Philadelphia’s Premier Pokémon GO Locations
To say Pokémon GO has taken the world by storm would be a massive understatement. It would be more accurate to say the game has taken the world by apocalyptic hurricane. The game was released on July 6th; by the evening of the 10th, the game was nearing Twitter in number of daily active users, and at that point it was only available America, New Zealand, and Australia. This is surprising but perhaps not shocking, as the generation who grew up smack in the middle of the Pokémon craze of the late 1990s is the same one most susceptible to the 90s nostalgia boom of the last half decade. Really, the only surprising thing about the success of an official Pokémon smart phone app is that it took this long to get here.
A short explanation for those who haven’t downloaded it yet: Pokémon GO is a game that works in conjunction with Google Maps, to place Pokémon (which I’m assuming I don’t have to explain if you’re reading this) in places around the world and allow users to find them on the map and “catch” them. The game has caused some issues (people talking about it and complaining about people talking about it on social media can both be annoying and, less importantly, car accidents), but it’s also been a reason for people to go outside and get those FitBit steps in.
Here’s the thing about that “get outside” aspect, though: no one wants to get off their couch and into the harsh light of day just to catch a few shitty Pokémon who don’t make the experience worth it, and it became clear rather quickly that to optimize your experience, both in-game and IRL, you have to leave the suburbs or the country and get to the big city.
I can’t speak to anywhere except Philadelphia and its surrounding areas, but after spending the weekend playing, I’ve found some of the best places to and catch ‘em all locally. Go here, and soon your collection of Pokémon will be the envy of your friend group, and you’ll have seen some cool sights, too!
Rittenhouse Square
Rittenhouse Square in Center City is a beautiful park full of beautiful people and their awesome dogs. It’s also full of Pokéstops, so you’ll never be short of Pokéballs, potions or Razz Berries. Perhaps the biggest draw, among all those others things, is the gym in the middle of the park. I watched, mostly from the sidelines, as a battle for that gym’s very soul raged all day, the team in command never lasting more than an hour or so before they were taken down and a new one raised its flag. Anecdotally, I also saw a bunch of Bulbasaur in Rittenhouse Square, and not much beats the glamour of finding a starter you can brag to all your buddies about as they slog through a never-ending flood of Rattata and Pidgey. There are also plenty of places to sit, so you won’t wear your feet out, allowing you to catch more Pokémon with less energy.
Spruce Street Harbor Park
Spruce Street Harbor Park is another beautiful location with plentiful Pokéstops, not to mention food and drink carts and other games to play to help conserve your precious phone battery. Spruce Street Harbor Park has a couple of advantages over Rittenhouse: there are far more interlocking Pokéstops, so you don’t even have to move around to replenish your items, and the density of Pokémon when the stops have lures set up in frankly fit for a (Nido)king. In addition, because this location is by the water, there are more water-type Pokémon available — this might be the very best place in the city to load up on Magicarp in pursuit of a powerful Gyarados, and it doesn’t hurt that you can grab a beer while you’re at it!
The Lair of Caorthannach
The Lair of Irish Fire Daemon Caorthannach, deep in the woods of Fairmount Park, may seem a bit dangerous and out of the way, but the juice is worth the squeeze, and you’re some not kind of coward, are you? You big baby? You big whiny baby, are you gonna cry? Didn’t think so. Reports of Pokémon GO players being killed and roasted by the mythical(?) creature in pursuit of rare legendary Pokémon are likely overblown, and even if there’s a 1 in 10 chance that you ARE engulfed in flames and consumed whole, never to be found, that means there’s a 90% chance you live, and isn’t 10% of your life worth the glory of being one of the first people to catch a Moltres? A bonus for this location: if you go to Fairmount Park after dark, you’ll probably find some private school kids drinking and they might give you a 40 and let you hit a blunt.
Independence Park
What better to place to walk around and hatch your eggs than the incubator of our nation, Independence Park? Check out Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and all those other places you last saw on a field trip in second grade but have a renewed interest in after listening to most of the Hamilton soundtrack once. Like Rittenhouse Square and Spruce Street Harbor Park, Independence Park is rife with Pokéstops, and gets enough foot traffic that there’s never a shortage of Pokémon around to try to catch. It also provides a great backdrop for screenshots when you’re trying to catch a Pokémon: imagine how many Instagram likes you’ll get if you catch something rare or powerful on the Liberty Bell?
Eastern State Penitentiary (After Dark)
Perhaps Philadelphia’s premier location for supernatural activity is also it’s best place to find ghost-type Pokémon. Years after one of the country’s most famous prison’s closure for inhumane treatment of inmates, Eastern State Pen is making up for severe overcrowding of humans with a severe overcrowding of Pokémon, but only at night. It’s easy to ignore the shrieks of despair, and to convince yourself they’re coming from your inside your own brain rather than the tortured spirits of the violent, neglected dead, when the possibility of adding a Haunter or Gengar to your team lurks around every blood-drenched corner. Plus, with the restless souls of violent murderers lurking through every hall is search of vengeance, Eastern State Penitentiary offers Philadelphia’s best chance at having an adventure as exciting as the ones you might imagine having in a world with real Pokémon.
