Pokemon Go Update: I Just Won Our Gym!

I had been out all weekend walking around catching Pokemon and all that worked payed off as I came into work (EARLY a first) just so I could see if I could win our library gym. I easily defeated the yellow team that was in charge of the gym and now it has become a red team training area. So what does that mean?

All weekend I have cavorted around downtown Plymouth, MA and areas of Boston, MA to catch common Pokemon like Pidgeys and Weebles or a few more alluring rare ones that popped up like this Scyther (it's on the Charles River BTW).  By catching even the most common Pokemon duplicates, I earned stardust and candies to evolve my stronger Pokemon to begin taking over gyms.

When you first visit a gym (you have to be pretty close to the site in order to battle) you choose a color: red, yellow or blue. Once you have chosen, it is a forever solidified choice. Now I can go to gyms marked RED to train my Pokemon and earn my gym prestige. If I am in charge of the gym, earn coins to buy extra items. If the gym shows up another color, I can try to battle the Pokemon that lead the gym with my strongest Pokemon, in this case CP 535 and a few other stronger ones, into battle. You have to fight and win against all the people who have placed Pokemon at the gym. Once you have defeated all of them, the gym turns grey and you have to click in it again to claim it for your color (Red in my case) and leave one of your Pokemon there to defend it.  I immediately posted on our social media sites that I had taken over the gym and challenge others to come try to take it over or to train on team red. If you haven't made an account yet, you might want to have your screen name say your library so everyone knows that you have won.  I just used my email address and now I regret it.

I left my 3rd strongest Pokemon there as I can keep battling against myself to earn prestige with my stronger Pokemons and try to level up the gym. Once the gym's level has increased, more Pokemon can be left there by others on your same color team to defend the gym. How do you battle? Just tap your Pokemon on the phone screen and swipe to dodge attacks. If you hold your finger down long enough and release, you can do a special attack.

If any library has circulate-able mobile hot spots now is the time to advertise. This game eats through your data plan and some rural areas get very little signal. Having a mobile hot spot in your pocket (or setting one up at a gym or Pokestop nearby) will increase the stability of the game play.

While I was playing this weekend, I was surprised by the number of people (20-30s mostly but I did see some parent/child teams) out playing.  At Pokestops, people can drop "lures" which look like petals or confetti falling from the stop. The lure attracts Pokemon to the area for 30 minutes. When I observed lures being dropped you always knew the spot because there were 30 people milling about on their phones each looking up and talking to each other as we realized that we are all playing the same game. If your library is a Pokestop, rather than a gym, you can drop lures and advertise on social media the time and the place.  If your library happens to have a special rare Pokemon in the area, Boston Public Library had one but my phone died, it's worth telling people. #pokemongo is already up and running as well as many Facebook pages like Pokemon Go Massachusetts.  For those in the south shore, Pokemon Plymouth, where users are connecting and sharing tips and scheduling meetups. The site, reddit is also full of tips.

I have to admit I've been to Boston numerous times and never once knew there was a Houdini plaque to commemorate his jump in 1908 on the side of the Harvard Bridge leading to the Charles or ever visited Paul Revere's grave near the Boston Common until they were Pokestops.  This game encourages exercise (as my Fitbit has given me much praise for the 15 miles I've clocked in 2 days) and a bit of history. Not to mention, it got me socializing with strangers!We are in the next generation of gaming. Librarians put your thinking caps on as we can try to embrace and promote this in our communities while the "iron is hot".  I'll let you know how long it takes for me to be "dethroned" meanwhile here is me posing with Psyduck on Atlantic Ave in Boston.