Looking down at their phones, a crowd of “Pokémon Go” players made their way to catch the most rare or powerful creatures available at the corner of Main Street and Lyons Avenue in Newhall on Sunday.
As part of what is called a community day, players from far and wide arrived at an in-game gym to battle, where a particular Pokémon has an increased spawn rate, according to player Cameron Taylor.
As someone who’s grown up with the main series of games, Taylor said the latest changes and compatibility in “Pokémon Go” have been the incentive bringing him back into the game.
“Basically, I feel like I’ve been a fan of ‘Pokémon’ my entire life,” he said.
The character available, Beldum, could then be caught by players in the area, adding a shiny, or rare, Pokémon to their collection.
“With that increased spawn rate, you also get an increased chance for it to be shiny, which is basically like a different color variation of it,” he said. “So in the case of Beldum, instead of it being like blue and gray, it’s now like silver and gold, so it’s just like an aesthetic thing that people really like.”
Community days happen in populous areas, said player Roy Partible. He said Main Street in Old Town Newhall is a regular spot, as well as South Main Street in Burbank and California State University, Northridge.
Taylor was also present for the chance to catch Mewtwo, a classic and powerful character who spawned from a digital egg at the location of the street corner. The character is considered to be designed to be brought down by multiple players. Some players brought multiple phones carrying “Pokémon GO” in case they lost to Mewtwo in the game.
“You basically get strong Pokémon right off the bat, if you catch it,” Taylor said.
After catching Mewtwo, a team of players have a better chance to control gyms, digital areas in which rival teams can watch their Pokémon duel. Taylor insisted controlling a gym with Mewtwo was better than with fellow “Pokémon” fan favorite Pikachu.
For a month, Mewtwo was a raid boss for players to potentially catch, lasting until Wednesday. In case Mewtwo returns to Pokémon Go, players can learn strategies on how to catch him at pokemon.com/us/strategy/catch-mewtwo-in-pokemon-go/.
