Have you been seeing an alarming number of youngsters and adults hoarding in temples around the city, standing meekly all by themselves, staring intently into their mobile phones? The desire for spiritual divinity has not guided them there, they’re probably just stocking up on PokéBalls, battling their way into claiming that PokéGym or desperately trying to capture Wartortle. Now if whatever written here made zero sense to you and you are googling what noodle brand Wartortle is, let’s just say that a new era has begun. An era where children and even adults are doing what our mothers always wanted us to do; go out into the nature, take walks and visit temples.
Even if you are living under a rock, the news of Pokémon Go could not have skipped your life, or your newsfeed. This new game has brought back childhood memories for tons of us, gotten people on the streets walking to work instead of taking the car, helped people with anxiety and depression get social, build new communities, make friends and infuse a great deal of hilarity and fun.
Although a small one, but Surat has started its own Poké community, with extremely enthusiastic and helpful people. The madness is growing each day, with new people joining in, new rare Pokémon being found and a constant desire for servers to be up. We have put our best minds into searching the best tips and tricks for you, update you about the known Pokéstops and Gyms in the city.

– How to Download
Since Pokémon Go is yet to be released in India, Indians have depended on the helpful Poké community over the internet to enjoy the game and stay in the loop.
For Android users, it is an easy click away, the download link can be easily found as a third party Apk file.
For iOS users, make an Apple ID from a different country or ask your friends living in US, UK or Australia for their ID and password for 15 minutes to sign in and download the game.
Since its release, the game has now surpassed Tinder and Twitter. People are happily moving left and right to find the damn Pikachu than swiping right or left to potential suitors.

– The Beginners
The interface is fairly friendly and easy to understand and following instructions would get you to the beginning stage. Now the first set of Pokémon one will see are Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, a great start for sure. But there’s an excellent hack here. If you purposely move away from these three, dodge them about three times, you shall land yourself a Pikachu.

– PokéStops and Gyms
Although scantily spread, we have been able to jot down a few Pokéstops and Gyms in the city. Most of which you will find at temples, mosques and other religious establishments. You can get your fix of Pokéballs, Eggs and various other stuff at these stops. They renew every 10 – 15 minutes so you can drive back up there if you need more stuff. Some of the known stops are Ichanath temple – Ghod Dod Road, the mosque at Chowpatty circle, SVNIT circle, Science Centre, Kargil Chowk, Ghaneshwar Mandir – Adajan, three Pokéstops at Pal Road, Foodbox at VR Mall. Gyms locations have been lesser compared to the stops, at the Railway station, SVNIT circle, Jain temple at Parle Point, Shah Publicity circle – Athwagate. This is all that we have for now. We urge you to share more details regarding the locations in the comments.

– Probability of Pokémon
It is most probable that you will find Pidgeys, Weedles, Ekanses and such types in the day time and Rattatas, Zubats during the night time. More water based Pokémon will be found around riverbanks or the beach. It isn’t always that way but there has been a distinctive pattern in the locations and the types of Pokémon you find along with it. Finding rare Pokémon could be difficult task without moving around in the city as there are a certain type of Pokémon in different localities.

– Tips and Tricks
Level 5 will open up a variety of new options for you, mainly gyms where you can battle with other Pokémon to claim that gym or just to train your Pokémon. Team selection happens along with it, where in Team Mystic is leading right now with maximum Poké trainers.
If you happen to catch a lot of Doduos or Rattatas, you can transfer them back to Professor Willow and receive a candy which can be stocked up and used to evolve that particular Pokémon.

– Tracking Pokémon
You will find paw prints that depict the distance of these Pokémon, three being the farthest, which has been understood to be a distance of around 300 meters. You have to wander in all directions search the right directions when you have your eye on a particular one from the lot. The tracking process is mostly vague but one enthusiast on the internet has claimed to have found a definite pattern to track these monsters. When you are looking for a specific Pokémon from the available ones, keep the box open while moving rather than selecting that one, you will see the box pulsate as you get closer to it, and the position of the Pokémon will change from bottom to top, towards the left, that’s how you can know if you are going into the right direction.

– Lure Modules
Lure Modules and Incense can be used to attract Pokémon around you, which even helps you catch some rare Pokémon if you are lucky. A lot of people have benefitted from them by opening offers to select Lure Modules and thus luring Poké players and potential customers.

The trend is growing exponentially each day and Surat is not behind. The first Pokéwalk of Surat is going to be held on 31st July from Pizza Hut, depending upon the servers, which have been creating issues often during gameplay. Fans are connecting through Facebook, sharing tips and hacks with others and enjoying geeking out together. Although being a new trend in India, especially in Surat, the game is making amazing stories already. So don’t feel awkward about getting your phones out and wandering, exploring the urban wilderness, because it won’t be awkward. Our experience with the kind watchman at the Science Centre was one such story, where he told us, “Oh! You’re here for the game too. Don’t worry, just take 4 more steps straight and you will find the signal.”

So people, if you are our fellow Poké companions, be careful when you are hunting, be smart about your surroundings and just have fun, and if you are not into this, be patient with us, smile and let us in when we find a rare Pokémon in your backyard. We are a kind, peaceful community. We mean no harm, we just need to have that Pokémon desperately because we gotta catch ‘em all.

– Varsha Geeta Tanna