Pokemon Go Hits Whatcom County

Pokemon Go has officially swept the U.S. and Whatcom County is no exception. But what is it all about? What has children of all ages so excited to get outside and stare at their phones? We’re here to give you the basics on Pokemon Go to put you in the know. We’ll also be throwing in a few tips to help get you to pro-trainer status in no time. If you’d like to connect to others in the local community, check out some Bellingham Pokemon Go Facebook groups HERE and HERE – and there is even a Pokemon 5K walk sponsored by Bellingham Parks and Rec!

What is a Pokemon?

Pokemon is a Japanese video game that first launched in 1995 for the handheld Nintendo Gameboy. The title Pokemon translates to Pocket Monsters, with the object of the game being to collect all 151 of the different creatures in the game. Along the way players are encouraged to battle their Pokemon to gain strength and experience. Over 20 years later, Pokemon as a game has changed very little, but the fan base continues to grow as new generations become interested in the world of Pokemon.

What is Pokemon Go?

Pokemon Go is a game that can be downloaded as an app on most any smart phone device. It uses the phone’s GPS system to create the real world game map that players can find and catch Pokemon in. So when you see a group of kids (or adults) staring intently at their phone screens and wandering around randomly, what you are most likely seeing is someone on the hunt to catch a nearby Pokemon. Pokemon appear randomly for the most part in the game. So players can literally be found almost anywhere. Not surprisingly this has led to a few, otherwise unlikely, real life encounters already. Including two completely separate instances of dead bodies being discovered by people out looking for Pokemon.

The game also uses real world locations as “Pokestops” and “Gyms” that players can interact with to collect in game items and battle their Pokemon respectively. This has resulted in a mix of reactions among those who are not playing the game. Some have been annoyed to find out that their place of business, church or even their home has become a hot spot, attracting players to their location. While many other businesses have embraced the Pokemon players, offering in game lures to attract Pokemon to their location and make it appealing for players to patronize their establishments. The game company Niantic has publicly addressed the issues of the undesired Pokemon locations and has a form on their website to request the removal of these locations from the game.

What do this mean for the rest of us?

While Pokemon Go’s popularity is impossible to ignore. It’s still very much a video game for children and not everyone is thrilled to have it around. It’s important to remember it is just a game and as with all trends, it’s popularity will fade in time. But for the time being it’s important that we all remember to keep everyone’s safety in mind. While it falls on the players of the game to use good judgment and play such a distracting game responsibly (Please do NOT Pokemon and drive!), we should all stay vigilant as there will always be children who get excited and eager to run head first into danger before looking. Let’s all set a good example out there and keep our young Pokefans safe.

Pro-Tips for Pokemasters in training

Alright, for all of you Pokemon trainers looking to be the very best, like no one ever was, here is a quick list of tips that will get you there just a little bit faster.

• To level up your trainer as quickly as possible, you’ll want to collect as many common Pokemon as possible. Pidgey, Ratata, Weedle, Caterpie, Bellsprout and Oddish all only require 25 candies to evolve. So collect as many of these Pokemon as you can carry, do NOT trade them in yet. After you have a bunch of these Pokemon and their candies, use a lucky egg to double your earned XP for 30 minutes. Now evolve as many Pokemon as you can. For every evolution you preform with the luck egg active, you’ll earn 1000xp! Do this enough times and your level will skyrocket!
• Eevee is a fairly common Pokemon that has the ability to evolve into a water type, fire type or electric type Pokemon. Until recently it was assumed that this evolution was completely random. But it has since come to light that you can control what type your Eevee evolves into simply by changing it’s name. Name your Eevee “Sparky” for it to evolve into Jolteon, “Rainer” for Vaporeon and “Pyro” to get Flareon.
• Don’t forget to incubate your eggs and take a walk. Some of the most rare Pokemon in Pokemon go can be hatched from eggs found at Pokestops. Eggs hatch after you’ve walked certain distances with them in the incubator. There are currently 2k, 5k and 10k eggs. While 10k eggs tend to harbor that most exclusive Pokemon, you can still find rare Pokemon in any of these eggs. But you have to cover some distance before they can hatch. So get out there and hatch some eggs!