Pokémon Go: Addiction Redefined.

I really don't know how to start this post. A lot of things have been happening recently, be it the restarting of college, disappointing results (again), the illogical shuffling and reshuffling of divisions, the beginning of the monotonous 3 hour a day tiring travel, or be it the recent two chapters of Deceptive Truths that won everyone's heart and left them craving for more quick updates.

Back to the starting of this month, I had mentioned in a post on my social accounts that I had planned 4 chapters of Deceptive Truths this month, which means one post per week. Since I knew that chances of this being real is too slim, I had also added that I would be happy even if I post atleast 3 of them. The first (and the only) post I made got great response from my readers.

That motivated me to work even harder and make the next chapter even more better, or else it would fall flat and will dampen all of the build up the plot got till now.

With great reviews, comes great pressure.

The main point is that I write whenever I feel so. It's tough making a schedule and following it uptight by forcing down the story. Nah! That won't work. But, I see to it that I keep some deadlines (very wary that I'll obviously break them) so that I atleast post something and do not disaapoint my readers.

So I decided to take a couple of days break and then start writing the next chapter. But that's when the apocalypse arrived.

Code name: Pokémon Go!





At first, I didn't give much attention to it, thinking it as the normal Nintendo Pokémon games I had played before. I still remember that I had started playing them a year ago during my exams and had got so addicted, that I finally had to uninstall that gem of a game.

But the way this game started ruling the charts was way too much to handle. This damn game was mentioned everywhere.
Whatever app I open- Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, everywhere the craze was imminent. And it was way out of proportions.

I searched the Play Store for the app, only to be disappointed. That's when a friend of mine said that it's still not officially launched in India and people have been downloading the .apk files from websites. And since I'm always short of space in my little sweet phone, I decided not to. Plus, I'm not a gamer as such. I use my phone only to access my social accounts and write blogs. (I rarely call or do I get a call.)

The next day, on my way to college, I got to know how and why exactly the game is so trending so much. One friend of mine had installed the game a day before and was too excited as he showed it to me.
The game requires both your data and GPS. So, people who have 2G and a short battery life, your patience will be tested, for sure. Imagine you caught one hell of a Pokémon and the battery dies all of a sudden, or your shitty network interrupts the GPS connectivity. Unbearable agony my friends. Unbearable.





Why GPS?
Because you have to walk (literally) to move your character in the game.
And since this isn't a information feeding blog on how to play the game (come on!, there's Wikipedia), but still, I will try to summarise the game in 10 steps exact.

1) The speed with which the game starts depends on the internet and GPS strength. So be patient. If you have GPS issues, go to:
Settings > Location > Pokémon Go > High accuracy.
Select this option so that the app can get more accurate location and devour your battery life.
Also see to it that you have the Mock Location option in Developer Options disabled.

Note: 2G users, learn the art of patience. I know your pain.

2) Check the map for nearby Pokemon's.






If you're in a hilly terrain, you'll get more flying/bug type Pokemon's. If you're near a lake, you will find more water Pokemon's. Now, that's awesome!

3) Go near them.

4) Catch them with Pokéballs.

5) Show it off to your friends. Brag as much as you can. Until someone catches a better Pokémon than you.

6) When you reach level 5, you get to select between 3 teams, viz. Yellow(Instinct) , Blue(Mystic) and Red (Valor).






Select the team you want. The logos of the three teams are represented by the legendary Pokemon's: Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres.

7) Temples, Churches and other landmarks are the virtual pokéstops here. You can get freebies like Pokéballs and other stuff here.
So now, you've got another reason to visit them.

8) Long ago, people used to walk to reach their destination. Now we walk to hatch the eggs that we get at Pokéstops.
Well, I've walked this much since I had started on 12th of this month.






61.77 kms! 😎

9) Increase your player level by battling gyms (famous places, again), catching new Pokémon and evolving them.

10) Get addicted to it and die when the servers are down.





So that's in short about this Augmented Reality game which has taken the world by storm.

What's Augmented Reality?
The images below will clear your doubts.












Cool, isn't it?

Definitely cool for the game developer Niantic who laughs all the way to bank everyday with millions.

Japan was the first nation in Asia to get the official release yesterday.

Rumours are that the game even beat the record of Candy Crush which was 20million installs. That too in a week!

Now, for those who feel the game and it's players, both are insane, it's not your fault.





You just don't know how addicting this game is. Nor are you interested towards Pokémon's. That's an unforgivable sin.





“If Pokémon's aren't real, how can our eyes be?” - Shree Pewdiepie.

The craze for this game is pretty visible..






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Another stat that may seem untrue.











So, I better end this short article bragging about the game, do some pending assignments, and start some research on the next chapter of Deceptive Truths. Till then, adiós amigos.





Gotta catch 'em all! 😂