What became of Melbourne’s Pokemon GO craze?

Pokemon GO fever took over Melbourne — and the world — in 2016, but after a hectic few weeks in which thousands of Melburnians put their lives on hold to catch Pokemon, the storm quickly died down. At least that’s what we thought.

A Pokemon GO meeting in Carlton Gardens. Picture: Andrea Thiis-Evensen

Pokemon GO fever took over Melbourne — and the world — in 2016, but after a hectic few weeks in which thousands of Melburnians put their lives on hold to catch rare Pokemon, the storm quickly died down.

At least that’s what we thought.

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But Melbourne still boasts a vibrant Pokemon community, with people meeting in parks and trekking across the city to track Pokemon on their phones or joining local leagues to battle in video game arenas.

POKEMON GO

Pokemon GO is an augmented reality game which requires players to track Pokemon through real life environments via GPS on their phone.

Once a player has tracked one of the creatures, they must capture it on their phone.

The aim of the game is to trap as many as possible.

Hundreds of people meet up in parks across Melbourne at monthly events — a recent one was held in Carlton Gardens — running around with their heads buried in their phones hunting Pokemon.

Locals play Pokemon Go at Mawson Park in Campbelltown. Picture: AAP

How a Pokemon character appears in the augmented reality game.

Community leader for Pokemon GO Melbourne, Andy Hatzistamatis, said the game is alive and well in the city.

“There is still roughly 40,000 people playing in Melbourne, it’s a large and amazing community,” Mr Hatzistamatis said.

Sharon Connolly is a Pokemon fanatic.

“You can go into the city and see fifty or a hundred-people gathering around this one place trying to take down a boss.”

Fanatic Sharon Connolly, 56, says her husband thinks she is “nuts” for her daily Pokemon GO habit

“Everyone who plays is half my age but they are all so friendly, it’s a great way to get out of the house,” Mrs Connolly said.

Mrs Connolly was among the 200-strong crowd tracking Pokemon through Carlton Gardens at the recent event organised by game creator Niantic.

And Pokemon GO is just the tip of the iceberg for the Australian Pokemon scene.

POKEMON TRADING CARDS

The Pokemon Trading Card Game is a strategic and complicated card game, in which players square off against each other with a deck of 60 cards

The aim of the game is to defeat the opposing player’s Pokemon cards.

Stores across Melbourne host leagues, with players meeting up each week to battle in intense competitions.

The best local players can also compete for the chance to travel to the world championship in North America.

Players at a Pokemon Trading Card tournament at a store in Burwood.

Jordan Palmer plays in a local league to hone his craft.

As one of the top eight players in Australia, Pokemon has paid for Mr Palmer’s last four trips to the world championship, where he claimed the title in 2016.

“It has taken me all around the world, I’ve been to Europe and the US multiple times,” he said.

“What I thought was just going to be this local thing has become a huge part of my life.

“What I strive for in life now is to get as good as I can, and become the very best.”

Local Pokemon judge Tim Crockford says that Melbourne has the biggest competitive Pokemon community in Australia.

POKEMON VIDEO GAME

The Pokemon video game is played on a Nintendo 3DS, and sees players take control of Pokemon in head-to-head battles. The goal of the game is to defeat all of the other players’ creatures.

As with the card game, there are local events at small video game stores across the city.

Professional players also compete in bigger national and global competitions.

Professional Pokemon video game player Bailey Owens has competed in the Australian nationals for the last four years.

“The community is amazing, we have people travelling to Melbourne from overseas to play … it’s just great to meet all these different people and we all have one thing in common, and that’s Pokemon,” Mr Owens said.

Mr Owens went to the Pokemon Video Game World Championship in 2014, and says competitive Pokemon is growing year on year, with bigger events and prize money recently introduced.

“My main goal is to be the best, like no one ever was.”