Kara Dennison
July 3, 2021 
Five years ago this month, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company teamed up with Niantic to create Pokémon GO. The INGRESS-alike let fans of all ages live out their cryptid-hunting dreams. Thanks to the augmented reality app, we could find Pidgeys at the bank, Rattatas at the mall, and sometimes other ‘mons as well.
This year’s Community Day invites the game’s more than 150 million current players to get out and explore. While that’s still a lot of players, it’s a far cry from the initial 233 million when it first launched. Today, we’re looking back at what it was like in that first feverish month of Pokémon GO. How many of these still apply to you?
It Was All About the Teams
Forget horoscopes and Hogwarts houses — tell me which Pokémon GO team you chose. Did you follow Candela into the strength-focused Team Valor? Are you more aligned with the analytical Blanche of Team Wisdom? Or are you a scrappy Team Instinct underdog?
Team choice is always a big deal, but for a time it became the quick and dirty personality test. (Which was a surprise for those of us who followed our friend into teams without much thought.) While team alignments are still a thing, that first burst of enthusiasm and team pride was wild.
Finding Your First Local Pokéstops
In Pokémon GO, Pokéstops allow you to gather up Pokéballs, eggs, and other helpful items. Pokéstops can be businesses, public art pieces, or other points of interest. And finding out which spots around town made the cut was always a fun discovery.
It was — and still is — a great way of adding local flavor to the games, much as with INGRESS. Now it’s a fantastic way to discover other locales while you’re visiting. But in those first few weeks, finding out which local sights near and dear to your heart made the cut was exciting. And once you’d found those landmarks…
Bustling Pokéwalks
If you’re out and about catching Pokémon, you’re at least somewhat likely to catch another player — especially if you’re near a Pokéstop or Gym. But in the early days and weeks of Pokémon GO, you could expect to see whole crowds out looking for a big catch. (I’ll never forget the night two dozen people on foot, bikes, and skateboards raced past myself and my friends on the boardwalk, hoping to apprehend a Snorlax before it disappeared.)
Sadly, no matter how well behaved players were, some people simply didn’t want the crowds out in full force in public places. Those numbers have slacked off now considerably, meaning you aren’t guaranteed to bump elbows with three other players at any given time. But that just makes it all the more special when you catch a fellow Pokémon Master out in public.
If you’re still playing Pokémon GO, make sure to take advantage of Community Day before it ends!
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