Why Pokémon Go is still getting people in mass

In the golf course on the outskirts of pink in Pasadena, thousands of people cross the grass, phones in their hands and eyes on their screens.

“Who has a brilliant Oshawott that can trade? What about a bombing? Any thought? A person asks.

“I have a snivy!” Someone shouts.

“I will change a Panpour,” replies another.

The attendees were dressed in marching with Pokémon and Poké Balls.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

For a stranger, the scene may sound like an episode of “Storage Wars”, Gibberish on a megaphone, and looks like a zombie apocalypse. But the people here are, in fact, Pokémon Go fans who arrived in Mega-Event “Pokémon Go Tour: Uno” last weekend for an opportunity to catch some of the favorite fictitious creatures of the world of the game. It has been almost a decade since the launch of Mobile Game Pokémon Go, the creation of the augmented reality developer based in San Francisco, Niantic and The Pokémon Co., can remember the days of 2016 when the mass of Angelenos swarmed the streets of the city in search of bright colors, such as Pokémon, like Pokémon.

Now, in 2025, it has become a Herculean entity that houses IRL meetings such as the Unova Tour Stop in la, which was divided into “seasons” in the Rose Bowl and the surrounding areas. The attendees pose in front of Halloween decorations, then fight to catch a photo under the near artificial snow. As they move, their screens illuminate with different colors: the crossing in “Winter caverns” changes its play to blue. Similarly, a walk towards “autumn masquerade” changes it to red.

Here in the golf course, a group meets under an oak to escape from the sun. A man dressed in a Pikachu monkey sits along the roots, swallowing water and recovering his breath. A player faces his humble sand against the legendary Reshiram. On any other day, it would be defeated, but with another 20 players fighting with her, you will see a fast victory.

“I still ruin my curve balls,” he shouts, manibrated, moving their fingers on the screen of your phone to throw poké balls, the spherical tools used to catch Pokémon, the mission of the game. After throwing his last Poké ball, the majestic White Dragon flees. “Damn!” She says.

Nicole Rupell de Florida looks like her Pikachu hat.

Mike Simmons from Florida uses a telephone umbrella to better see her screen while catching Pokémon.

The weekend festivities scored 48,000 visitors, while approximately 253,000 participated in the broader virtual event of Los Angeles and Orange County. Twenty -one million Pokémon were trapped. Such amazing numbers certainly justify the question: how has a mobile game survived the fashions and has kept such a grip to their fans?

“If you have been playing Pokémon Go for 10 years, it is possible in the last decade that you have found your partner, you have established, you have had children,” says Angela Ferguson-Martins, Marketing Manager of Live Events of Niantic. “You could introduce them to Pokémon at this time, and I think that is something really special.”

“Pokémon: The First Movie “, a Japanese anime adventure film launched for the first time in the United States in 1998, forever changed the life of the children, which became familiar with the tastes of Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur, and their parents, whose wallets were open to trade cards and merchants Revolutionary: Through the use of AR, players could see different Pokémon in the living world that surrounds them.

For Zoë, a creator of Pokémon Go content that passes through Zoëtwodots and traveled from Australia for the event, Pokémon was the basis of his youth. Pokémon Go offered a return path.

“I would have had about 4 or 5 years when the show came out,” he said. “I was in love with him, collecting the cards from a very early age.”

The fifty -year -old Bubank native, Rit Lu, found his way to go through his daughter when the game was launched. While his daughter is “about other things now,” Lu is still. Remember the Pokémon Go Fans base decreasing in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. But in 2020, when everyone was trapped inside, Niantic introduced new ways for fans to play at home, expanding the emotion of the game. For example, Raid's remote passes added, a complement to existing pokemon incursions that allowed the players to join from afar.

In 2022, Niantic launched the Community Ambassadors Program, which Lu got comfortably. Today, organize meetings of around 100 players, twice a week. Around special days for events, meetings can reach anywhere from up to 400. In the Niantic Campfire application, as well as in the Pokémon GO Los Angeles Subnet and Facebook group, players can find events in person throughout the city.

Lu attributes the longevity of the game to no less than the community. Although the voluntary program demands a “net effusion” of its funds and a great commitment to time, it calls it a “love work.”

“We do this because it helps consolidate my ability to help my community,” says Lu. “The game encourages us and encourages us to unite, to help each other … it is configured so that when you win more, it wins more.”

As for what is on the horizon for the Game Giant, Niantic recently confirmed the launch of the video game “Pokémon Legends: Za” at the end of 2025, which will probably be presented shortly after. Meanwhile, Pokémon Go has also officially associated with Major League Baseball, even more consolidating the presence of the United States of the game. This flourishing relationship will transform certain games throughout the season of each team to incorporate aspects of Pokémon Go.

The Encino Dan and Imy Velderrain residents, both in their 50 years, collected the game one day and could not lower it. They are sitting in a near court, protected under umbrellas and fighting for sweat.

“Since 2019,” says Dan, proudly sharing how long playing.

Dan never was a fan of the games growing, but Imy's son presented it. The two would take the time in their local park to join the raids, events that provide the players the opportunity to fight and catch the legendary Pokémon.

“Let's go there, and everyone is doing raids, but they need one more player, so I downloaded it,” Dan recalls. “And here I am since then.” He explains that he usually arrives early wherever I go, so the game helps him “kill time.”

The children of Velderrains are also in the event on this day, the game has helped the family stay connected. While the couple rests in the shade, they look at the masses of players in the acres of grass.

When asked where their children are, IMY simply points towards the crowds, laughs and says: “They are out there somewhere!”