Pokémon Go is almost ten years old. In 2016 the game on the phone was a global hype, but now there is nothing to be heard of it. At least, in Den Bosch Pokémon Go lives again as if it were 2016. A group of 1500 people from the city and surrounding villages is still very active in the app. A part of the group even visits each other twice a week to play the game together. “As a team you are stronger than alone and you can better beat legendary Pokémon.”
They were in the city on Sunday with about twenty people, that is a small group for them. They are usually with more, sometimes with fifty to one hundred. Then they play the game together. But because of the nice weather, many people are sitting on a pee or on the terrace on Sunday, organizer Urvin Narimo thinks.
Pokémon Go is a game on your phone where you can catch Pokémon while walking down the street. As you walk around, other Pokémon appear in the picture. You can collect, train and make it stronger.
At the end of 2023, Urvin de Pokémon GO-community breathed new life into the Pokémon. “In 2017 the game became less popular and then Corona came,” he says. “Many people then stopped the game. After Corona we started all over again and we tried to get all the people who were still playing together.”
“We go through again and wind to catch the Pokémon.”
Now the enthusiasts explore the city together again. “We go through weather and wind. Today the weather is nice, but last week we were here in the rain,” says Urvin. According to him, it is much nicer to play the game with a group. “And it turns out that others think that too.”
While he tells that, the whole group rushes to a ‘gym’ a hundred meters away. There you could start a fight against a strong Pokémon. Chatting and full of enthusiasm, the group rushes there. Last week the new season started in the game, which means that new Pokémon can be catched. They now try to catch the players.
“If you start playing alone it is boring and you won’t get far.”
Some players have two or three phones in their hands to catch the Pokémon. “We are all on our phone, but we are also communicating with each other about how we are going to catch them. We talk a lot about it,” says Mathé. Together they then try to beat the Pokémon. “You really need each other for that. If you start playing alone it is boring and you won’t get far.”
A little further on, Femke is in hand with her phone. Her daughter with an iPad is sitting in the cargo bike next to her. “We had started the game in 2016, just like many other people, but in the end stopped again.” Her two oldest sons picked it up again a while ago. “Since then I have lost them all day because they are looking for Pokémon outside,” she says.
“We are outside and we have a good time together.”
The mother therefore decided to play the game again. “People may find it a bit of a strange hobby, but it is actually fun. You come out and for me it is a nice way to make contact with my two adolescent sons. If I ask if they are coming to drink a cup of tea, they will not be enthusiastic about it. Then catch Pokémon together.”
Yes, with a screen in your hands. The mother sometimes has her doubts about that. “But we are outside and we have a good time together.”
Mia, her daughter, already has one Sharpedo captured. She says that the family often makes a round through the neighborhood. “And if there is something special, we come to Den Bosch. It is very nice and I will come along more often. I have caught a shark now.” At home, the De Pokémon family exchanges each other. “That also connects.”
