Pokéwalk This Way
I’m 26 years old. I walk around with a Pokéball clipped to my pocket.
Well, not a Pokéball per se, but a Pokéwalker, the Pokémon-themed pedometer Nintendo has packed in with every copy of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver for the Nintendo DS. You send one of your monsters from your DS game into the Pokéball-shaped device, and as you walk you earn experience points as well as Watts, which you can use to try to find rare Pokémon and items. There are numerous courses you can walk, each one with different Pokémon and items to find.
I had been VERY eagerly awaiting HeartGold and SoulSilver for a very long time leading up to their release, and I never really thought much of the Pokéwalker. I thought it was a neat little device, but I didn’t really plan on using it much, if at all, because I didn’t think it would really add much to the game.
Heh, was I wrong. Now I never leave the house without it.
I’ve used the Pokéwalker every single day since about two days after I purchased the game. I turned it on just to test it out, and try to level my Cyndaquil when Christina and I went into the city for the day. It was fun, and I always enjoy having a gadget to fiddle with whenever my immediate surroundings aren’t keeping me entertained.
When we went to PAX, though, we realized just how fun and social the Pokéwalker is.
EVERYONE had one. Enforcers. Panelists. Men. Women. Boys. Girls. EVERYONE.
I wasn’t aware of it at first, but you can link Pokéwalkers with someone else. You get a little animation of your two Pokémon playing together, and you each get an item based on your course. When you link your Pokéwalker back to your DS, everyone you linked with appears in the Trainer House in Viridian City, where you can battle the team they had on them when they last connected to their Pokéwalker.
Huge groups of people would converge when they would spot other people with Pokéwalkers, and the resulting web of arms reaching over and across other people seemed weird at first, but I like to think of it as some kind of special embrace we all shared.
Until PAX I kept my Pokéwalker in a small cloth bag in my pocket, because I’m a huge loser and I’m always afraid my stuff is going to get scratched up. When we got ready to attend Anime Boston last weekend, I attached the belt clip to my Pokéwalker and kept it clipped to my shorts pocket, so I could be more easily identifiable as a Pokéwalker-carryin’ cool guy.
While we were on the train on our way to Boston’s Hynes Convention Center, a guy probably about my age sitting next to me (I was standing, since the train was packed, which is pretty much always the case whenever you take the Green Line) was like “Hey, you’ve got a Pokéwalker!” He reached into his backpack and pulled out one of his own. My Koffing and his Bellsprout had an adventure. He linked with Christina too, and we both got good items.
Then when we actually got to the convention, it was just like PAX. Two people would pull them out to connect, passersby would notice and pull out their own, and soon it was the typical arm spaghetti as everyone tried to make sure they linked with everyone else. Hey, we even linked Pokéwalkers with Missingo!
What I figured was an afterthought and a cheap gimmick has turned out to be one of my favorite features of the new Pokémon games. Now whenever I go out, I have my Pokéwalker clipped to my pocket (except when I’m at work, then it’s INSIDE my pocket because hey, I gotta be professional) so everyone can see, and I can hopefully catch the attention of someone else in our Awesome Pokéwalker Club.
Everyone, wear your Pokéwalkers with pride!
11 Comments
A fun post, and a true one. It’s amazing how so many things Nintendo does just look like gimmicks until you try them. The greatest part is definitely the linking. The problem with linking before is you would never have your game at the right time, it would be unwieldy to do, etc. But with the Pokewalker, you can just pull it out, link up, and fight (albeit a computer form of) them later. Awesome.
I got together with friends a few Saturdays ago for a friendly Brawl tournament… the only problem was that there were more people interested in playing the new Pokémon games and linking their Pokéwalkers than playing Brawl. We still had a good time, though.
Feh! I wear my Pokewalker on my pocket even at work! You, sir, are not hardcore!
Interesting little device. Sadly, I played Pokemon Gold far to long to buy the new ones and go at it again.
I haven’t picked up either, but since I got paid today, I’ll be picking up Heart Gold. Which is amusing and a bit saddening, because I’ve always had the secondary Pokemon games. I’ve had Blue, Silver, Sapphire.. it’s almost like it was a tradition. Ah, well. I guess old habits are meant to be broken.
Shenny, I am hardcore, but one of my superpowers is I can blend in with non-geeks. I can’t blow my cover while I’m at work!
Hex, it’s a great game. The DS games have the best mechanics of the series so far, plus once again you’re getting Johto AND Kanto in the same game.
Eric, I was the same way, but I got HeartGold because I liked the box better. Besides, I played Silver on my Game Boy Color, so I figured I’d get HeartGold for my DS.
I’ve often wondered why they never gave us the dual-continents again. Pokemon RedGreenBlueYellowGoldSilverCrystalRubyEmeraldSapphireDiamondPearlPlatinum would be an epic trek across 4 lands to catch ‘em all. Now, if that was in, with the ability to catch all the Pokemon without trading from alternative versions or older games, my love with Pokemon would be as strong s it was when I was in elementary school.
Woo!
I have almost lost mine twice, and have connected with my friend Mynor EVERY SCHOOL DAY.
I have Over 7000 watts. I love the pokewalker.
Wow, way to go Hex, you broke the layout.
I love the Pokewalker. I walk a lot a lot so the watts build up pretty fast. I can only link with my brother and sister though. I don’t know anyone else that has one
It would be great if Nintendo keeps going with it in the future Poke games. i would even buy one if I had to.
Double feh! Nerdiness must be worn like your heart on your sleeve!