Pokémon Go Tour: Kanto

So, today's the day of the Pokémon Go Tour event featuring the Kanto region, which as I've stated sounds a lot like a Pokémon Go Fest when it's not quite the season for it, and from the looks of what became of today, that could be said to be indeed the case. Much of it does resemble the execution of Pokémon Go Fest as it was executed last year on the first day, and that much says a lot. But then there are the finer points of the full-day paid event, and that much also makes for quite a difference from the Pokémon Go Fest it much resembles.

For today, the run of events was divided into hourly "zones" like the "habitats" of last year's Pokémon Go Fest on that day. The "zones" correspond to different places in the Kanto region, being Pallet Town, Pewter City, Cerulean City, Fuchsia City, and the Pokémon League. Unlike then, the run started at 9 AM local time and ended at 9 PM; the zones were repeated once going into the afternoon, and the last two hours became a "Celebration" zone. In each of these zones, Pokémon that are characteristic to each place appeared, and the task of a Trainer became to catch the Pokémon, for which a Collection Challenge for each marks the progress. Not to forget, the first-generation Pokémon rewarded more Candy overall (for example, Magikarp rewarded a whopping 40 Candy) and each zone had music from the original first-generation games with slight modification for inclusion in this Pokémon Go event.

Speaking of Collection Challenges, there are 10 of these in total, including the 5 for each zone above. The other challenges include both a Red Version and a Green Version challenge, and the version that is selected by a Trainer becomes a capture challenge while the other becomes a trade challenge - that is, to gain the Pokémon by trade. The remaining challenges are a Research challenge (the Pokémon are caught from Research tasks), a Raid challenge (the Pokémon are caught from raids), and an Evolution challenge (the Pokémon are to be gained through evolution), for which the last of these contains the remaining Pokémon not found in the others. While the grand event is today, these Collection Challenges do not need to be completed today; they can be completed any time up to the end of this month.

On the Research side of things, there were three kinds provided today. A Timed Research (available to all) of four pages with battle-heavy tasks was provided to gain useful items and Pokémon. The core Special Research, with the same title as the event, is an 8-page collection of tasks for the prime goings-on of the event. Completing the Special Research leads to another Special Research set titled "All in One #151" (dubbed as the "Masterwork Research") that contains tasks not meant to be completed all today, but over time. The former rewards a Shiny Ditto and the latter rewards a Shiny Mew, both of which make their debuts and completes the Shiny availability of all the first-generation Pokémon in Pokémon Go, though a Trainer will certainly have to work very hard for them.

Meanwhile, there are remnants for everyone to enjoy. The "classic four" Regional Pokémon of Pokémon Go - Farfetch'd (Kanto), Tauros, Kangaskhan, and Mr. Mime - became available as Level 3 raids with Snorlax as Level 4 and the three Legendary birds - Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres - plus Mewtwo as Level 5. All of these appeared in raids that took place throughout the entire day with successive appearances similar to A Colossal Discovery two years ago. Then, for the first time ever, NPC Trainers other than Team Go Rocket (as winners of a Twitter contest) showed up at PokéStops and could be battled to earn more helpful items as well as to complete the Timed Research; some of them resemble certain Trainers from the original first-generation games right down to the dialogue, only with added Pokémon Go flair.

I had my own plan to hit up a few of my Pokémon Go fellows near my neighborhood, and it came to fruition. They needed my help just as much as I needed theirs, so it was a win-win solution. We raided, traded, and shared experiences - all while staying safe, of course, with the world still what it is today. At the same time, I needed my outdoor exercise, so everything worked out. Of the 10 Collection Challenges, I completed 7 of them; the Research and Raid challenges have one Pokémon left, and the Evolution challenge still needs much work, but that's for the rest of the availability period; I also completed the Timed Research since it was of utmost importance. Overall, it seems to be fulfilling of the effort, experience, and the expense for the event, which I would say is worthy.

Yet even for a major event such as this one, there is still a goof-up, and it's as major as the event itself. The goof-up is that many Trainers who didn't pay for the ticket and therefore the event ended up becoming able to participate in the event anyway (by way of having the ticket suddenly appear and choosing a version), particularly in the Collection Challenges and Special Research sets, which are the "bones" of the event. As one can tell, some of the reactions were not quite pretty. Therefore, at a later date, a "bonus event" is due for those who actually paid for the event (like me) to make it worth its value. While this does make it a "celebration for (most) everyone" given this month, that may not have been necessarily the intent.

There's nothing like a celebration even when the times are not quite celebratory, and this Pokémon Go Tour featuring the Kanto region fits the bill. New novelties, old sensibilities, and even a(n un)fortunate goof-up combined to make a grand event that honors the first major milestone of Pokémon a quarter-century ago. The celebration for all Pokémon fans will continue soon enough, but those involved with Pokémon Go will surely have had a taste of just what's to come for Pokémon.

One year ago: Living with My Buddy

Two years ago: Poké-Tourism

Three years ago: Pokémon "Cover Songs"

Four years ago: Venice and Alto Mare