The "Attractors"

One of the neat things about Pokémon is that sometimes there are multiple ways of doing things across different games, and yet they rely on mostly the same principles. One of those things is summoning Pokémon on the field for encounter or battle, which takes place in Go and the main series games respectively. These two games let the Trainer summon Pokémon for an altercation before their capture, and they occur with the help of certain methods or items. I've taken to call these as the "attractors".

In the main series games, the "attractors" are the move Sweet Scent and the item Honey. Pokémon that know the move Sweet Scent can be asked to perform the move on the field, out of battle, in order to instantly summon a Pokémon where one may be encountered. The item Honey does the same thing, and can be also slathered on certain surfaces as an alternative approach. Both of these methods effectively rely on attracting Pokémon by way of their sense of smell, leading them to appear where the Trainer is. And that is quite respectable.

As it turns out, in Go, the "attractors" work in much the same way. A Trainer may install a Lure Module at a PokéStop in order to attract Pokémon in much the same way as an instance of the Sweet Scent move, and they even have similar action animations; this lasts for 30 minutes except in the case of certain events. When PokéStops are not available, the Incense item can be used to achieve a similar effect, in a partial parallel to the Honey item from the main series - though obviously this can't be spread - and the item can enhance or be enhanced by a Lure Module if one has been installed at a PokéStop. These two items effectively boil down to attraction by sense of smell as well.

The point of these methods or items is that Pokémon can be attracted through overwhelming their sense of smell, leading them to come to specific places where a Trainer is present to be battled and/or captured. It's a principle that they all share, even though the games are separated by dimensions and devices. The end result is the same: Trainer and Pokémon meet, perhaps to try to join forces with each other. I find this amazing as much as it is neat.

One year ago: A Hero Looks to the Sky