If you walk around Old Town most weekends, you see a number of things … farmers markets, cops on horses, and maybe a group of people roaming around on their phones.
They are playing Pokémon Go, an augmented reality mobile game that creates a digital map of the real world and fills it with creatures from the beloved franchise. Players are encouraged to explore their surroundings to catch, battle and level up their companions.
“In Wichita specifically, we have our downtown areas, Delano that are fun to catch,” John Lee, an avid player, said.
He has been playing Pokémon Go off and on since it began a decade ago and enjoys the player-vs-player (PVP) aspect of the game. He said it’s a good way to connect with friends, as well as meet new people.
“Just go out to the areas that that are busy in in the game with lots of stops and and you know during those events, you'll you'll may see a bunch of people walking around too, and it may be a good way for you to meet strangers and and you know hang out for a similar interest in the game.”
Marcota Combs organizes a group of people that meets every Wednesday at 6 pm in Riverside Park. They are there to participate in an aspect of the game called “Raids” – where a large Pokémon character may require a group of people to take it down.
“We'll take a usually about anywhere from four to 20 players,” Combs said, “just depending on how many show up. The more players, the better, the easier, and we'll just just try to take [the Pokémon] down as quick as we can.”
If you are a new player or are returning, Combs said a good way to progress in the game is to find other players and form a group.
“Find one that's in your local area,” Combs said, “and then just go to small events at first because eventually you'll start learning the things that are brand new or that are newer as time goes on. So just kind of focus on like one thing at a time, and you'll eventually start building up to like being more confident with what you're doing.”
Another opportunity for players to meet up is Community Day, which happens once a month. For August, players are given a 1/ 20 shot at catching a shiny Nickit, a cute maroon fox with a mopey face whose limited edition variant makes it look like a sleek silver raccoon.
“Community Day is a regular staple,” Cody Cooper, who also goes by Absol Tamer Cody, said. “The main area for Wichita is right here, down in front of the Museum of World Treasures.”
The monthly event offers players a good opportunity to catch shiny variants, accumulate candy to boost stats, meet other players and follow them along on routes.
“If you want to do some raids, do some trading, it's good to have a bunch of people here playing the game as well,” Cooper said.
After 10 years, Pokémon Go still has its devoted fans, and there is so much more they can do now than they could then. Players can follow routes to pick up rare items, gather to fight gigantic pokemon to add them to their collections, and hunt an ever-growing list of shiny critters.
Regardless of all the new features, for Cooper, one aspect about the game has remained after a decade.
“I mainly got into the game specifically for the social aspect because it's a good excuse to get out and socialize and walk around downtown for a bit.”
