I’m sure most of you will have heard of the latest craze to sweep the world…Pokemon Go. The devotees of the game (ie my family) informed me the game has been out for months in Australia, and was released in Hong Kong a few weeks ago.
I am not a gamer; I don’t play games on the computer of any sort. To be honest I find sitting in front of the computer for more than an hour a challenge. Monopoly and scrabble are more my style. So naturally I had no interest in the new Pokemon craze until it became obvious that unless I found out what it was all about it was going to miss out on valuable bonding time with my family.
Not only were my children playing obsessively in Australia, when I got back to Hong Kong, my husband was addicted. Having resisted for weeks, when one of our sons loaded it onto his phone, David took it on, as his mission to get more Pokemon’s than his children as quickly as possible. (The fact he is one of the competitive people I know will help you understand the zeal with which he undertook this challenge!) With a deep sigh, and a sense that I was selling my soul, I allowed Pokemon Go to be downloaded onto my phone. If you can’t beat them join them right!
For those who don’t understand how the game works, Pokemon are little creatures (some very cute) who pop up in varying locations around city center’s. The idea is for you to capture them and then you can evolve them into bigger and better Pokémon. There are Pokestops also situated around the city, which are usually landmarks, some well known, others not so much. The idea is you go out walking and find as many Pokémon and pokestops as you can.
What I like about the game is that it encourages people to get out of the house and walk and explore the city they live in. Anything that encourages exercise is a bonus in my eyes. So on my first weekend back in Hong Kong my husband and I decided to walk up the Peak. David is always a keen exerciser, but he was up early and ready to go in record time last Saturday morning. We set off with phones in hand and I proceeded to get a crash course in the art of Pokémon Go. Before long I was catching Rattata, Pidgey, Sandshrew and I even hatched an egg! I started to see the appeal in the game and even walked a bit slower so we didn’t miss anything.
After 45mins of catching little creatures, I decided it was time to put the phone away and do some serious exercise. I kissed David goodbye and headed off on the trails for a nice long run, while he continued down the Peak and into Kennedy town to capture some of the more elusive Poke animals.
Later that afternoon feeling tired but happy with my Pokemon hunting and 4 hour trail run, I was settling down to read my book when my husband appeared in my study, shoes in hand and said, “It’s a lovely afternoon, lets go out for a walk”. I was a touch suspicious as the AFL football was on and David never usually leaves the house until it is finished. He explained that it was half time and he felt like some fresh air. I grabbed my phone and my runners and we headed out the door. When we got downstairs it was raining, I looked at David and exclaimed, “it’s raining, I thought you said it was a nice day???”. He quickly answered, “its only drizzling, I will go and grab some umbrella’s” and before I knew it he had disappeared. By this time I suspected that Pokemon hunting was the lure to go for a walk, not the sudden urge to exercise twice a day! We had an enjoyable hour wandering through Sheung Wan and Sai Yin Pun, discovering parts of Hk Island I had not explored before. By the time we headed home I was up to level 6, had a full bag of Poke balls and captured some cute little critters.
However, the appeal of Pokemon Go was wearing off for me. I had given it a go, I understood how it worked, but I didn’t feel the pull to continue searching the world for every rare and elusive Pokemon that existed.
The next day as I was starting to cook dinner, my husband appeared in the kitchen, runners in hand, and asked if I wanted to go for a walk (he has never walked this much in his life). I said no as I wanted to get dinner ready. Forty five minutes later he hadn’t returned so I sent him a message to say dinner was ready, was he close to home. He replied he would be back in 15mins. When he returned I asked where he had walked as he had been gone for quite a while. He looked at me quizzically and explained he had headed to Kennedy Town and then realized there were a lot of lures around, (other Pokemon players set out lures to bring the pokemon to them) so he had sat at a bar and had a drink while he waited for all the Pokemon to come to him. (Picture David in a bar surrounded by his mates Pikachu, Pidgwey and Nidorina)!
To say I was not impressed is an understatement. The one redeeming feature of the game was that it got people moving. When you sit in a bar and lure Pokemon’s to come to you, that’s going too far. Pokemon Go officially lost all appeal for me at that moment.
Pokemon Go…going Gone!