You know Pokemon Go is being taken seriously when hundreds of people are so engrossed in their quest to become the very best, they’re totally oblivious to the presence of Justin Bieber.
But as fun as hunting Pokemon is, it can be pretty frustrating when your a 30-minute stomp rewards you with little more than another half a dozen Rattatas and another motherfucking Pidgey. No amount of augmented reality wizardry can stop that from getting tiring very quickly.
But a new app could help alleviate some of that frustration. Poke Radar is an interactive map that allows users to notify other budding virtual Pokemon trainers of exactly where individual monsters can be found.
The map can be accessed from pretty much anywhere in the world, so if you happen to spot a Mewtwo on your morning dog walk and feel generous enough to tip off the community (good Karma goes a long way in the world of Pokemon), all you need to do is drop a pin on the location and it will be added to the map. You can also search for a specific Pokemon missing from your ‘dex and the app will tell you if you’re chasing a lost cause.
There are a few issues, however. By allowing users to submit locations you’re inevitably going to attract Poke-trolls who lie about sightings. And to be totally honest, there is something a little bit funny about the thought of sending a wide-eyed, gullible trainer on a four-mile countryside hike in search of an Abra, when you know that really most exciting thing they’re going to find is a cow.
But the Poke Radar creators anticipated this. When you tap/click on a Pokemon it will show you how other players have rated that particular tip-off. If it’s legit you’ll be able to tell from the feedback, and if a submission doesn’t get enough votes it will quickly be chucked out.
You also can’t tag your level with a sighting, so some people won’t be able to see certain Pokemon until they’ve ploughed some more time into the game.
If the community decides to play nice (we believe in you, internet) this app could add some much-appreciated efficiency to your Pokemon training. Ash Ketchum never had this sort of help.
