Typically, as a city trainer, you have an advantage when playing Pokémon GO. However, there is now a challenge that is exceptionally easier in the village.
Pokémon GO is a game where you are supposed to explore your surroundings and collaborate with other trainers to defeat powerful opponents. Many players are attracted to this principle, but it can sometimes cause problems in rural areas.
Because where there is generally little nearby, there is also not much to discover. At least nothing that would be implemented as a PokéStop. And finding fellow players is, of course, significantly easier when you live in a city with several hundreds of thousands of residents than in a village with 100 people.
This leads to players in rural areas sometimes facing problems when it comes to certain content of the game. Classics include:
- Invincible raid opponents because there are no fellow players
- Too powerful Dynamax opponents that cannot be defeated with a small team.
- Gyms where Pokémon languish because no one throws them out
- Or simply little to no spawns, stops, and gyms nearby
However, there is now a task that goes in the opposite direction.
Masterwork Research Requires Showcase Victory – Not So Easy
What kind of research is this? As part of the Unova Tour 2025, a new paid masterwork research has been introduced. Masterwork researches are considered particularly challenging, and it takes a long time to complete all its steps. However, exciting Pokémon await at the end. In this year’s masterwork research, you can obtain Shiny Meloetta.
For this, you have to complete a number of tasks. One of the tasks is particularly special. It requires you to earn the Bronze Showcase Star medal. User 8BDO highlights this in the Pokémon GO subreddit “TheSilphRoad”. You can check out the post here:
What makes this difficult? Fundamentally, it doesn’t sound that difficult to get the medal, as you only need to win one showcase for it. These showcases can be found at various PokéStops. There, you submit a Pokémon that meets the entry requirements. It is then compared with the other submitted Pokémon. Once the participation time has expired, the Pokémon that received the best rating compared to the others wins the showcase.
Here, you obviously have an advantage if you have fewer fellow players, or competition. And this is more likely to be the case in the village than in the city. Some users comment:
- “In New York, it is literally impossible; sometimes I don’t even get to submit a Pokémon because the showcase fills up within 20 minutes. Hundreds of people fly here,” says user Not-a-bot-10 (via reddit).
- “Not in Tokyo,” responds a player to the statement that a showcase would be easy (via reddit).
- “If you’re having trouble winning just a single showcase, and you live in a big city, find a showcase in a suburb. There are usually not that many players there,” advises user aoog (via reddit).
Participation in showcases while walking or on outings can also help if you are actually having problems winning showcases in your own city. This applies not only in masterwork research but in general.
Is it really that difficult in large cities? It depends, but in some places, things can get really intense when it comes to Pokémon GO. You almost wonder when you’re stuck in a raid alone. Tokyo is a good example of this – to get a little insight, you can read about how Pokémon GO is in Japan here. However, it can also become difficult in smaller cities if enough people play.
It is clear, however, that just because you live in a rural area, a showcase victory is not guaranteed. Especially since in really, really quiet areas, you might almost face the problem that you can’t even participate because there is simply no stop with a showcase. How have you experienced this so far? Let us know in the comments. Here you can find out, what events Pokémon GO brings in March.
