Pokémon GO, remember when it literally took over the streets nearly 10 years ago? People of all ages were out walking and catching these little digital creatures. It didn’t matter if you were a Pokémon fan or not, it became the sort of phenomenon that only comes around once in a generation. It dominated news, social media and personally I had to sign disclaimers that I wouldn’t play while on construction sites before I would be allowed to do my job, it infiltrated nearly every facet of life. Then like so many crazes it was gone. Seemingly overnight the groups of late-night walkers abandoned their regularly travelled paths; entire communities of hunters said their goodbyes to one another and the Pokémon were left to run wild again with only the diehard fans regularly out to try and catch them all.
Pokémon Go had faded from everyone’s mind, mine included, sure it was still there but it had taken on a role of “hey remember this.” I knew some were still playing it, but it seemed to be the hardcore fans only. Oh, how wrong I was.
This week I was given the opportunity to jump back into Pokémon GO for the Wild Area event, the final premier event for the year that is taking place right now, Saturday Nov 15th & Sunday Nov 16th. Like last year’s event 2025 brings out mighty Pokémon that are fully evolved and powered up along with rare specialty Poke Balls for the event called Safari Balls powerful enough for you to catch them. The event is focusing on dark and fairy type Pokémon with the debut of Gigantamax Grimmsnarl, the Bulk-Up Pokémon. There is a higher concentration of and chance to catch Shiny critters, raids are able to be constantly accessed helping you to unlock specialist research and collect special items.
Now if I am being honest, I have no idea what any of the above means. I learnt on the fly with a group of people who were so excited to be doing this event, it was infectious.
You may be reading this after the event has ended so I want to give you a bit of an idea how these are run and what to expect.
For this event I travelled into Sydney on what was a beautiful morning for the harbour city and made my way near the steps of the iconic Opera House. The Wild Area Event was kicking off at 10am and running through to 6pm with the main stop being just inside the Botanical Gardens. As is usual for a Saturday morning there were people everywhere enjoying the scenery and sunshine of spring morning but that all changed as soon as that clock hit 10am. We were setting up and meeting each other, getting a breakdown on what to do and check when 10am rolled around. Our screens exploded in colour and chaos as Pokemon appeared in droves and the cheers of many in the vicinity hit my ears. The air around us physically shifted an indication at just how many people were there for this very moment.
Groups of people began to join up with each other and make their way off into the gardens in search of their next great catch. I didn’t understand it to begin with, the air was almost electric like being at your favourite sporting event or concert, surrounded by people who were letting themselves be lost in this event. I quickly relinquished all skepticism and took in the sights and sounds of all that was happening around me and on screen.
This event opened my eyes to yet another positive community in the gaming and pop culture subset, a positive side effect of the genre that is overlooked. In a world where we are bombarded with issues that affect us all it was refreshing to see people of all walks of life and ages coming together to enjoy something and to be out in the fresh air and sunshine doing it. During our walk through the park we were approached numerous times by people asking if we were a group they were looking for, people out looking for community meet ups finally meeting their online friends out in the wild.
Of course, there were Pokémon a plenty to catch and in just shy of two hours my daughter’s Pokedex that we had created the night before now has just shy of 100 new Pokémon. She is still on the hunt for her own Pikachu but has caught some powerful max level to add to her haul. I finally was able to join in and assisted with raids, winning them quickly due to the large number of people in the vicinity.
Pokémon GO Wild Area event for 2025 was an explosion of community and brought out the best parts of what gaming can accomplish when people join together to have a good and safe time. Throw in the health benefits of getting out and walking around and you have a great way to spend a few hours with family and friends old and new alike.
Keep an eye on Novastream for all the latest in Pokemon GO events and news.
