In Pokémon GO, many themed events and live events took place in 2023. Our MeinMMO author Franzi attended two of them and explains why the game should always be like this.
Which events are we talking about? In Pokémon GO, you can benefit from various themed events every month that you can play from anywhere in the world, but now and then, so-called live events are also held. These usually take place over several days in a previously selected city.
After I already attended the GO Fest in Berlin in 2022, I didn’t miss the live events this year. In addition to the GO Fest in London, I also visited the Safari Zone in Barcelona. I have summarized below why both events are among my highlights of the year and why, in my view, we need more of them.
What makes live events so strong
Unique atmosphere: Unlike the numerous themed events that Pokémon GO offers its trainers throughout the year, live events provide even more. Hundreds of like-minded individuals gather in one place, hunt the little monsters, and create a unique atmosphere through joint battles and trading activities.
What I find particularly impressive is the special community feeling that develops on site. Together with complete strangers, you cheer for legendary raid bosses, shinies, or monsters with perfect IVs. New friendships in the game and sometimes even in real life are not uncommon here. Even at the Safari Zone in Barcelona, where the event extended throughout the entire city, you could feel like you could meet enthusiastic Pokémon GO players at every corner.
These kinds of scenes can only be found sporadically at the global themed events, even seven years after the release of Pokémon GO. Many local communities have broken apart during the pandemic, which players in rural areas have always felt. But even in many cities, some trainers prefer to play alone because of the popular remote raid passes, making it increasingly difficult to make contacts with like-minded individuals.
Unique settings: The live events are also complemented by uniquely designed settings and corresponding photo spots. At the GO Fest in London, for example, you could walk through a huge flower meadow, discover a jungle, or admire a Pokémon bus, all of which invited you to take photos with your favorite Pokémon.
But even at the slightly smaller Safari Zone in Barcelona, there was a lot to discover. Unlike the GO Fest, this event format does not have a large location where most of the event takes place; instead, it stretches across the entire city and offers various interesting spots for trainers scattered throughout.
Next to a photo spot, you also found the typical meet & greet with Pikachu and Eevee, which is very popular among many trainers.
Special challenges & cool Pokémon encounters
What challenges were there? Of course, the appropriate special research and limited tasks cannot be missing from such events, which sometimes provide you with special Pokémon encounters. At the Safari Zone in Barcelona, I was particularly impressed by the special Eevee challenge, which was one of my highlights.
To achieve this, Niantic set up special Eevee stops throughout the entire city area, which were marked with a meadow at the base of the stops. When you discover such a stop and spin its photo disc for the first time, you receive a unique, costumed Eevee with an explorer hat from the limited research. You could obtain up to 8 of these Eevees in one event day.
My family and I were motivated to not only go monster hunting around the advertised event points but to explore the city in search of the Eevee stops, allowing us to get to know Barcelona from a different side.
Cool shinies & exclusive Pokémon: In addition to Eevee, there were more interesting monsters to discover in Barcelona. During our tour through the city, we also encountered a shiny or two that were missing from our collection.
My favorite was Mähikel. The monster was available for ticket holders for the first time in the game that day and also celebrated its shiny debut, which is usually not the case for all new Pokémon.
At the GO Fest in London, some strong and shiny Pokémon also joined my collection. The special and sometimes exclusive spawns therefore make the live events even more interesting for me.
That’s why Pokémon GO needs more live events
The impressions I gathered at the live events over the last two years always excite me. This was reaffirmed for me with the Safari Zone in Barcelona.
The great and unique atmosphere on site, the contact with other trainers who sometimes travel from all over the world to the events, as well as the lovingly arranged locations, make Pokémon GO a successful adventure for me every time. An experience that the global themed events simply cannot offer in this way.
Especially because the community is no longer so active in many places, this makes it even more special and should, in my view, be much more often around the game. For this reason, I would wish for more such events in the future.
These events do not have to be as large as the annual GO Fest, because even smaller events, like at the Safari Zone, bring the community closer together again. A greater number of event locations could also enable more players to experience this feeling for themselves.
Therefore, it is already clear to me that I want to be part of the live events of Pokémon GO again in 2024.
Have you ever attended a live event from Pokémon GO? How did you like it? Would you also wish for more of them? Or are the global themed events sufficient for you? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO and exchange ideas with other trainers.
In the new year, you can look forward to some events in Pokémon GO again. We will show you which Pokémon you can expect at the Community Day in January 2024 and what bonuses it will bring.
