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Pokemon team-up with MLB is exciting

By Matt Churella 4 min read

Pokemon Go and Major League Baseball delivered on their word to "knock it out of the park" with their new partnership this summer, which has the potential to grow in future seasons.

Last Thursday, Aug. 14, I drove nearly four hours to attend the Cleveland Guardians' home game during which the team defeated the Miami Marlins, 9-4, at Progressive Field. The game was one of 14 selected this season to feature club-branded Pokestops and gyms for trainers to play Pokemon Go from wherever they were sitting in the ballpark.

There were about six or seven gyms and several Pokestops spread out throughout the ballpark. Throughout the night, all of the Pokestops had lures on them, which attracted additional wild Pokemon to the area.

Walking throughout the stadium's concourse provided a nice environment to catch Pokemon without my phone overheating from direct sunlight exposure. While there, I briefly hung out with my friend, Mike Sandoval -- a Twitch streamer known as 1LunaticCupCake -- and, of course, watched the game with my brother.

A blog post announcing the partnership in June stated that trainers would "have a chance to catch Pokemon with a location background," which reflect the specific location where a raid took place on a Pokemon's summary page.

After a disheartening Ultra Unlock: Origin raid day -- during which the game's developers admittedly forgot to boost the shiny odds for origin form

Dialga and Palkia in raids -- that "chance" of having a background really set the stage for disappointment.

However, from the 30 raids I battled at gyms, every Pikachu -- the featured Pokemon at each ballpark -- had a location card background exclusive to Progressive Field. I was able to catch a shiny Pikachu and a Pikachu with 100% individual values during the nearly three-hour game.

Those Pokemon are essentially souvenirs in my account. But now I'm able to trade an exclusive

Pikachu to some of my friends who were not able to attend the event, like my friends from New Jersey, Grant and Alex, who also stream on Twitch.

They received permission to stream from the New York Mets' upcoming game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. Their broadcast is going to be featured in the carousel of live streams on Twitch's homepage, which is a big deal for them in terms of exposure.

They get to be on the ballfield, interview a Mets player and catch Pikachu exclusive to Citi Field, which one of them could trade to me in exchange for my Progressive Field Pikachu the next time we see each other -- hopefully soon.

After the Mets' game, there are four more Pokemon Go-themed baseball games planned in Massachusetts, California, Minnesota and Texas before this year's regular season ends next month.

I'm excited for Grant and Alex because they have friends from around the country who could potentially give them a Pikachu from each of the other 13 games. Having one from the Mets' game in my account would mean a lot to me simply because it came from them.

The collection aspect of Pokemon Go is what makes the game fun for me, and I hope the partnership between Pokemon Go and Major League Baseball continues because I would love to go again next year.

It's exciting to think that a Pokemon Go-themed game could come to PNC Park in Pittsburgh or to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia next year, which could feature a different Pokemon. Eevee, for example, has eight evolutions that vary by type. So, in order to get a male and female version of Eevee and each of its evolutions, a trainer would need to battle at least 18 raids and get very lucky within a short window of time.

That challenge would make these baseball events even more fun, in my opinion.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520 and mchurella@altoonamirror.com

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