I am a Level 24 Poké Hunter. Over the past few weeks, I have spent more time than I should on the Pokémon GO app. For me, it is about collecting ’em all. And on top of that, to have the most powerful version of each that I can afford. My Pokédex is currently just over two-thirds complete.
It all started with a curious thought, what does the Pokémon world look like? As I travel quite a bit, it is reasonably easy to find out. Turns out, it is quite an interesting place. For instance, there are a lot of rocky Pokémons in the Middle East.
While it is fun to collect the little creatures, part of the satisfaction comes from unravelling the design of the game. Countless hours spent exploring a virtual world through a tiny window that is my phone, and a bit of online research, has led to a deeper understanding of the rules that govern it and appreciation of the thoughts that went into its design. For instance, Pokémons will only appear at fixed spawn points, which are distributed based on mobile usage. Wandering through remote places is not the way to find rare Pokémons. Instead, you will be lucky to find any at all. When staying put in one location, there is no need to constantly monitor the app, as any Pokémons that do appear will remain in place for several minutes. If you are trying to walk your eggs, avoid looping back on your track, as the distance is calculated based on your positions, which are only registered every 4 minutes or so.
To make the most of the limited resources available, primarily time, I find it necessary to play smart. I find time on the bus is great for restocking the bag. When on my runs, I hatch eggs instead. I save the candies, and perform mass evolutions while using a Lucky Egg to level up quicker.
If there is a sorting hat, I will almost definitely end up in Team Mystic.