Weekend Free-for-All!

[inkstone]

Welcome to the inaugural weekend free-for-all here at pokestop!


How was your week in PokeGo?

Did you level up? Did you finally get the eeveelution of your dreams? Did you catch snorlax? Let's celebrate!

Did you lose tauros? Did they remove the only PokeStop in your town? Did your 2km egg hatch a rattata with middling CP? Let's commiserate!

Your triumphs, your trials, your frustrations, and your excitement--it all goes here.


Mod note: Like many people who use Gmail as their provider, my comment notifications have been delayed. In fact, I'm not sure I've received any since yesterday. I am still getting inbox notifications here on DW, but obviously I'm not on DW all the time. So if there's a pressing issue that needs to be addressed immediately, hit up my Tumblr askbox. It's open to anons, so you don't need a Tumblr account. I imagine it might take a while before Gmail decides DW isn't a source of spam and clears us again. If it's not so urgent, a regular PM is fine since I check DW regularly.

Comments

[inkstone]

I had a terrible week last week and I fell off my PokeGo game, but I was able resume my morning PokeWalks this week, so that was nice. I reached level 20 and after a string of jolteons, I finally got a vaporeon. And I caught a machop for the first time!

In less amazing news, I hatched two rattatas and a weedle. Great. Thanks.

[senmut]

Oh dear. So disappointing.

[elfin]

It was so hot here last week that I barely played at all. The only "playing" I did was walking from my car to my house or office. I did hatch a 10k egg and got an Aerodactyl with amazing CP, so that was pretty awesome.

It's cooled off now, though, so maybe I'll get back to playing.

ETA: and now we have torrential rain, so I guess nature doesn't want me pokeplaying.

[senmut]

Awesome hatch!

[harpers_child]

Yesterday a 761 Ivysaur broke out of 6 great balls in a row even with being fed candy for each one. It ran away. I will be so happy when that glitch is fixed.

One of the local parks is infested with Rhyhorn. I'm halfway to evolving.

[inkstone]

Seriously, this glitch is cramping my style. I couldn't even catch 100-200 CP pidgeys this morning.

[yhlee]

I caved and downloaded the app yesterday since everyone seemed to be having so much fun. I went for my first walk around my super-in-the-middle-of-nowhere edge-of-town suburban neighborhood and still caught a bunch of Pokemon! *_____* The great thing about being low-level (?) is that almost everything is new! I'm sure this too will pass.

Have not spotted any of those bat-things, though...

[recessional]

My experience is that about the time that catching everything is New and Shiny it becomes actually shiny to do things like focus on levelling up, or poking at gyms, or finding evolves/hatching eggs. So that's nice.

[kshandra]

I got my "won 10 gym battles" badge this week - which impressed me because I have NO FREAKING CLUE what I'm doing. And there were four PokeStops at the minor-league baseball park I went to last night, three of which I could hit from our seats; I came home with a 695cp Arbok and a full backpack.

[senmut]

Awesome! I'm still not going anywhere near gyms and battles, but it's the collecting that's entertaining me.

[meganbmoore]

I played very little this week, sadly, because I had few opportunities to visit pokestops to get pokeballs. It's been 100-105f every day this week, and it's so dry that even if you're dripping sweat, it dries and turns your skin gross and sticky within minutes, so I was only able to visit a couple on my way too and from work that I could just pull over to without getting out of my car.

[senmut]

Too very hot! I agree.

[ephemera]

I hatched a Ponyta this week, which is pretty excite, and caught my first dratini today, and after a mid-afternoon spent in an area where others were generous with the lures, I think I might be ready for a lucky-egg mass-evolve frenzy soon ...

[inkstone]

I love Ponytas!!!

[serpentine]

I reached level 21, had a very adventuresome day yesterday. At work I caught a Tauros unexpectedly and on my lunch break, took over the gym across the street for Team Mystic and somehow my Vaporeon is still there over 24 hours later. It's in a pretty isolated location that isn't visited much on the weekend, so that might be why.

And last night, I discovered the best place to farm for Magikarp and other water Pokemon in the city. Managed to capture enough Psyduck and Staryu to evolve them and made headway on Magikarp candies. There were a lot of lures set on the Pokestops there, which was why it was so productive and it was a gathering spot for a lot of other players. I will probably return next weekend.

Also finally hatched a Doduo and a Hitmonlee.

[ephemera]

woot! Go team you (and Team Mystic) - all the gym's I've found turn over *so* fast - I think you're the first person I've heard of who's managed to hold one for 24 hours! Enjoy your reward coins!

[healingmirth]

I had a pretty good week! I hatched a Magmar that was high enough CP to max power up for my level with a few candies left over, which was a first for one of my Pokémon, and parked on three gyms at once one day - it might've been four but I couldn't quite win a friendly battle to level up a fourth with what I had left.

I also finally (!) caught a freakin' squirtle, and a slightly less terrible Moewth than the 10 cp one I've been carrying around for lols, and discovered that the area around the mall I hadn't yet been to this summer is crazily dense with pokestops. That's nice to know if I get frustrated running low on items again, if maybe dangerous for my shopping habits ;)

[lurkingcat]

I was glad to learn that the ever-escaping Pokémon problem that I've been having is a glitch rather than a thing that just happens at my level. It's been a very frustrating week on that score but I did manage to find and catch my first ever Sandshrew. They're awfully cute :)

I've been too exhausted to go out and play today but I've been thoroughly amused by the shenanigans at our local gyms. I can see three from home and they've been mostly Team Instinct this week. One of them was a level 9 gym but Valor took it down last night and all three gyms have cycled through all three teams at various points today.

[inkstone]

Yeah, I see one gym from my house, sometimes two, and they regularly cycle through. It's usually Valor vs Mystic. This isn't really an Instinct area.

[yuuago]

I managed to go downtown today, which meant it was a great day for PokeGo.

Results:

-Jumped two levels, up to 16
-Booted Valor out of two gyms
-Stocked up on pokeballs (always need more, though. ALWAYS)
-Caught an Omanyte
-Hatched a Vulpix!!
-FINALLY managed to catch enough Eevees to evolve one into my beloved Vaporeon. ...Jolteon probably would have been a more strategic choice, since electric pokemon are scarce around here, but ehhhh oh well.

A good day, a good day indeed.

[inkstone]

A Vulpix! I'm jealous!

Vaporeon is a great eeveelution, but Jolteon does become useful in gym takeovers since people tend to leave water pokemon as defenders. My Jolteon (aka Static Shock haha) has been tearing through the Vaporeon and Gyarados here even if they're several 100 CP stronger.

[dickgrayson]

Slow week but good. I am level 19 finally. Which I am happier for as today I wanted to spend my morning Pokemon hunting in a hot spot but it is raining. The day before yesterday however I was able to get three new Pokemon!

[inkstone]

Woo!

[cyphomandra]

I opened two 10K eggs about a week ago and got a Lapras and a Scyther (yay!) but haven't managed to get any more 10K ones since then, and my 2/5K ones have been unexciting (my first ever 5K egg gave me Porygon, tho', so I can't complain). I have walked 65.3K since start date

My mission for this week is to fight some more gym battles. Currently i have fought about six times, trained once, won once, and have no idea what I'm doing at all times! Tips welcome as all I know is that I tap frantically at the screen and every so often hold something for longer.

[inkstone]

So, ironically, it is easier to fight rival gyms and take them over than it is to train at friendly gyms and level them up. But here are a couple tips that might help.

- Learn how to dodge. It's really helpful and becomes really useful once you start fighting the higher level pokemon.

- There's a trick to the dodging. It make take some practice before you get the timing down but once you get it, battling will become much easier. Basically, watch the screen carefully. When the screen flashes and you see the anime action lines, that means the defender is going to attack. Swipe left or right to dodge. Again, you have to play with the timing. I usually have to swipe 2 to successfully dodge because my reaction time is just a little too fast. When you see the "Dodged!" message appear on screen, then tap the screen 2-3 times. At that point, the defender will attack again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

- Stick with the basic attack. Using the special attack (long hold) leaves you vulnerable for a few seconds. Only when your pokemon is about to die, then unleash the special attack.

- Learning weaknesses of defending pokemon is really useful! If your brain can handle the information, then there are charts you can reference. My brain cannot handle that information so I think of it terms of elemental incompatibilities. Water attacks are strong against fire. Electric attacks are strong against water. Electric attacks do nothing against ground. And so on.

- Knowing those weaknesses is really handy because you'll discover that you'll be able to defeat pokemon several hundred CP stronger than yours because their attacks are ineffective.

It takes practice but it'll be okay! Everyone flails at gym battles when they start out. (And if they don't, I don't want to hear it LOL.)

[yhlee]

Still level 4, but my daughter caught us our very first Eevee. *_____*

[yhlee]

We caught a second Eevee just standing around in our house.

And then we went for a walk this evening and caught one new-to-us Pokemon, but still no Zubats. :p

[lizbee]

I've been going for walks in local parks and recreation areas, which for some reason are teeming with magikarp, even though not all are close to water. But no complaints, I'm determined to evolve that sucker.

[inkstone]

I need to start doing this. I caught a 138 CP magikarp and damn, I want the sea dragon that'll result.

[playswithworms]

Got to the mall - I visit once or twice a year, not my favorite place, but got a Duduo and a Kabuto, which were new to me and pretty nifty, and two pairs of pants on sale that almost fit! Thanks, Pokemon, for making clothes shopping a lot more fun :D

[lilacsigil]

I got a long-overdue new phone this week, which has made playing a lot easier! Hatched my first egg, which was a Magikarp. No, I was excited! My sister-in-law has two Gyarados just from the Magikarp she catches on her lunchbreak (she works near a river) and around here it's all grass/poison/bug types! So getting a Magikarp was cool!

[inkstone]

I need to make a trip to a lake or river or something. I have a magikarp that will make stunning gyarados if I can just get enough candy!

[monanotlisa]

I still don't have a Snorlax, and I feel personally insulted by the universe. Or possibly Niantic. Both! Both is good.

[lilacsigil]

I don't have a Snorlax either, but the only gym in my town is dominated by an Instinct Snorlax, so there must be some around somewhere! I want one!

[surpassingly]

HELLOOOOOOOO /waves cheerfully at comm

I walked over 6+ km today! This was from our house to the beach (one of the beaches, anyway) and back. There's a pier + kind of like a little overlook on the beach, two pokestops, and a gym! :D And the cafe beside one of the pokestops has it pretty much perpetually lured. So it's a great place to just sit, admire the ocean, and catch water-type pokemon!

I also did a lot of gym battling today. Took down a level 5 gym by my lonesome (I may be unreasonably impressed with myself as a way of self-soothing because that was SO MUCH TAPPING) and defended the beach gym from hordes of Instinct and Mystic players. Mwahaha!

All in all, a pretty good day, even though my most notable catch was a Squirtle :D

[monanotlisa]

Team Valor ftw! <3

[storme]

Yesterday we walked a few kilometers to a park on the other side of town -- on a tip-off -- just to catch a Scyther (and succeeded). :D And then wandered around the big town centre park and caught a bunch of fairly common things. I also caught a rare and exciting Poliwrath that was CP 1418, which escaped from TWELVE ultra balls before it would stay in one *sob*.

I also hatched a Hitmonchan and two Pikachus in a row, so yesterday was a very, very good day for me. I am exhausted from all the walking today, though. :D

[monanotlisa]

TWELVE ULTRA BALLS.

Well, at least the Glitch didn't getcha. I am pretty grumpy about the insane escape rate these days; I have caught big-time Pokémon only to have them escape.

[yhlee]

Okay, by going out at the crack of dawn, I caught my first Zubat. No luck with Eevees this morning, though. :p

[troisroyaumes]

A slow week... Admittedly I played less than usual due to being sick. I haven't caught anything new lately so I have been focusing on evolving to gain exp.

[inkstone]

I went to yoga in the park today, which is located in a prime location being surrounded by 4 PokeStops and right next to a gym. Unfortunately the break free & escape glitch was brutal so I wasn't able to take advantage of the multiple lures people had put down. That said, I was able to catch a strong Tangela. I admit I am fond of the tentacle monster because it makes me LOL.

Continuing the trend of unimpressive egg hatches, I got a zubat. Yup. Yup.

[gorgeousnerd]

I played at Disneyland this past week, and it was ridiculous amounts of fun. I could only recharge my phone a little, so I couldn't play too intensely, but there were so many stops that I had over 100 regular/great Pokeballs by the time I left. It's a Small World had stops on the ride. So many stops had lures on them at all times. I used a lucky egg in line at one point to do evolutions (have 2/3 of the evolved eevees now!), and the lures meant I could take breaks to catch Pokemon, too!

Best new-to-me Pokemon I got at Disney: Seaking. I also made a dent in my Magikarp collections (still some 350 candy to go, though. Sigh).

This happened the week before, but I got a defender bonus from a gym in a random California rest stop two days in a row. This is really different from the gyms in high-traffic areas (like Disneyland or the Monterey Bay Aquarium), where the gyms are so contested that colors are constantly shifting. A lot of the more powerful gyms I've seen are the ones in random small towns. (Also, so many gyms I've seen have Snorlaxes, and I'm intensely jealous.)

[untonuggan]

i had to take a break from playing because i wasn't feeling well, but am hoping to do more this week. ^_^