"Pokémon GO? The graphics look kind of rough. This doesn't really feel like something Gamestar Electronic Entertainment would make."
"It's a mobile game. Mobile games don't really focus on graphics."
"Well, it's free anyway. Might as well try it. Still, the idea is pretty novel—encouraging people to go outside, travel around the world, and collect Pokémon. That actually feels a lot like a real Pokémon adventure."
As a loyal fan who had followed Pokémon from the very first generation all the way to the present, Pat was among the first to learn about the newest Pokémon title.
What surprised him was that this new Pokémon game was a mobile game.
It wasn't that Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had never made mobile games before.
Games like Candy Burst, Fruit Ninja, and Angry Birds were all classics in the mobile gaming space.
But Gamestar had never adapted one of its famous IPs for mobile platforms.
This time, Pokémon was the first—and it was one of their most iconic IPs.
At first glance, Pat felt the art style of Pokémon GO was extremely simple.
Modern smartphones were already quite powerful, so this game could clearly have been made more detailed and visually impressive.
Yet it deliberately wasn't.
The gameplay itself was also very straightforward—essentially a map application with a Pokémon skin layered on top, encouraging people to physically explore real locations to search for mysterious Pokémon.
The mainline Pokémon games were already being developed with the latest Unreal Engine, boasting excellent visual quality.
Seeing Pokémon GO's visuals felt like stepping back into prehistoric times.
Pat couldn't help worrying that the game might not be fun.
Still, as a devoted Pokémon fan, there was no way he was going to skip it.
Especially since the game was free.
So he downloaded Pokémon GO onto his phone.
The total game size wasn't large—only about 200 MB.
That was even smaller than Pokémon games from over a decade ago.
Which further confirmed that the game's visuals weren't exactly its strong point.
Pat couldn't quite understand it. Since the game was personally supervised by Takayuki, shouldn't it have been polished to perfection?
The 200 MB was just the base size.
As players explored different cities and streets, the game would load map data just like standard navigation apps.
So the total size would gradually increase the more one played.
Even so, by modern standards, it was still quite small.
One advantage of that was the fast download speed.
After the download finished, Pat lay back on his sofa and tapped to enter the game.
The game began with a standard account registration and login process—players with a BattleNet account could log in directly.
Then came the tutorial.
On the phone screen appeared the image of a Pokémon Master, who would act as the player's guide and provide help at any time.
For now, the mentor's job was to teach the player how to play the game.
The gameplay was simple, incorporating standard Pokémon battle and collection mechanics.
The mentor's focus at the moment was teaching players how to catch Pokémon.
"Hello, I am your Pokémon Mentor. Congratulations on successfully becoming a Pokémon Trainer. From now on, please strive toward becoming a Pokémon Master!"
"Next, I will introduce you to Pokémon capture and battle mechanics. Have you played Pokémon games before? Are you familiar with the basic gameplay?"
A prompt appeared, and Pat didn't hesitate for a second—he selected the option indicating that he was already a Pokémon Master.
After all, he had been playing Pokémon for over a decade. He knew the series inside and out.
Since its inception, the core gameplay of Pokémon had barely changed.
It had always been turn-based combat.
Yet it was strangely magical—despite turn-based games no longer being mainstream, Pokémon still retained a massive and loyal fanbase.
The Pokémon Mentor continued:
"Excellent. It seems you are indeed qualified to be a Pokémon Trainer. We will skip the basic battle tutorial. Next, I will teach you how to catch Pokémon. To proceed, I need authorization to access your current location so the game can function properly."
A permission request popped up. Pat tapped "Allow," and the mentor displayed a brief "Please wait" message.
"You are currently located at **Street **, DZ City, United States. Pokémon ecology in this area is primarily Steel-type. However, you are not in luck—there are currently no Pokémon appearing in your immediate area. You will need to find a location where Pokémon are active. Would you like me to provide navigation guidance?"
No Pokémon in his area?
So Pokémon weren't just handed to you—you actually had to go outside.
This was a normal residential neighborhood. To encourage players to venture out, Gamestar had deliberately set most residential areas as places where Pokémon wouldn't spawn.
Pat felt that was pretty reasonable.
Wild Pokémon wouldn't casually wander into human residential zones, after all.
He agreed to the navigation.
About two seconds later, the Pokémon Mentor chimed in again.
"I have located an area with Pokémon activity for you. Please proceed there as soon as possible. Pokémon availability in each area is limited. If you arrive too late, other players may catch them all."
Pat raised an eyebrow.
Pokémon could be caught out?
Now that was interesting.
Without hesitation, he left his house and got ready to drive to the destination.
It was about five or six kilometers away—around ten minutes if traffic was light.
The location was a busy commercial district. Given that it was still work hours, he assumed there wouldn't be many people there.
So he started his car and headed toward the destination.
What he didn't expect was how badly he had underestimated traffic congestion.
Pokémon GO had been out for about a day now.
And in just that single day, countless shut-in gamers across the world—people who rarely ever left their homes—had all suddenly poured into the streets.
They all shared one single goal:
Catch Pokémon.