For the longest time I hadn’t picked a team in Pokémon GO. And then I did fairly recently. I picked Instinct, the yellow one, because not many were picking that one from my understanding. I just felt underdoggish. But since the start of the game proper (I was in the beta as well, but after that), I just hadn’t felt like picking a team until the Raid update. At least the whole Raid thing can help you get rare mons and it’s a group effort. Also I’d found a group to play with.
So, until recently, I’ve been playing what I called the “pacifist” version. Essentially never joining a team and never taking or defending Gyms. I focused entirely on catching. Subsisting on Pokéstops for the most part, though around when the Johto update hit, I did take advantage of a sale on box expansions.
In order to get coins as a “pacifist” you have to use the in-app purchases. Fortunately, I’m also part of this thing called Google Opinion Rewards where you give them random bits of info through questions (mainly things like “have you heard of X” or “what is your job” and such, though I’ve opted out of the location-based ones since I don’t want them spying on me too much) and was able to pay entirely through the credit from that. It’s been helpful (also in Final Fantasy Record Keeper). The only things I’ve really bought out of pocket with my Google account are music albums.
So the thing about “pacifist” mode here is that it’s kinda zen, you wander out, see who’s out there, throw things at them, as long as they’re in the game, don’t throw things at actual people or dogs or whoever. Unless you’re playing fetch. And since you don’t have access to the advanced stat checks since that’s tied to teams, you kinda just have to look at how the CP level bar thingy compares when you’re low on box space and need to find the keepers. But that’s it, it’s all about catching. And hatching.
You get to check out some weird remote spots if you’re willing to walk that far, maybe find something rare. Or just a cool spot at least. Around where I’ve been, there’s not really a shortage of things to do in the game. Which I found pretty interesting given where I am now. Figured there’d be one or two, but no, I found the hot spot. And can frequent it. It’s really about location, and the game seems to prefer urban environments. Probably because more people are there to do things.
Essentially, I didn’t really see much to do past catching and exploration. The Gyms just seemed like something competitive for the competitive types. And kind of a thing brought over from Ingress. Which I haven’t played. Now, with the Raid things, the Gyms play host to a co-op sort of experience, which I don’t really mind, and I finally decided to start playing the second half of the game.
Now with that, I’ve switched over and now actually using the weird phone battle system, with a lot of lag because of course, I mean it performs well on the phone but the network takes a hit. Apparently it can be kinda crashy, my phone is just pretty high in RAM and stuff I guess. A decent battery but messing around in GO daily can take a hit on that. And it’s all to get a chance at some rare mons. I even drop off a high power mon at Gyms that just happen to be my team color, haven’t gone to actively capture any. And any coins I earn are likely to go towards more box expansions. So even though I’m technically out of “pacifist” mode, it’s still all just about the catching. The one game where I’d try to have a living Pokédex. Though I could in Pokémon X and all as well, if I wanted. Since that one has a complete Pokédex. Took since Sapphire to Alpha Sapphire.