Will There Be Pokémon Babies?

Names go through trends as can be seen in the UKs Top Five Names in Each of the Last 100 Years. We chose Jane for our daughter to avoid passing down a name in the family or a name that could be shortened. My own was my grandmother's Rosaleen but has had all kinds of variations to avoid mixing me up with her. 

Before Jane was born, though she was called bump because we didn't know she was a girl. And if she'd been a boy she would have been David (a name my brother gave his boy). 

We thought we'd done well with the name Jane, there were no others in the hospital where she was born, or her school and yes we were right, it was a name that couldn't be shortened.

What we didn't expect was that we'd lengthen it to things like Janey, Janey-pops and Jabbles, depending on the mood or situation. Jabbles seems like a mixture of her name and the babbling she did as a baby and thinking on it now, quite like the name of a Pokémon.

This made me think of trends of names to come. Will we have little baby Squirtles and Picachus, or Sandys for Sandshrews, Belles for Bellsprout, Charmanders and Chanseys, Evees or Ekans. I can see little boys named Gyrados or Kabuto or Kakuna or Kingler or Magmar. Or mabey the mixed gender twins Nidorina and Nidorino. Then theres Paras or Poli, Ponyta or Rhy. Shelder or Starmie...the list goes on.

Will there be Pokémon babies? We just have to wait til next year to see how they evolve.

52x52: Share Pokémon Go

52 random acts of kindness that each take under 52 seconds. One action each week, over a year takes less than an hour of your life.

Share your Pokémon skills. This week I showed someone how catch their first Pokémon with a Pokéball, someone else how to track a new Pokémon checking where they were according to their position in the Pokémon Nearby index and babysat two Pokémon trainers phones while they played a game of table tennis, calling them when any Pokémon arrived in the vicinity.

If you have no Pokémon skills to share or don't know what I am talking about, maybe the kindest thing you can do this week is to not make fun of those of us who are caught by the bug.

Pokémon Go or No Go?

My excuse for any craze that comes along is that I'm a youth worker and have to check it out as a youth work tool, risk assess and generally judge its appropriateness for those I work with. That's my excuse. That's why, as I sit here writing this I am watching my phone for when the nearby Pokéstop at the fountain refreshes so I can obtain more Pokéballs so I can get more Pokémon. That's my excuse.

On a serious level, with worries from parents about the game, doing some research is of value in just working out why there are so many stories related to this craze. Of course it's been in the US and Australia much longer and only recently came to the UK and a lot of those stories are from inexperience in the game and lack of  awareness or care. So in the UK maybe we can learn from our distant friends. We don't attempt to cross the road or drive while texting, so it would make sense not to use the phone for other reasons in this way. We don't go picking flowers in other people's gardens or trespass on private property because we know not to. And we don't let our kids off anywhere unsupervised unless we are sure they in an environment and are of an age, ability and aptitude to be safe.

So here is my cost-benefit analysis of Pokémon hunting...

Benefits:

1. It gets people out walking – gives motivation to people to exercise to find Pokémon and to hatch eggs.
2. It gets people noticing their surroundings – many  Pokéstops are at historical sites or places you pass every day and never notice.
3. It gets people exploring – people have to sometimes go off the beaten track of their usual environment sometimes to find particular stops, gyms or Pokémon and discover new places and activities.
4. You can be part of the conversation – whether you like it or don't, at least you know what it is. No it's not people coming dressed up as if for Comicon as one person I know thought (although today my partner did see a life size Picachu in the West End – perhaps advertising).
5. It gets people outdoors – instead of being cooped up indoors watching TV or playing computer games, the game can be played outside in the fresh air getting some Vitamin D.
6. It's fun and silly – we need fun and silly things in our lives to combat all the serious and mundane and sad and irritating and frustrating things.
7. It's free – although there are in-app purchases available, there is no need to buy anything, if you are willing to put time and effort in. Which is all part of its charm – you get motivated by the need for more Pokéballs and to add to your Pokémon collection.
8. It gives little pocket-size bits of achievement. You feel a tiny little sense of achievement every Pokémon, stop, or egg hatched...even learning the rules of the game and how the Poké-world works is something to be a little bit smug about.
9. It brings people together gaming, not just online but in real life, groups of friends are meeting to go on Pokémon-walks, Pokémon hunting, Pokémon Picnics taking turns to put a lure on a Pokéstop.
10. It's a cute date – there's nothing like a sunset walk along London's Southbank and a bit of Poké -tracking on the side and taking a Poké-picture of your loved one with their favourite Pokémon.
11. It's, if nothing else, a cure for boredom – six weeks of summer holidays can be long and tedious and Pokémon Go could be just the solution.

Costs:

Nothing but time, as long as we are sensible and aware of our surroundings and don't do anything we wouldn't do outside the game. Just don't trespass, stay safe and supervise your children. 

And why not play as a family – it's free, fun and will tire them out and give you all a good nights sleep. And here's a Parent's Guide to Playing Pokémon Go with Your Kids  from Lifehacker.