Why I'm Still Playing Pokemon GO

Well over a year after it's initial release, I'm still playing Pokemon GO on a daily basis. I know it's not considered cool anymore, and I don't care to be quite honest, I love it! I loved Pokemon when the cards were originally released, it was a huge part of my early teenage years, and now in my late (just!) twenties, it's become a huge part of my life all over again.

2017 saw the release of the second generation of Pokemon, and a whole 90 new Pokemon to add to your Pokedex, not including the regional exclusives (which sadly the UK didn't get any of), and the legendaries. The last few months have also finally seen the release of the legendary Pokemon in limited releases. With this release, came the reason I still play daily. To catch the legendary Pokemon, you must participate in raids, and you cannot do this alone. You need a good team of players to complete the raid, introducing a whole new social aspect to the game.

With the release of each new legendary, comes great excitement. I'm very lucky to live in Grimsby, we have a fantastic PoGo community here that is very organised and eager to help. There is a lot of buzz, we plan via Facebook and it's meant I've gained some new friends, and reconnected with some old friends too! 

Mewtwo being released via invite only EX-raid passes has been the most fun! Waking up to see my fellow trainers had started to receive invites to Mewtwo raids, and then logging into PoGo and seeing my own had me literally squealing with delight! We got planning and preparing our teams, and meeting up with everyone on the day, the atmosphere was buzzing. See the egg hatch into Mewtwo had us all cheering and getting eager to get battling! We have a really good bunch locally, so we had agreed to form teams to optimise the rewards for every player, so everyone would have the chance to catch Mewtwo. I punched the air with joy when I caught it on my first throw, with a critical catch! Seeing the other players so happy and working together, it's really awesome. If you've been struggling to raid make sure you search for local Facebook PoGo groups, you might be surprised to discover you have some really active ones that will help you out. 

Pokemon GO has become such a social activity for me, I go out and walk a lot, I meet up with people I might never have met with PoGo, and it encourages me to get out of the house! I'm proudly Team Mystic and going out and helping my fellow Mystics take over and rule the gyms is great fun. I'm level 35 now and determined to keep pushing forward and be the best trainer I can be.

I know it's not 'cool', but I love it. I haven't had a hobby that I've been so consistent with and enjoying for so long. My carpal tunnel means photography isn't viable for me anymore, but PoGo is much easier on my hands. With the arrival of generation 3 pokemon seeming imminent, I don't see myself stopping any time soon!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

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