Pokémon Go

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Pokémon Go is an Augmented Reality Pokémon game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices, initially released in select countries in July 2016. The game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic and Nintendo by way of The Pokémon Company. It uses the mobile device GPS to locate, capture, battle, and train Pokémon, which appear as if they are in the player's real-world location. The game is free to play; it uses a Freemium business model and supports Microtransactions for additional in-game items.

Tropes used in Pokémon Go include:
  • Absurdly High Level Cap
  • Adapted Out: Items and features are not included into the game.
    • Evolution stones have been replaced by region stones, like Sinnoh stones and Unova stones.
      • Slightly averted, some items, like Metal Coat and King's Rock, were not removed.
    • Masterballs are not in the game, they're replaced by the Ultra Balls and Premier Balls as a means to capture Legendaries and pseudo-Legendaries.
      • Though its code can be found within the game's data.
  • Addressing the Player: Professor Willow mainly address the player when giving out tutorial tips at the beginning or doing tasks, like the field and special researches.
    • His underlings, Blanche, Spark, and Candela also do this when the gamer picks one of them to battle.
  • Allegedly Free Game
  • Anime Hair
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In a raid, the raid pokemon, especially Legendaries, appears to be bigger than skyscrapers.
    • After being defeated, they shrink a bit but are still large.
      • Averted, when the gamer tries to capture it. Since they're smaller and in its normal size.
  • Art Evolution: The art style for the game changed eventually, mainly because of Niantic's mega updates.
  • Augmented Reality Game: Basically.
  • April Fools: Niantic loves doing stuff on this day, just to shake things up.
    • On 2018, they changed the art into sprite form.
  • Ascended Extras: Some of the adapted out and April Fools' Day jokes items and features make a comeback and QOL are implemented into the game in future updates.
  • Banned in China: The High Council of Virtual Spaces, an Iranian government body got the game banned due to security issues, the country became the first to ban it.
  • Bishonen: Spark
  • Canon Foreigner: Armored Mewtwo.
  • Cap: When starting out, the trainer is given 300 inventory backpack spaces. Once max out, he must dish out pokecoins to get an extra 50 spaces.
    • When there's a gym battle it's a 50 PokéCoin limit per day.
    • One can carry up to 9 eggs.
    • One can only use a three pokemon party for the Great League, Ultra League, or Master League.
  • Character Level: The higher the gamer levels up, the more he can do things, like joining one of the three teams, participating in certain events and raids, unlocking skins, and making pokémon stronger.
  • Cheaters Never Prosper: Niantic takes hacking and spoofing seriously, IRL pokemon trainers that continues to hack and spoof will run the risk of having the PoGo accounts terminated.
  • Christmas Episode: A pikachu, who wears a Santa Claus hat, and winter pokémon shows up more frequently.
  • Composite Tools: Star dust and candy somewhat replaced how one levels up and evolve pokemons.
  • Cosmetic Award: Leveling up, doing certain tasks, and gym battles unlocks the ability to put on or buy clothes in the store.
  • Crossover: A Poketrainer can move their best friend(s) to Pokémon Let's Go: Pikachu and Pokémon Let's Go: Eevee, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and future pokemon games.
    • Pokémon Home provides a place were one can easily transfer Pokemon to any of these games.
  • Cut and Paste Environments: Turning off the AR mode, will result with battling the pokemon in a simple forest background, except for the weather.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: When a trainer defeats a wild pokémon.
    • Way more so when a trainer rescues and purify a Shadow Pokemon, the latter will show so much gratitude that he'll be stronger than the non-Shadow Pokemon.
  • Does Not Like Shoes: There's a clothing option to have the poketrainer avatar to go barefoot.
  • Drop-In Drop-Out Multiplayer
  • Even Better Sequel: Adventure Sync replaced the Apple Watch PoGo app, so IRL trainers won't use two separate devices and be split their gameplay, in addition so Niantic can focus on making AS better.
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: A circle appears on the target Pokemon, doing warm ups and circular throws to capture it will boost the xp points.
    • Doing curveballs that are nice, great, and excellent will give more xp points.
    • While in the "Style" section, the clothes area of the shop, the player can manually spin his/her PokeTrainer avatar to see how well they appear in wearing clothes.
    • In the sub menu, the gamer can spin his/her avatar and his/her walking pokebuddy.
  • Everything's Better with Sparkles: Both Shiny and purified Pokemon have sparkles with indicates their status and to separate them for the other mons.
  • Evil Counterparts: Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo are Spark, Blanche, and Candela's evil Team Go Rocket's counterparts, who even uses Shadow Pokemon.
  • Experience Booster: Lucky Eggs doubles the XP, whereas the Star Pieces doubles the star dust gathering. Whereas special incubators cut the hatching time in half.
    • Events also does this.
  • Experience Meter: At the lower left corner of the overview screen, there's a tiny gauge which shows how far one needs to go to get to the next level.
  • Experience Points
  • Festival Episode: On certain Japanese holidays, Pokémon Go celebrates by unleashing an event to mach the holiday(s), special pokemons, skins, and etc.
  • Fingerless Gloves: Many of the characters, like the poketrainer, Team Rocket Go, and Professor Willow's assistants wear the sports versions of these gloves out of practicality.
  • Flat Characters: Candela, Blanche, and Spark were this in PoGo's earlier days, one can't interact with them beyond choosing a team.
  • Friendly Rivalry: Team Instinct, Team Valor, and Team Mystic have a friendly rivalry with each other.
  • Life Meter: The Pokemon's life meter is portrayed as a light green-ish turtoquise bar, when filled up.
  • Loading Screen: While the screen loads up, warnings to watch where you're going appears as a reminder to be careful.
  • Geo Effects: When the weather in real life shows change, then the overview map will change to reflect that.
  • Good Colors, Evil Colors: Team Go Rocket mostly wears red and black to signify that they're EVIL.
    • This trope is subverted with Professor Willow, his assistants, and Valor/Instinct/Mystic avatar Poketrainers wear clothes are of any colors to show that they're the good guys.
  • Gotta Catch Them All
  • Grow the Beard: With a ton of updates, including quality of life ones. Made Pokemon Go cool and playable again for some people.
    • The gameplay is slowly becoming like that of the main games, there's trading, sending friend codes, and other features.
  • Halloween Episode: All things spooky and ghosts types, like shuppet and drifloon, pop out way more during October 31.
  • Holiday Specials: Skins, certain types of Pokemon appear more often, and special events pop out to celebrate the occasions.
    • Even special pikachus with hat cosmetics.
  • Hyperactive Sprite: The poketrainer avatar just does small walking in pace, when the gamer isn't walking.
  • Idiot Programming: In the early days, the step counter for finding pokémon didn't work and was even removed at one point.
      • This resulted with some trainers downloading third-party apps that are against the TOS, since those count the steps and fill up a void.
    • Ditto with IVs, gamers were downloading third-party apps as a way on how to measure them.
      • Until Niantic implemented proper systems to measure IVs, a mostly accurate step counter to aid people to finding Pokemon, and other stuff.
    • The Pokemon Go Plus, it glitches out for some of the certain phones, mainly androids.
      • This sometimes make frustrated trainers to go and buy third-party alternatives.
    • Also in the early days, requesting Niantic to place pokestops in certain areas, was tricky to do so to the point that gamers had to download and play Ingress to place a couple in certain areas.
  • Inexplicable Treasure Chests: Whenever you reach the next level, the game dumps very useful items for you, like egg incubators, just to name a few.
  • Infinite Stock for Sale: The Shop's merchandise, like incubators, lures, and such don't deplete, unless there's sales and limited time boxes.
  • Fictional Currency: PokéCoins
  • In-Universe Game Clock: Some Mons, effects, and features are only active in certain times and even seasons, like during snowy days castform will appear differently and then there's the "weather boost" mechanic will give Pokemon elemental strengths.
  • Isometric Projection: The map screen can be manually adjusted in an isometric view.
  • Kick the Mons: Team Go Rocket experimented on Pokemon to change them into Shadow Pokemon.

"Sadly, these Shadow Pokemon exhibit odd behavior and appear to be in pain."

  • Mana: Stardust.
  • Mascot: Zapdos for Team Instinct/Yellow, Articuno for Team Mystic/Blue, and Moltres for Team Valor/Red.
  • Microtransactions: Microtransactions are featured in the shop to buy things, like a special coin to switch teams, buying space for pokémon and items, even poses, and even PokéCoins.
    • Averted, one can earn Pokécoins without spending real money and to do that is to leave your mon in the gym(s).
  • Mon Machine: The Pokeballs
  • Mythology Gag: Pokemon Go does references and shout outs to Pokemon's decades long history, an example is the Lavender Town music for Halloween events.
  • Mystery Box: There's a box at the end of the weekly field research and its wrapped up in a brown packaging with a white ribbon tied to it.
  • The Nameless: Some characters don't have their names reveal, despite having a minor or big role in the story, like the previous Team Valor leader.
  • No Export for You: Pokemon Go isn't ported for certain smartphones, like Microsoft's Windows Phone.
    • Kinda averted sorta, the Regional Pokémon, like heracross, chatot, and pachirisu, are exclusive to certain countries. To obtain them, one must hatch, trade, wait for a regional switch, or even travel to those countries.
    • One of the ways to obtain a Mewtwo other than going to an Ex-Raid, is to buy the Pokemon Go Plus.
      • The same happened with Mew, besides doing special Research Tasks, one has to buy a Pokéball Plus.
    • Event Pokemon, just Event Pokemon.
    • Certain forms of pokemon, like MewTwo's armor form, is exclusive ONLY in Pokemon Go.
    • Averted whenever a re-release of event pokemon, regional switches happens, and Legendary rotations.
  • Nice Hat
  • The Nose Knows: Using Lures and Incense attracts wild pokemon to a certain spot were the PokeStop is located or the actual trainer, because these devices smell so good to their noses.
  • Play Every Day: Logging in and doing tasks, will fill up a seven day gauge which will award players, star dust and getting XP to level up.
  • Player Versus Player
  • Point of Interest: The game has varieties:
    • PokéStops, where players can get supplies, like potions, pokeballs, gifts (to send to friends), and the occasional eggs.
    • Gyms, where players can leave their pokemon to guard the gym for their team or battle to claim the gym for their team. Though gyms can also function as Pokestops.
    • Nests, an area were tons of one type of pokemon are found. Also, nests migrates to new places.
  • Product Placement: Some of the Pokestops and gyms are sponsored, like AT & T, McDonalds, and such.
    • Some Pokemons that appears, whether they have a new form, abilities, wearing certain hats/costumes, and such, are to advertise the soon to be release game, movie, and films.
  • Proper Tights with a Skirt
  • Rare Candy: These Rare Candies give a pokemon an extra candy for that particular pokemon, so that mon can change their moves or even evolve.
  • Real Men Wear Pink|Girls Love Stuffed Animals: The backpacks for the avatars are stuff animal versions of Pokemon, like Gengar and Mimikyu.
    • Some clothes and hats are also these, their designs are based on actual Pokemon, like Delibird gloves.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Shadow Pokemon's eyes give out a warning that the Poketrainer will be dealing with a confused and hurting pokemon that reacts violently.
  • Ridiculously Cute Mons: A ton that appearances, since this is a pokemon game, like meltan, pichu and togepi.
  • Robot Buddy: Remy, though he's more of a tech support bot that supposed to help gamers and relay the cries for help messages to an actual guy at the other end.
  • Run, Don't Walk: Averted. Similar to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, PoGo only wants you to walk, it won't register the steps when one runs, which will hinder the trainer's progress. Also, when one is in the car, the game asks if you're speeding or even the driver.
  • Shorts Over Leggings
  • Shout-Out: The Shadow Pokémon makes a comeback.
  • Terrible Trio: Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra.
  • Third Option Adaptation: Once reaching level 5, a trainer can chose to not join a team.
    • This makes the game a challenge to play, like not being able to participate in gyms.
    • Trainers can pick pikachu as their starter.
  • Tights Under Shorts
  • Token Minority: Candela, the leader of Team Valor.
    • Subverted, considering some of the Team Rocket Go mooks have black or brown skin and that the gamer can change his or her trainer Avatar to have similar skin color.
  • Two Girls and a Guy: Blanche, Candela, and Spark.
  • Valentine's Day Episodes: Love and luvdisc is in the air.
  • Victory Pose
  • Video Game Caring Potential: Some mons strictly need walking, care, and affection, like Eevees and Feebas, to help them boost their friendship levels up, so they can evolve.
    • Walking with your Buddy Pokemon to find candy.
    • Walking to hatch incubated eggs.
  • Virtual Paper Doll: Both the boy and girl avatar has a lot of clothes, bags, belts, gloves, and even hairstyles for the gamer to choose from.
  • Walking Spoiler: Some of the pokemon that appears, especially if they're used for advertising, are literal walking spoilers for some gamers that are intending to play some of the newer main games and getting to the part were they activate the alt form or encounters that particular Mon.
    • Averted with some gamers, who never played the main game series and this is the only Pokemon anything that they're playing.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Both Arlo and Candela used to be part of Team Valor and were best friends. Now they are both in opposing forces, since Arlo is now in Team Go Rocket.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy|White-Haired Pretty Girl: This is one of the hair styles the gamer can pick.
  • Who Wears Short Shorts: These are part of the girl avatar's wardrobe.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Some of the costumes for the girls are these types of skirts.
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