How Pokémon GO is Keeping Me Active

On July 11, 2016, I downloaded an app to my phone because my husband said I’d like it. Even though it had been out for a few days, I didn’t think I’d have time for it so I told him I wasn’t interested. I ended up downloading it anyway when I got home from work that night because he talked it up and said the kids enjoyed playing it on his phone.

After the first day, I was hooked. My very first Pokemon was a Squirtle* and he was so very cute. It was funny because I didn’t understand at first that you had to tap on the Pokemon on the screen in order to open the part of the game where you can actually throw the poke balls and try to catch them. I was trying to walk up to them on the map. My avatar was getting closer to the Pokemon on the map, but I couldn’t figure out how to catch them. I just kept walking closer and closer and nothing was happening. I had seen online and heard that the game would work in an augmented reality format where you could see the Pokemon on your phone as if they were actually in your phone’s camera view, but I didn’t know how to make it work. I ended up walking around the apartment complex we lived in trying to get to the Pokemon, but soon realized I was walking right up to someone’s bedroom window. (I know, I’m a creep, especially since it was about 1:00 am!) I backed away and accidentally tapped my screen, but tapped directly onto the Squirtle! It opened up a visual screen using my phone’s camera and all of a sudden I could see the little guy in augmented reality (AR). I caught him and felt an instant rush of excitement!

Last year, my husband and I played as often as we could. His brother was also a fan of the game. We would take our daughters to parks and walking along the river trying to catch them all. I learned that it’s much easier to catch Pokemon with AR turned off. I also learned to keep my screen brightness turned down as low as I could and have the sounds turned off to conserve battery. We bought a couple of power banks to recharge our phones too.

We figured out how to battle gyms and win them for our team (Go Team Mystic!) and even joined a Facebook group for Team Mystic in Wichita, KS. We played that game almost everyday for the rest of summer 2016 and tried to keep it up for a little bit in the fall. We got to a point when all we were catching were Rattatas and Pidgeys. Almost as quickly as we got hooked on the game, we got bored with it. The weather was growing colder. The app had a lot of issues  and it seemed to freeze up more than it actually ran.

My husband and I deleted the apps from our phones. We also left the Facebook group and pretty much assumed that everyone else in the world had quit playing the game too.

Spring break 2017 we went on a cruise with my brother-in-law. We hadn’t seen him since winter when he moved to Portland, OR. I was surprised to find out he still played Pokemon GO. Apparently it had been a very useful tool for him to get out of his apartment and explore Portland. Plus he’d walked himself into a very healthy looking body. I thought that nobody played Pokemon GO anymore, but he said that most of the issues with the app had been fixed.  I decided to give it another try.

I’ve been playing Pokemon GO almost everyday since May. It was so cool to see the changes they made to the game. They added 2nd generation Pokemon, which were new for me to catch for my pokedex. I started racking up XP and leveled up a couple of levels pretty quickly.

I recently started trying to make healthy changes to my lifestyle. I bought a fit bit. We got a dog who enjoys going for walks. I take her out with me around our apartment complex. We got lucky to move to an apartment complex that is right on a walking path and is full of pokestops and a few gyms.

I take my dog around pretty much everyday to get the pokestops around my neighborhood along the walk path. Pokemon GO has given me motivation to walk just a little farther to get the next pokestop or to try to take on the gyms. It also gets me motivated to go out every day by offering a 7-day streak that gives bonuses. With all the newer Pokemon, there’s so many I want to catch and evolve to add to my pokedex.

I’ve hit my step goal on my fit bit almost everyday thanks to Pokemon GO. The only downside I find to the game is that every time I take over the gym by my home, Moofstadamus immediately comes along on his adult tricycle and steals it back for Team Valor. That’s not the app’s fault though. It’s basically just textbook Team Valor rudeness. If you quit Pokemon GO last year, or if you’ve never tried it, I recommend it! It’s been a great motivator to get me out the door, and hopefully you will find it as fun as my daughters and I do.

♥ Jess

*Yes, that is my original Squirtle from when I first started the game. He’s now my walking buddy and he finds candies when he gets his step goals too.