousel of Life sculpture outside the Union, and the Tongue sculpture by Kemp Library.

When you run out of Pokéballs, visit Pokéstops to collect more. Pokéstops also give players eggs, potions and other useful objects in the game.

Pokéstops on campus can be found at the Joey Aschettino memorial tree, Kemp Library, the Obelisk sculpture by Kemp, the Mary A. White Night sculpture in front of Koehler and the Stone art sculpture at Fine Arts.

The most recent update allows players to designate a Pokémon buddy! Your buddy walks around with you like Pikachu always walked with Ash.

Walking a certain number of kilometers for each Pokémon allows you to collect candies for that type.

Also, you will need a certain amount of candies to evolve each Pokémon. So don’t stop walking yet guys!!! You’ll have that dragnite or charizard you dreamed about soon!

Email Tyler at:
tzuk@live.esu.edu