In Pokémon GO, there are missed Pokémon that trainers still remember painfully years later. MeinMMO author Paul Kutzner also has such memories and explains which two missed monsters particularly hurt him.
I took my first steps in Pokémon GO in 2016, right when the game was launched. It was an exciting time when it felt like my entire circle of friends was going on the virtual hunt for Pokémon – assuming the servers allowed it.
Compared to the early days, a lot has changed in Pokémon GO over the years. Many things from the early days of the game are completely unknown to trainers who started later. These include leveling up in arenas or chasing footprints to catch Pokémon.
The latter feature in particular, combined with the fact that there were simply fewer Pokémon and Pokémon that are common today were a rarity, caused shouts of joy or frustration. I can still remember two painful situations from back then. I have summarised them for you below.
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Follow the footsteps!
What were footprints? At the beginning of the game, the “Nearby Pokémon” had between 1 – 3 footprints under each Pokémon, instead of the PokéStop where you would find the Pokémon. The fewer footprints there were under the Pokémon, the closer the Pokémon was.
If you saw a strong or rare Pokémon in the “Pokémon nearby” list, you had to run until the footprints became fewer. The only way to find out which direction the Pokémon was was to keep an eye on the footprints and wait for them to become fewer.
The first memory: On one of the first days in Pokémon GO, I was playing with two friends when we suddenly discovered a Rhyhorn in the list. A Rhyhorn! Of course, we knew we needed it. The Pokémon was still rare at the time and having a Rhydon on the team was a goal we were willing to look for.
So we started walking and after a while we were able to locate it. We got closer to the Pokémon, the footprints became fewer and our anticipation grew. Shortly before we reached the place where we thought it was, we were very disappointed: a garden.
Since we were not prepared to invade private property and break into someone else’s garden, we had to end the hunt at this point. Disappointed, we left and consoled our frustration with other Pokémon we encountered along the way.
Seconds before the finish!
The second reminder: A short time later, the second story happened. After a long day, I had just arrived home and changed my clothes when I opened Pokémon GO and saw a Pokémon that no one in my circle of friends had ever seen before: A Lapras!
Of course, that was reason enough to change my clothes again and go hunting. I searched the area, always keeping an eye on the footprints, and slowly approached the Pokémon. 3 footprints became 2, 2 became 1 – and that was it. Gone. Lapras was no longer visible.
So I had missed the Pokémon. Maybe by a minute, maybe just a few seconds. Once again disappointed, I packed up my smartphone and started the journey back home.
Community shares similar stories
Reddit also has some stories from trainers from the early days of Pokémon GO that they still remember today.
So there are other coaches who have similarly painful memories.
What about you? Do you have similar stories from the early days or later that you can still remember well? Feel free to write us your stories in the comments. By the way, there is the first information about the new season in Pokémon GO.