"Be careful in the friendly gyms – they almost killed my Pokémon,"
They’re the words I didn’t expect to hear on a Wednesday afternoon whilst interviewing a Pokémon Go addict.
However, as I delved into a gaming world that would swallow me whole in just 72 hours, suddenly words like ‘PokéStops’ and ‘Rattata’ weren’t ridiculous. They made perfect sense. And in an instant, I was one of those Pokemon Go people.
THE BEGINNING OF POKEMON GO
It all started at the weekend.
People began cluttering my Facebook newsfeed with grainy photos of Pokémon roaming the streets of London. My first question was whether I had just experienced a reverse 13 Going On 30 moment and somehow travelled back to the nineties. If Pokémon are around, that also means that boys with curtains are back (Nick and Aaron Carter, come at me). I closed my eyes tightly in an attempt to blink my way back to 2016, but when Mark Ruffalo didn’t appear I realised no time travelling had occurred.
Though I did decide that I would get involved in the action, because FOMO.
Pokémon Go Day 1 - Monday
On Monday morning, sitting at my desk in heat HQ, I downloaded the app and fawned over my purple-haired avatar. Within minutes there was a Pokémon on my radar. Adrenaline pumping and sweat beads on my brow, I stomped around the desk like a Bone Crusher from the BFG trying to catch a fly.
“No! Why aren’t I moving?” I cried, as my colleagues pretended to work and started writing concerned emails to HR.
Suddenly, there it was – a Charmander, staring me down with a smug look on his face.
“I’ll wipe that grin off your little orange face!” I laughed, and with an aim that would make James Bond proud, he zapped into my Pokéball.
Dizzy from power, hungry for more, I headed straight towards a nearby Zubat who stood no chance against my sturdy physique and speedy finger tips (years of playing Paper Toss were finally paying off).
As I tried to concentrate on work, all I could think about was the Pokémon running around heat HQ, untouched, unknown to the untrained eye, waiting to be captured and added to my growing team of poké-greatness. I could be the best Pokémon Trainer Bauer had ever seen, all I needed was a) the chance to shine, and b) eight hours a day to pursue my life’s calling, dashing the poké-dreams of my rival Trainer at Empire.
Pokémon Go Day 2 - Tuesday
Tuesday was a success with regards to my career as a Trainer, and I wouldn’t let anyone get in my way. Not the terrified looking man who I refused to let upstairs because I was seizing a Drowzee. Not the girls in the Grazia fashion cupboard who just wanted to work while I attempted to pin down a Jigglypuff. And not queue of bladder-heavy women waiting in the ladies.
Despite everyone’s attempts, I triumphed. I hadn’t felt this determined to succeed since I made the netball team in Year 4. It was a great day for my Training career. Less so for my career as a journalist.
But I was a girl on a mission. And that mission was Poké-greatness.
Pokémon Go Day 3 - Wednesday
I needed to talk to someone. Someone that could help me find Pokémon eggs and offer solutions for the neck ache, but who wouldn’t try and steal my expertise. Someone who was in the game, but far enough away that they weren’t an enemy.
Like Lyzz Pokéboc*.
Lyzz is a Pokémon Go player living in Perth, Western Australia. The seriousness of the world I had entered became almost immediately apparent.
"Please don’t use my real name," she begged. "I need anonymity - for bullying purposes,"
Lyzz, a 23 year old artist, revealed that although she has only been playing the game for a week, she’s found it hard to switch off. One night, she found herself walking to a postbox on her street at 1am so that she could find some Pokémon-attracting incense.
But life as a Trainer isn’t always easy, and Lyzz has had a tough time in the Pokémon world.
"I’m not quite ready for it yet, but when you get to level 5 you can use the friendly gyms to make your Pokémon stronger," she tells me.
"I’m on level 7, but you need to be careful in there – I tried doing it, and they almost killed my Pokémon,"
I shudder. I can’t imagine a life without my new friends, even though my Zubat collection could do with a cull.
Lyzz jubilantly explains that she is living in a world surrounded by Pokéstops – her workplace being one, her friend’s letterbox another. But she worries that when she moves to the UK in a few weeks, she won’t have the same easy access to items like Pokéballs and Poké-eggs.
But is this self-confessed Pokémon Go addict scared by the circling horror stories of real people having their phones stolen or finding dead bodies?
"Nothing will stop me playing," she confesses.
"Put it this way, if it wasn’t for that woman playing Pokémon Go, they wouldn’t have found that body. Pokémon is helping to solve crimes,”
Suddenly, I realised that the sleepless nights, the extreme case of iPhone finger, and the strange eye spasms were a mere side-effect of a game that was literally changing the world. Yeah, I stopped talking to anyone who wasn’t playing, and yeah I had to invest in a portable phone charger so that I was always in the poké-moment, but it’s all for the greater good.
The greater good! (Erm - Hot Fuzz , anyone?)
It’s had its ups, downs and infuriating glitches, but if it’s making the world a better place, I’m not going to stand in the way.
Unless we’re battling it out for Pikachu. Then you’re going down.
*names have been changed to protect the identity of the individual
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