Pokémon GO has a simple game principle: the mobile game aims to combine catching virtual pocket monsters with physical activity in real life. However, not everyone plays Pokémon GO as Niantic intended. Some mostly stay seated in their cars. One trainer has now, for the first time in 7 years, left the car while playing.
In Pokémon GO you should move around while gaming, get some fresh air, and meet other players on the go. However, Reddit user RQCKQN has avoided just that for years.
In a post on Reddit, the trainer explains that he played Pokémon GO for 7 years only in the car, together with his wife. One of them drove, while the other caught Pokémon, hatched eggs, and spun at PokéStops or gyms on both phones.
The trainer emphasizes that he and his wife do not burden the environment unnecessarily for playing the mobile game. The couple works together, and their commute is 30 km long. Moreover, they drive about 10 km of that in heavy traffic, bumper to bumper with other cars. During the sluggish drive, the passenger is then catching pocket monsters.
However, RQCKQN and his wife had to leave the car now to experience a new feature of the game.
New feature drives trainers to run
Why did the trainer leave the car? As the trainer explains on Reddit, he and his wife wanted to play the new route feature of Pokémon GO.
RQCKQN explains that the couple found a route that does not follow any roads. Moreover, it is the only route they have seen so far. They therefore had to stop the car, get out, and actually take a walk. He wrote: ‘Well done PoGo [Pokémon GO], you did it. You got us to run.’
These routes are paths recorded by other trainers. By completing these routes, you receive various rewards such as experience points or special badges. Additionally, you can collect the so-called Zygarde cells along the routes.
How does the community respond? The trainer’s Reddit post received over 2,300 upvotes and 258 comments. Some trainers describe how Pokémon GO helped them to be more active.
One user indicates that he regularly goes running (via Reddit). Another trainer wrote on Reddit that he rides his bike much more with his son to complete the kilometers for the weekly rewards faster.
However, it is not necessary for every trainer to go cycling or running to receive the weekly rewards. One player easily fulfills the kilometer requirements at work:
Pokémon GO: Trainer uses job that would be uncomfortable for many for an unfair advantage
