Pokémon Go – a purposeful quest

As a 25-year-old that still lives with her parents, I can see how proud my mother gets every time I run to the door saying, "I'm just gonna fight Giovanni, be right back!” - not at all.

This Saturday was no exception. But first… Who is Giovanni? You might ask.

Back in 1996, Satoshi Tajiri created the Japanese media franchise Pokémon, starting by developing a set of video games for the original Game Boy. In this Pokémon Universe, humans cohabitate with creatures called Pokémons and, taking the role of a Pokémon Trainer, enroll on a quest to collect all the different species, catching and training Pokémons to battle with other trainers. Through your quest, you encounter several obstacles, namely the well-known Team Rocket that, led by Giovanni, aims to dominate the world through Pokémons’ exploitation - the so-called bad guys. Twenty years later, in 2016, a new game was launched – Pokémon Go – this time available on your smartphone. This meant that players around the world could download the location-based mobile game and go outside looking for Pokémons to catch and Team Rocket members to battle.

As you might or might not know, dear reader, this Saturday the Pokémon Go players had what it’s called a community day – a day where, in a pre-determined period, there is an increased probability of finding a specific Pokémon. Being a committed player, I often spend those days at a local park, where I can easily collect the necessary items to keep catching those pokémons. This Saturday was no exception, except that I went to Sintra Mountains, instead of a local park, and there were almost no items to collect there.

?Photo by PokémonGoLive

This Saturday was, in truth, an exception as Niantic - the company responsible for developing Pokémon Go – invited all players to join their quest to support the planet in their annual Niantic Sustainability Campaign by walking 5km.

For every player who moves at least 5km this Saturday, Niantic will work with Ecosia - a certified B-Corp and one of the biggest tree-planters in the world, to plant a tree, aiming at a total of 100?000 trees.

Yennie Solheim (2022)1

So, I joined the quest.

But first, let me take you back to when my Pokémon Trainer journey began. So, in 1999 my parents got me my first Pokémon game and... ok, too far? Right... so, in the summer of 2016 Pokémon Go was launched and I couldn't wait for it to come out. Started playing right away but quickly gave up on it.

You see, the fun in playing Pokémon as a kid was not the game in itself, but rather the thrill of showing my older cousin and my younger brother my progress. We knew that every time a Pokémon’s egg hatched, or a Pokémon was ready to evolve, we had to stop whatever we were doing to go see the animation – it was, and still is, an unspoken rule. Pokémon Go was no different. Every time I felt the excitement of finding a rare Pokémon, it was followed by the frustration of not having other players to share it with – so I stopped.

?Photo by Niantic Blasts

It all changed in the summer of 2021. My younger brother decided to join the game and asked me if I was still playing so I knew it was the time for me to return. As I rejoined the game, I decided to really commit to it – went for large daily walks to conquer gyms and complete my collection – and as I was sharing my progress with friends, they started to get excited about the game and joined the community.

At the beginning we were two. Now we’re eight. Through Pokémon Go, I’ve made some new friends and reconnected with others I hadn’t seen for years. I started walking around my neighbourhood and, from parks to sports halls, found several interesting places I didn’t know existed. I felt all the anxiety and loneliness from COVID lockdowns wash away on my hunting walks.

Location-based mobile games may alleviate non-clinical forms of mild depression by facilitating face-to-face socialization, outdoor physical activity, and exposure to nature.

Aaron Cheng, 20222

This Saturday I joined Rui Ferreira and Maria Marques Lopes on the quest to reach the 5km and help the community achieve their goal of planting 100?000 trees.

We did it :D

?Photo by Joana Ferreira

(and caught some garbage on the way…)

?Photo by Joana Ferreira

Despite some detours along the way, I think Niantic has been learning and adapting their journey to come closer to their purpose.?

“To use emerging technology to enrich our experiences as human beings in the physical world. We build products that inspire movement, exploration, and face-to-face social interaction.”

Niantic, Inc.3

In Pokémon Go, the only way to be "the very best like no one ever was" is to walk towards your goals, step by step - literally. From catching new Pokémons to conquer new gyms, almost everything in the game is unblocked by either exploring the world outside or interacting with your friends consistently. The same applies to your journey towards your purpose. There will be days where you walk 20km and complete 10 missions, but other days where you can only catch 1 Pokémon - that's just part of the journey.

I am the player that ends the game with all the items still in the bag because "I might need it later" - and I never do, because there's always a "later" to wait for. This happens because more often than not I'm so worried that I'm not playing as I should, I'm so afraid of challenges that I can't overcome, that I forget the most important part - to have fun.

When I decided to return to the game, I decided to adopt a new mindset - to have fun - this changed my experience completely. My purpose is not to "the very best like no one ever was", nor to "catch 'em all", but rather to feel happier. I can do that by spending more time with my friends and laugh with them, conquer 20 gyms in one night or even go for a walk and try to find new Pokéstops. More important than what I do, is why I do it, and I do it because I'm having fun.

We at pur’ple work every day to help others find their purpose and work towards it, so I can’t help but notice that, through Pokémon GO, I’ve been experiencing Niantic’s purpose in action and that impacts my experience as a player (customer), motivating me not only to keep playing, but also to share their work with others. This kind of experiences are what pur’ple aims to create and help others develop. To help companies align what they do with why they do it, effectively communicating their purpose to the world and ultimately helping their stakeholders to follow their purpose.

So, if you want to, join our quest, and follow your purpose :)

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Glossary:

Community Day:?monthly event in which, in a pre-determined period of the day, there is an increased probability of finding a specific Pokémon.

Egg (Pokémon):?in the Pokémon franchise, an egg is an object from which most Pokémon are known to hatch.

Game Boy:?8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo, released in 1989.

Giovanni (Pokémon):?in the Pokémon franchise, Giovanni is the leader of the Team Rocket.

Gym (Pokémon Go):?in the Pokémon franchise, a gym is a point of interest found throughout the world where Pokémon Trainers can battle rival teams’ Pokémons. Once you successfully defeat all the opposing teams’ Pokémon in the gym, you can conquer it by leaving one of your Pokémons defending the gym, so that players from rival teams can come and battle your Pokémon, perpetuating the cycle.

Item (Pokémon):?in the Pokémon franchise, items can represent several things, e.g., Pokéballs (objects used to catch Pokémons), Potions (objects used to restore health points of Pokémons after and/or during battles), among others.

Location-based mobile games:?type of game in which the gameplay progresses via a player's location (e.g., GPS).

Pokémon (Japanese franchise):?Japanese media franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996, starting with the development of a set of video games for the original Game Boy and followed by several other games, animation series, movies, among others.

Pokémon (fictional creature):?in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémons are fictional creatures/ monsters caught and trained by humans (Poké Trainers) to battle with other trainers.

Pokémon Go:?augmented reality mobile game, part of the Pokémon franchise, developed by Niantic.

Pokéstop: In the Pokémon franchise, Pokéstops are in game, virtual objects that signal real-world landmarks in places such as?historical markers, monuments, art installations, churches, among others, that players need to get closer and spin in order to collect items and receive tasks to complete.

Team Rocket:?in the Pokémon franchise, Team Rocket is a criminal organization in pursuit of world domination through Pokémon exploitation.

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Sources:

1 - Yennie Solheim (2022) “Planting Trees with Niantic Community Days!” in Niantic Labs’ Blog.

2 - Zhi (Aaron) Cheng, Brad N. Greenwood & Paul A. Pavlou (2022) “Location-Based Mobile Gaming and Local Depression Trends: A Study of Pokémon Go” in Journal of Management Information Systems.

3 – Niantic (n.d.) “Adventures on Foot” in Niantic Labs’ website.

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Article written by Joana Ferreira

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