A Refreshing Look Back At Being a Pokemon GO Newbie

While playing around with an old phone I found (because my phone is dying), I kinda accidentally made a new Pokemon Go account. When it asked me to log in, I picked my other gmail account which I only really use as a backup. But since I was there, I thought “I might as well experience it again…” So I went ahead and made a new account. Because it’s been two years since I made my now level 40 account.

Anyway, I entered a name, picked a look and chose my starter. I decided to go for Squirtle, simply because Charmander and Bulbasaur are more common here (sunny weather all the time!), and there’s a Pikachu event every other week.

The Good

The best thing about starting off again is that, well, everything is brand new and warm and fuzzy. It’s cool actually collecting new Pokemon and having some sort of enthusiasm for what lies ahead. Sure, the “registered to Pokedex” thing gets annoying after a while, but you’re treated to all this cool, new stuff.

And then there’s picking a team. The first time, I was somewhat peer-pressured into joining Instinct because that’s what all three of my friends were. This time round, I get to see all three of them and their reasons for you to join. This time round… I picked Spark, because he’s just SO NICE! How can you not see that smile and calmness and friendliness and not want to join him? Unless you don’t like yellow or something.

I also don’t know if it’s my fuzzy memory or not, but it seems that both the Mew and Meltan quests start out the same way. The first two stages are pretty easy, although hatching eggs does take time. I am somewhat worried about later steps though.

The Bad

Literally everything is a black shadow. Because I’ve only caught like 100 Pokemon, the radar is fundamentally useless. It’s filled with common black shadows of other trash Pokemon I don’t have yet. This means I can’t home in on potentially useful Pokemon I already have, like Charmander and Squirtle. Like, I know I don’t have a Starly, a Kakuna or a Spearow, but there could be a Bagon nearby and I’ll never know.

The most difficult thing however is that you can’t actually appraise anything at all unless you pick a team. Which sucks because I kinda wanted to play as a teamless player, but appraisals are too useful to give up. As an aside, I couldn’t seem to back out from choosing a team without restarting the game. Luckily, you can easily get back to the screen by clicking on a gym.

Also almost all my high CP Pokemon are Roselia. Roselia seems to be by far the most common high-ish CP Pokemon I stumble across.

Oh and, of course, all Pokemon are far more random if you’re below level 30. A wild 100% IVs Pokemon for a level 30 account will not be a wild 100% Pokemon for a level 20 or level 10 account. They won’t be the same level or have the same stats at all.

The Genuinely Surprising

Firstly, I’m surprised at how many Pokeballs I seem to have. I actually already have over 100 despite not spinning or opening gifts. Then again, I can already do curveball throws, so I am catching things more easily. Even with straight throws though, things still seem to catch. Secondly, it’s pretty cool how fast you can fly through the first 10 levels. I do wonder however whether there’s much point even having those levels. The curve to level up is somewhat exponential, so level 10 doesn’t even feel like an achievement. Part of it is the 500xp for every new Pokemon though.

But more importantly, I am already doing Team Rocket Battles… and winning. Okay, sure, I haven’t gone against the Leaders yet. Or that bitch with the Laprases and Snorlaxes. But I’ve been tearing through these battles. In fact, I am winning them faster with my 400cp Pokemon than I am with my level 40 account and maxed out legendaries.

I knew that these battles scaled, but DAMN I didn’t know they scaled THAT hard. I managed to kill an entire team of Pokemon in 6 attacks using a low CP Exeggcute with Confusion. Currently, my main team is a Mantine, a Growlithe with dark moves and my Exeggcute, with a Cherrim holding up the rear.

I probably won’t keep this up though…

I honestly don’t really have the patience nor the mobile data to keep a second account going. In fact, I actually have a TINY mobile data package that is enough for me, but not for a second account all the time. Most likely, this ‘baby’ account will only be used on community days and the odd event.

I will however occasionally do the Team Rocket battles. At least until I can beat Sierra. Because I beat Arlo on my first attempt. I’ll almost certainly get my ass handed to me for a bit, but that’s fine. I’ll just spam Cherrim weather balls at them or something.