Towards the end of my trip to Yokusuka, I spot a tired-looking guy shuffling along the street. He’s in his late thirties, walking with a friend along the town’s seafront, past the huge naval ships moored up on the edge of Tokyo Bay, the Pacific Ocean beyond. He stands out from the crowd – the hundreds walking by, staring at their phones – because of the sign he’s holding. He’s Japanese, but the sign’s words have been carefully inked in English on a white piece of cardboard, attached over his shoulders via a short length of string. As he draws closer, I know I have to say hello.
Yokosuka, just along the coast from Japan’s capital, is known for two things: it’s home to the largest US Navy base outside the US (expect lots of burger joints and curry houses) and it’s the setting of Dreamcast classic Shenmue. I was here for another reason, though – a reason which has seen me travel to Dortmund, Germany and Chicago, USA over the past six weeks: yes, I was playing some more Pokémon Go. This week, Yokosuka is home to the last of the game’s three big summer events – another Safari Zone, a catch ’em all festival with rare and unique in-game creatures to snag. Entry was free but ticketed to minimise stampedes, and limited to just one day’s play to ensure as many people as possible got a turn.
The event is something of a hybrid of the two which came before. Once again, it featured a travelling regional-exclusive Pokémon (Tropius, usually only found in Africa), as well as a new Shiny type (Wingull, so far only released here in Japan) and a bunch more Unown letters perfect for people (hello!) getting close to finishing their alphabet collection. And alongside all of that were scores of other uncommon types (Slakoth, Beldum, Ralts) to hoover up for candy. In all of this, it was like the Safari Zone in Dortmund, but being a ticketed event like Chicago meant the game could hide these attractions in a layer visible only when you scanned in a unique ticket code at the event itself. Like Chicago, this ensured the area never felt too crowded and all phone networks behaved themselves. In-game, it also unlocked a short questline to follow with a checklist of tasks for valuable in-game rewards, once again led by brainy hunk Professor Willow.
Source: Eurogamer Pokémon Go on the other side of the world