Pokémon Go facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pokémon Go
Game logo
Developer(s)	Niantic
Publisher(s)	Niantic
Director(s)	Tatsuo Nomura
Artist(s)	Dennis Hwang Yusuke Kozaki Mieke Hutchins
Composer(s)	Junichi Masuda
Series	Pokémon
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	iOS, Android
Release date(s)	July 6, 2016 July 6, 2016 NA
Genre(s)	Augmented reality, location-based game

Pokémon Go (also known as Pokémon GO) is a popular mobile game that came out in 2016. It's part of the famous Pokémon series. The game was made by Niantic with help from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. You can play it on iOS (Apple) and Android phones.

This game uses your phone's GPS to find your real-world location. It then makes virtual Pokémon appear on your screen as if they are right there with you! Your goal is to find, catch, train, and battle these Pokémon. Pokémon Go is free to play. You can also buy extra items in the game if you want. When it first launched, there were about 150 different Pokémon. By 2021, this number grew to around 700!

Pokémon Go got mixed reviews at first. People loved the idea but found some technical problems. Still, it became one of the most used and profitable mobile apps in 2016. It was downloaded over 500 million times that year. The game helped make location-based and augmented reality (AR) technology very popular. It also encouraged people to be more active and helped local businesses. However, some people worried about safety issues and public problems caused by the game. By 2018, over 147 million people were playing it every month. By early 2019, it had been downloaded over a billion times worldwide.

Playing Pokémon Go

Players move around in the real world to explore the game's map. They visit PokéStops (the smaller icons) and Gyms (the larger towers).

Catching a Treecko in augmented reality mode. You "throw" a Poké Ball by flicking it towards the Pokémon.

How Augmented Reality Works

First, you create your own avatar (your character) in the game. This avatar then shows up on a map that matches your real-world location. On the map, you'll see 'PokéStops' and 'Pokémon Gyms'.

• PokéStops: These are places where you can get useful items like Poké Balls. You can also add 'Lure Modules' to PokéStops. These items attract more Pokémon to that spot.
• Pokémon Gyms: These are battle locations. Players from different teams fight to control these Gyms.

PokéStops and Gyms are usually found at interesting places in the real world. For example, they might be at famous landmarks or parks. As you walk around in the real world, your avatar moves on the game's map. Different Pokémon types appear in different areas. For instance, Water-type Pokémon are often found near water.

When you find a Pokémon, you can see it in AR mode. This mode uses your phone's camera to make the Pokémon look like it's in your real surroundings. You can even take pictures of the Pokémon in AR mode!

In-Game Purchases and Power

Even though the game is free, you can buy items inside the app. These items include more Poké Balls, Incense (which attracts Pokémon to you), Lure Modules (which attract Pokémon to a PokéStop), and Lucky Eggs (which double your experience points).

Each Pokémon has a "Combat Power" (CP) number. This number shows how strong that Pokémon is in battles. As you play more and level up, you'll find Pokémon with higher CP. You can also check your Pokémon's strength using the "Appraisal" system.

Customizing Your Avatar

You can change how your avatar looks with different clothes. These clothes can be hats, shirts, pants, shoes, and bags. Many clothing items are free. You can also buy special clothes using coins. You earn coins by playing the game, leveling up, or completing special tasks.

You can also change your avatar's pose. Like clothing, some poses are free, some can be bought, and some are rewards from events. In April 2024, the game added more ways to customize avatars. You can now change hairstyles, body weight, and skin color.

Catching and Collecting Pokémon

In Pokémon Go, you don't battle wild Pokémon to catch them. When you find a wild Pokémon, you throw a Poké Ball at it by flicking your finger up the screen. If you throw it well, the Pokémon will be caught and become yours! How easy it is to catch a Pokémon depends on things like the Pokémon's type and the kind of Poké Ball you use.

After catching a Pokémon, you get "Candies" and "Stardust." You use these to make your Pokémon stronger (increase its CP) or to evolve it. Each Pokémon family has its own type of Candy. You can also send Pokémon to Professor Willow to get more Candies and make space for new Pokémon. A fun goal in the game is to complete your Pokédex. This means catching and evolving every Pokémon to fill up your logbook.

In 2016, a "Buddy Pokémon" feature was added. You can pick a Pokémon to be your buddy. It will appear with you on your profile screen. You get rewards and bonuses by walking with your buddy in the real world. Different Pokémon need to be walked different distances to earn Candies.

Pokémon Go also has "Community Day" events once a month. During these events, a specific Pokémon appears more often. If you catch or evolve that Pokémon during the event, it can learn a special move. You also have a better chance of finding a Shiny variant of the featured Pokémon.

New Pokémon and Special Events

The game regularly adds new Pokémon. As of March 2022, there were over 730 Pokémon in the game. New Pokémon are often released in groups from different regions, like the Hoenn region Pokémon or Alolan variants.

Very rare Pokémon, called Mythical and Legendary Pokémon, are usually released one by one. They appear in special events or quests. For example, the first Legendary Pokémon, Groudon, was released in December 2017. Some Mythical Pokémon, like Meltan, even first appeared in Pokémon Go before other Pokémon games!

In August 2020, "Mega Evolution" was added to Pokémon Go. This allows certain Pokémon to temporarily transform into a more powerful form during battles.

Battling in Pokémon Go

Gyms and Raids

As you play and earn experience points (XP), your player level goes up. At level five, you can battle at a Pokémon Gym. You also choose one of three teams: Team Valor (red), Team Mystic (blue), or Team Instinct (yellow). These teams battle to control Gyms.

In 2017, Gyms were updated. Now, you can spin a part of the Gym to get items. Each Gym can hold up to six Pokémon, and each Pokémon must be unique. You earn coins based on how long your Pokémon defends a Gym. Legendary, Mythical, and Buddy Pokémon cannot be placed in Gyms.

"Raid Battles" were also introduced in 2017. In a Raid Battle, a group of players team up to fight a very strong Pokémon at a Gym. If you defeat it, you get a chance to catch a regular version of that Pokémon. Raids have different difficulty levels, from 1 to 5. Level 5 raids are only for Legendary Pokémon. In August 2020, Mega Raids were added, where you can battle Mega Evolved Pokémon.

New types of raids have also been added:

• Elite Raids: These are very difficult raids that you can only do in person. They take 24 hours to start and usually need many players to win.
• Shadow Raids: These raids also require you to be in person. If you win, you can catch a "Shadow Pokémon." During the battle, the Pokémon might get "enraged," making it stronger. You can use a "Purified Gem" to calm it down.

Trainer Battles

In December 2018, player vs player Trainer Battles were added. This means you can battle other players. In January 2020, the "Go Battle League" was launched. This lets you battle players from all over the world online. You don't need to be near them or know their friend codes. The game automatically finds opponents for you.

Team Go Rocket Battles

In July 2019, "Team GO Rocket battles" were introduced. You can find Team GO Rocket characters at PokéStops or in balloons on your map. If you win a battle against them, you can catch a "Shadow Pokémon." These Pokémon look angry and have higher attack but lower defense. You can choose to "purify" a Shadow Pokémon. Purified Pokémon are stronger, can learn a special move, and need fewer candies to evolve.

How Pokémon Go Was Made

John Hanke, the founder of Niantic.

The idea for Pokémon Go started in 2014. Satoru Iwata from Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara from The Pokémon Company worked with Google on an April Fools' Day joke called the "Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge." Ishihara liked Niantic's previous game, Ingress, and thought its idea would be perfect for Pokémon.

Niantic used information from Ingress to decide where to put PokéStops and Gyms in Pokémon Go. They also used Google Maps data to help Pokémon appear in certain places. John Hanke, the founder of Niantic, was a key person in the game's development. Tatsuo Nomura was the game's director. The music was created by Junichi Masuda, who has written music for many Pokémon games. Dennis Hwang, who designed the Gmail logo, also worked on the game's graphics.

Before the game was fully released, Niantic held a beta test in Japan in March 2016. This allowed players to help find and fix problems. The test later expanded to Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The test ended on June 30, 2016.

After the Game Launched

At Comic-Con 2016, John Hanke shared that only about 10% of the original ideas for the game had been used. He said that future updates would add things like trading Pokémon and more Pokémon species. He also promised that Niantic would keep supporting the game for "years to come."

In 2020, Niantic made big changes to the game because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many players couldn't leave their homes. So, the game was updated to allow things like tracking steps indoors and battling other players from far away. These changes helped people keep playing safely.

Pokémon Go Plus

The Pokémon Go Plus, shown with wrist strap

The Pokémon Go Plus is a small device you can wear. It connects to your phone using Bluetooth Low Energy. This device lets you do some things in the game without looking at your phone. When you are near a Pokémon or a PokéStop, the Plus will vibrate. You can then press a button to try and catch the Pokémon or get items from the PokéStop. You won't know what you got until you check your phone later. The device looks like a Poké Ball combined with a Google Maps pin. It was released in the United Kingdom and North America on September 16, 2016.

Game Release

Where and When the Game Launched

Global release dates for Pokémon Go

Key	Date	Countries and territories	Ref.
	July 6, 2016	Australia, New Zealand, and the United States
	July 13, 2016	Germany
	July 14, 2016	United Kingdom
	July 15, 2016	Italy, Spain, and Portugal
	July 16, 2016	Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland
	July 17, 2016	Canada
	July 19, 2016	Puerto Rico
	July 22, 2016	Japan
	July 24, 2016	France
	July 25, 2016	Hong Kong
	August 3, 2016	Latin America and Caribbean islands
	August 6, 2016	Brunei, Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
	September 29, 2016	Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macau, North Macedonia, and Serbia
	September 30, 2016	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
	October 4, 2016	Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Seychelles, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia
	November 17, 2016	Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates
	December 13, 2016	Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
	January 24, 2017	South Korea
	September 11, 2018	Russia
	June 3, 2021	Turkey

Pokémon Go first launched on July 6, 2016, in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Because so many people wanted to play, the game's servers had trouble. Niantic had to pause releases in other countries to fix these issues. European countries started getting the game on July 13. Japan's release was delayed a bit but came out on July 22.

In South Korea, the game wasn't officially released at first due to map restrictions. However, a small area around Sokcho became playable because of a glitch. Many people traveled there just to play! The game officially launched in South Korea in January 2017. In mainland China, the game is still mostly unplayable due to internet restrictions.

Game Problems and Fixes

When Pokémon Go first came out, the servers often crashed because too many people were trying to play. This caused problems for several days. Sometimes, players couldn't even log in. A hacking group claimed to have caused some of these outages, but the problems were usually fixed quickly. Niantic's CEO, John Hanke, apologized for the server issues, saying they weren't ready for such huge demand.

Early versions of the game on Apple phones sometimes asked for too much access to players' Google accounts. Niantic quickly fixed this, saying it was a mistake. They also promised that no extra information was collected.

The game also had some glitches. One famous bug in July 2016 made the Pokémon tracking feature stop working correctly. It was called the "three-step-glitch." Niantic later removed this feature completely, which made some players upset. Other bugs included Pokémon swapping unexpectedly or becoming harder to catch. Some very rare Legendary Pokémon were even caught by accident due to a glitch, but these were later removed to keep the game fair.

Awards

See also

In Spanish: Pokémon GO para niños

• List of Pokémon, the list of all of the original Pokémon by order
• Pikmin Bloom, Similar game also developed by Niantic and Nintendo