Building memories in Pokémon Go through their National Trust collaboration
If you read Pocket Gamer, you will know that I am a huge fan of Pokémon Go. I've been a day-one player and run a local community, officially, with Pokémon Go. It's just a huge part of my life! A bunch of us previously did a road trip up to Manchester for their touring bus, so when we saw the National Trust collaboration, we thought it was time for another!
If you are unfamiliar with this collaboration, there are a bunch of different National Trust sites around England. Depending on the area of the world, there is a different Pokémon in that spot. You can raid and catch two of the featured Pokémon per site, per day. These Pokémon also have backgrounds that match the specific location you are at. Players also get a quest for being at the location, which gives a Treecko with the specific background from that location. Shinies are rare, but the adventure is a lot of fun!
Along with five other friends, we headed on a road trip to hit each of the different Pokémon, going from Essex to Wales and back. On the first day, we went to Wimpole Estate to get Sewaddle, then Stowe Gardens in Buckingham for Hoppip, then ate dinner and slept before going to Chirk Castle in Wales, then, lastly, Lyme Park in Stockport.
All of these different National Trust sites have completely different vibes to them. Some are massive gardens that are fun to explore and walk around. Others feature fantastic castles, which you can walk around and interact with. It's got such a wide variety of history as well. There is so much to explore and see at each location. On the other hand, many of the gyms in these National Trust sites were not well placed. Lyme specifically has one of the gyms in a primarily closed field, far away from any sort of Wi-Fi, that we all had to spend more than 30 minutes trying to enter the raid and... raid. It is also quite harsh to only have two chances at a background Shiny per day, especially when you consider the entry price to each of these locations!
With that said, we all did have a fantastic time exploring the various Pokémon GO National Trust locations. There were so many beautiful places that I didn't have a reason to explore otherwise. The Pokémon that I caught, with their special backgrounds, remind me of a large trip with a bunch of friends. We all loved driving together, eating together, and otherwise exploring the grounds together.
There is something about all of us battling together, exploring together, and walking around to catch Pokémon. The magic bringing us together through Pokémon Go, and then putting us into such special locations in the real world - it's just such a fantastic way to form a memory and create something that feels fantastic. I will forever attach the memories to these Pokémon that I have caught, and that's the magic of the game. I'd 100 per cent recommend making a road trip, catching Pokémon, and exploring in the real world.
