July Community Day with Squirtle!

Yesterday was the Pokémon GO Community Day for July, and it was the first one in which I participated. With my phone fully charged, I headed down to the pond at the local park to catch Squirtle, lots and lots of Squirtle.

Going to the park on a Sunday afternoon in July is not something I normally do, and I couldn’t get over the number of people I encountered while there. While many people were at the park to do normal park things, there were plenty of people there catching Pokémon, either as couples, in small groups of family or friends, or solo, like me. Additionally, I encountered two large groups which were clearly organized and focused on raid battles. I had never experienced anything like that before, until the day before, when I crossed paths with a similarly large group at the park for the Articuno event.

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The real world.
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The Pokémon GO world.
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My first Blastoise. Thanks to evolving during the event, he knows Hydro Pump.
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I made a new friend. After the completion of each Field Research during the event, you would encounter a Squirtle wearing sunglasses.
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Pikachu in summer hats were also to be found. I caught this one, but two got away.
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I had just enough candy to evolve a second Blastoise. This one has sunglasses.
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And just when I thought it wasn’t going to happen, I encountered and caught a shiny Squirtle wearing sunglasses!

The July Community Day was fun and rewarding, and I look forward to each month’s event from now on. You’re guaranteed a lot in a three hour window, so it’s worth getting out for it. Now that I have two powerful Blastoise, I think I’ll start getting into battling, something I’ve done rarely in the past two years. With this event, Niantic just may have gotten me playing Pokémon GO outside of a casual capacity. Just not today. It’s, like, 90 out.

Pokémon Quest

This morning in Tokyo, Japan, the Pokémon 2018 Video Game Press Conference was held. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! were announced for Nintendo Switch. To tide us over until those titles are released this November, Pokémon Quest was also revealed and released on the Nintendo Switch eShop as a free to start title.

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You have your choice of Kanto starters in this game on Tumblecube Island. Naturally, I chose Pikachu.
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Go on expeditions, find loot. Got it.
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You can also cook in order to attract wild Pokémon to your camp. Hey, Apricorns!
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And then there were three of us. Metapod watch out!
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But does the game have a Pokédex? Yes, the game has a Pokédex!
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Though Pokémon Quest is designed for tapping, fortunately you can use a cursor as seen in the screenshots above, and the game does have some nifty button shortcuts as well.

Pokémon Quest is a cute little game that I’d get into for Pokédex completion if I didn’t have so much to do and play already. I’m not that keen on the Pokémon moving by themselves, but this is a casual title also coming to smartphones so tapping abilities for three different Pokémon is good enough for a cute little game such as this.