Why is Pokémon Go so popular? To find out, I spent an entire day playing Pokémon Go, visiting Pokémon hotspots, and observing Pokémon Go trainers around Singapore. This is what I discovered. By Kenny Yeo.
Why is Pokémon Go so popular? To find out, I spent an entire day playing Pokémon Go, visiting Pokémon hotspots, and observing Pokémon Go trainers around Singapore. This is what I discovered. By Kenny Yeo.
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Catching Pokémon Go trainers around Singapore
Pokémon Go is the game that has gripped our nation like no other. The mere mention of a Snorlax sighting is enough to send grown men and women into a frenzy. What is it about this game that causes its players to act like that? To find out, I spent an entire day playing Pokémon Go and visiting Pokémon hotspots around the island.
My first stop of the day was Kent Ridge Park, and it was already awash with Pokémon trainers in the morning. What was more interesting was the stream of cars that entered the carpark. There were two carparks at Kent Ridge Park and I noticed that occupants in the car would disembark, head off into the park only to reemerge a couple of minutes later to drive off to the next carpark, where the process would repeat itself. A group would later tell me that they were there because they had heard there was a Dratini near the lake.
The same scenes greeted me at my next stop. Changi Village road was lined with players and I soon found out why. The road was littered with Pokéstops and there were three Pokéstops in close proximity near the junction of Changi Village road and Loyang Avenue.
I later visited Upper Peirce Reservoir Park and then Upper Seletar Reservoir Park, thinking that they would be good spots too, but I was wrong. It was a far cry from the scenes I’ve seen earlier in the day, there were hardly any trainers there. Clearly, Singaporeans can sniff out a good Pokémon Go spot just as well as they can sniff out a good deal.
My second last stop of the day was Chinese Garden, a famous spot amongst trainers, and it was swamped. The interesting thing about Pokémon Go is that you can see all kinds of people playing the game; families, couples and friends. I saw two friends who seemed to be enjoying a walk and a chat, while catching Pokémons along the way.
I reached my final stop, the infamous Block 401 at Hougang Ave 10, at around midnight. And even though it was the wee hours of a weekday morning, the place was packed with trainers. Even when I left at 2am, the place was still packed and there was still trainers streaming in. The lengths that people will go to for this game is truly remarkable.
From my whirlwind experience, a couple of things stood out for me. Pokémon Go enjoys a sizable and highly dedicated fanbase, and for the most part, the players I met have been friendly and helpful. There’s a sense of kinship amongst trainers. Trainers I met didn’t hesitate to point out where to find Pokémons; and even online, trainers would share tips on how to catch certain Pokémons. Sure, some trainers can go overboard and do some really silly things, but by and large, I think it’s mostly harmless fun. Besides, after playing the game for an entire day, I think I’m hooked.
“... the players I met have been friendly and helpful. There’s a sense of kinship amongst trainers.”
How to level quickly?
At low levels, it pays to catch every Pokémon you come across, since catching any Pokémon gets you 100XP (experience points). If it’s a Pokémon that is not yet registered to your Pokédex, you get an extra 600XP. If you are handy with throwing the Pokéball, throwing a curveball nets you an additional 10XP.
The best way to level quickly is to catch lots of Pidgeys, which are plentiful. The trick is to evolve the Pidgeys with a Lucky Egg. Upon activation, the Lucky Egg will double the XP you earn for the next 30 minutes. This means the 500XP that you normally get from evolving Pokémons is now a whopping 1000XP. And the good thing about Pidgeys is that they only require 12 Pidgey candies.
BEST POKÉMONS FOR GYM BATTLES
One of the fun things about Pokémon Go is using the Pokémons you’ve caught to defend and take over gyms. Here are the best Pokémons for the job.
Dragonite
Dragonite is sought after for good reason, the deceptively cute-looking Dragon has insanely high stats both offensively and defensively.
Snorlax
This rotund Pokémon is favored for defending gyms because it has few weaknesses, massive amounts of health points, and very high stamina.
Lapras
Lapras is an ideal Pokémon because it has high stats, and is effective defending against popular dragon and fire type gym attackers such as Dragonite, Arcanine, and Flareon.
