Pokemon Go Machop Community Day – The Climb #694

Saturday 16^th January 2021

I think I’m slowly getting back into Pokemon Go again. As I’ve said in the past, some of the decisions taken by Niantic in the past 6 months have left me so angry that it spoilt the enjoyment of the game for me.

However, I kinda like the new collection challenges. Instead of a bunch of tasks to spin so many stops or do so many battles, it gets back to the basics of catching Pokemon, focusing on event spawns.

If I’m working, I’ve got a great little set up where I can have my phone in front of me. I don’t have to watch it minute by minute, but I will glance at it subconsciously between staring at keyboard and screen and notice if anything I need spawns. The disruption is minimal and I find it makes me feel more relaxed.

Today was Machop community day, and despite having so much of a Machamp army that I really do need to do a bit of a cull, I quite enjoyed it. I didn’t play the entire 6 hours, but I did do a solid 3 hours. I never got any decent ones to evolve, but had a few saved up. I also did a long distance lucky trade with a friend and got a decent IV shiny.

And perhaps because I had the shinies already and I can always get the move later through an elite TM or the likely December Community Day catch up, I wasn’t too stressed about it. It was a chill way to spend a few hours.

For the last few months, other than the special researches for the various events, I’ve not really been playing too much. I’ve tried to stay current, but little more.

However, friends have pushed ahead with the new levels, whereas I still have a load of raid battles to do before I even reach 41. I know I have the XP to get to about 47 or 48, so I don’t feel the need to rush. But part of me now thinks to keep an eye open for remote raids, maybe go for a walk round the block (taking in a few gyms) when there’s a bunch of level 1’s on.

I’m hoping by the spring, when it’s a bit warmer, I’ll be playing a bit more, if only as something to do as I get out the house for a walk. I suspect it’ll take until the end of summer before things start to feel normalish again, and maybe by then I’ll be playing more heavily.

But who knows? Lockdown has seen people drop a lot of hobbies and start new ones in their place. Pokemon Go has definitely been a victim of lockdown, but unlike something like HEMA which I intend to fully return to, I’m still not sure whether I’ll fully engage once the pandemic is over.