Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go

First up, I know that I’m late to the party. Due to an ancient phone that was basically an old brick, I was incapable of playing the game. So as soon as I got a new phone, the app was one of the first things I downloaded and I’m really glad I did. I love the game. And I do know some people are already bored with it but I’m still loving every aspect of it.

In just under two weeks I have hit level 22 and caught 74 different pokemon and visited over 1000 pokestops. But all of that is fodder. What I really love about this game is the social aspect of it. I love going out on poke-walks and poke-hunts with my friends. I love settling down somewhere and putting a lure on and just waiting for the pokemon to come to us too.

But mostly I love how much of a distraction Pokemon Go is. I love that when I play it, I’m not thinking about anything else. All the worries and fears flop out of my head and all I’m thinking about are pokemon, pokeballs and pokestops. And at this moment in time, that is the kind of distraction that I absolutely need.

I also love that it’s been getting me out of the house and more excited to go to new places too. New places means new pokemon. Walking means hatching eggs and I can’t do much on the game at home. As someone who has been struggling to feel energetic and motivated to get out of bed let alone out of the house, I cannot thank this game enough for this. With the extra walking I feel less tired and I noticed that my muscles aren’t aching anywhere near as much as they did. I’m still tired but at least I’m not aching so much.

But as none of that is particularly exciting for you. I thought I would also share with you my favourite pokemon that I’ve caught so far and some of the ways in which I managed to get to level 22 in under two weeks (as this is supposedly impressive). So… here we go!

First up is Pikachu!
This was the fellow I started with and while he is small and not very mighty, he is my most favourite pokemon. I walked quite a while to catch him and he is just my favourite pokemon of the series too. I would love to catch more of his kind to help power him up to!

Next up is Jigglypuff and Clefairy.
These two pokemon sit high on the cute factor. There’s something so lovely about them and they also both seem to be really hard to find and catch so that just makes them that much more precious to me!

Then we have Wartortle.
This guy was evolved from one of my Squirtles, who I also love! He is fierce and battle ready which I love. I also really want to evolve him so I am continuously on the lookout for more Squirtles to help me do that!

Also high on my list are my Vaporean and Flareon.
These two evolved from the very cute and utterly fierce Eevee’s that I collected and they’re both fierce creatures themselves too. They battle well in the arena but they’re also awesome to look at. I cannot wait to complete this trio!

On the cuter side we have Growlithe.
I caught this guy only the other day and he is awesome. He is both fierce and cute all rolled up into one and looks like the kind of Pokemon that would be your friend for life – and he would protect you with his own too. He is very special.

I had a fair few more pokemon I wanted to talk about but I know this post may become too long if I do so instead here are some other pokemon I love! Persian, Starmie, Porygon, Ponyta and Golduck!

Now though, here are some of the things I have done to get to level 22 quickly.

• Catch everything. You may not need another Rattata, Weedle, or Pidgey, but every time you catch one you get 100xp and you can always just transfer them back to the professor.
• Don’t be afraid to continuously evolve the above pokemon either. Evolves give you 500xp. Then throw away your lowest cp pokemon!
• If you can, do evolves together. Got a Pidgey? Evolve it to a Pidgeot with 62 candies.
• Pokestops give you 50xp whether you need items or not.
• Winning gyms is not only fun but gives you xp too! Training your pokemon in friendly gyms does too!
• If you have a lucky egg to use, be wise about it. I was ready to evolve about 15 pokemon the other day so I put on my lucky egg and did them for the double xp. That made me get at least 15000xp!
• Sitting between two pokestops and putting a lure down on both is a brilliant way to lure lots of pokemon and get you lots of points!
• Walk and hatch those eggs!

So those are my tips. I’m still not really sure how I got to where I am but all I know is that whatever you do, remember to have fun while doing it too!

Do you play Pokemon Go?