Pokémon GO: What to Know

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably heard (and seen) the new craze sweeping the nation: Pokémon Go. The new augmented reality game by Niantic, Inc. and The Pokémon Company has taken the world by storm as its international releases continue.

Australia, New Zealand, and the United States were the first to see the game in their app stores, as it was released on July 6, 2016. Since then, the international releases of Pokémon Go have hit Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, France, Hong Kong, and the majority of the remaining European countries.

For all its sensationalism, Pokémon Go was actually a project twenty years in the making. February of 1996 saw Nintendo introduce humans to the world of Pokémon in its domestic stomping grounds, Japan. By 1999, Pokémon had made its way to Europe, and quickly became an international sensation. Picking up its own cartoon series, trading card deck, and comic book series, Pokémon was at the peak of its popularity. Its handheld game series has continued to be popular, and is approaching the release of its seventh generation. By the time Pokémon had hit its stride, Google-controlled Niantic was creating Ingress, a game not too unlike Pokémon Go. Based on the data from mapping firm Keyhole (which became Google Earth), Ingress used location to create a game based on holding control over certain physical landmarks that became—you guessed it—Pokémon gyms. Niantic became independent and teamed up with The Pokémon Company (responsible for the marketing and licensing of Pokémon since 1998) to bring the world Pokémon Go.

Unsurprisingly, the new game has a lot of players asking a lot of questions. Very little information was released along with Pokémon Go in all its glory, and users have taken to sites like Reddit to share information and inductively conclude as much as they can. We’ve corralled the most common and most interesting questions about Pokémon Go and answered them over on eNotes Homework Help.

1. How much data does Pokemon Go use?

Short answer: Not very much! As little as 5 to 10 mb per hour.

Long answer: According to P3 communications Inc., Pokemon GO only uses 5 to 10 megabytes per hour. To put that into perspective, Verizon’s data calculator says that watching an HD video takes 350 megabytes of data…continue reading

2. What features are coming next to Pokemon Go?

According to Tech Insider, we can expect eight new Pokemon GO features to be available soon!

1. Improved Pokemon tracking
2. Pokemon trading between friends
3. Pokemon battles between friends
4. Continue reading

3. How do I get a Pokestop in my house?

Although Niantic is not currently accepting requests for Pokemon Go stops, many hope they will reopen the form at some point so that you can ask them to place one in your area…continue reading

4. Is Pokemon both singular and plural?

Pokemon can be used as both a singular and plural word.

The lyrics to the intro song of the popular cartoon “Pokemon” states:

Pokemon, gotta catch ’em all

By using “’em,” a shortened version of “them,” we can conclude that Pokemon is suitable to be used in the plural form…continue reading

5. Do teams affect anything besides gym and color?

Upon reaching level 5, you can finally head to your first gym. It does not matter what color the first gym you go to is on your map–you will still be able to choose your team!

The different team leaders claim to have different methods of researching Pokemon. It does not seem that there is any technical advantage to choosing a team–but some speculation states that the Legendary Birds that represent each team’s color may come into play sometime in the future…continue reading

6. Are Pokemon based on mythological creatures?

In many cases, yes! While a lot of Pokémon are based on animals from the real world, and all are at least the partial product of the creators’ vivid imaginations, many Pokémon are drawn from world mythology. Japan, where the Pokémon franchise originates, has a particularly rich tradition of myths and legends of kami—gods, deities, or spirits—and the spookier yokai—demons and ghosts…continue reading

7. Does location affect the likelihood of encountering different Pokemon?

Yes.

There are certain Pokemon that are hypothesized to be location locked by continents.

• Tauros: North America
• Mr. Mime: Western Europe
• Kangaskhan: Australia / New Zealand
• Continue reading

8. How can Pokemon Go bring communities together?

If you take a moment to head to your local park, you will probably spot clumps of people stooped over their phones. This is due to the latest app craze—Pokemon Go—and the vast number of people it has affected.

People of all races, genders, orientations, and personalities play the game. Some people have waited years for the game, and some people only discovered the game when it was released a few weeks ago. The main point here is that there isn’t a single “type” of person that Pokemon Go targets…continue reading

9. Are Eevee evolutions random?

Apparently not! The original anime Eevee Brothers were named Rainer, Pyro, and Sparky. Rainer owned a Vaporeon, Pyro owned a Flareon, and Sparky owned a Jolteon. People have discovered that naming your Eevee either Rainer, Pyro, or Sparky will result in the respective evolution…continue reading

10. How far away is each footstep?

As of today, July 25th, 2016, the footstep function is broken, and has been broken for a few days now.

The footstep counter is supposed to be one step away, two steps away, or three steps away depending on how close/far away you are.

There is a lot of debate on the internet about the exact values (Niantic won’t give us exact numbers), but it appears that:

• No Footstep: 0m to 40m (the same as the distance you can trigger PokeStations and the like from)
• One Footstep: 40m to 75m
• Continue Reading

11. How do you avoid taking damage in a battle?

You cannot take zero damage in a fight.  But you can dodge the attacks and reduce damage taken significantly.

While you are fighting there will be a yellow screen flash right before your opponent attacks.  When that happens forget everything else, stop attacking, and dodge…continue reading

12. How is Pokemon Go affecting real estate and the housing market?

Currently restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that have Pokestops in them are benefiting from Pokemon go.  Personally I have stayed at a coffee shop for over an hour, buying multiple coffees purely because I wanted to use the Pokestop for lures.

Yelp already has a Pokestop filter on their website…continue reading

13. What is the best way to get stronger Pokemon?

The trick to playing Pokemon Go and getting strong Pokemon is focusing on leveling up your character.

Don’t worry about powering up Pokemon until you are a higher level; you’ll gain levels quickly—and you’ll catch higher level Pokemon later.

So if the best way to get strong Pokemon is to level up your character, what is the best way to level up your character? Continue reading

Have more questions about Pokemon Go? Head over to Homework Help to ask your own!