Are you spending most of your Pokémon Go time just walking around outside your house, like me? Kia aap ziada Pokémon na milany se pareshan hain? Well, we’ve got just the thing for you.
I decided to go on a Pokémon hunt all over Islamabad and find some PokéStops.
I called up a friend to drive me around town all day while I stared mindlessly at my phone, and he agreed because I’m such a delight to be around (and I might have bribed him with food). I got a car charger, put on some sneakers, and we set off on our quest.
Here’s where we found our first one
I thought I would just start off my journey from I-8 and go straight through to Margallah Road from there and follow along there to record all the PokéStops. But boy was I wrong. We started off at I-8 and found only one PokéStop there, and of COURSE it turned out to be Habibi.
I thought maybe the disappointment of only one PokéStop and no gyms would be made up for by catching good Pokémon, but sadly all I caught were more Pidgeys and Rattatas, which were pretty abundant in the area.
The next one was at Shifa International Hospital – H-8
We drove off towards H-8 next and found a PokéStop which appeared to be Shifa International. After making it through the traffic on that God forsaken Shifa wali service road, (and silently thanking God that I didn’t have to suffer through this to get to school any more), we finally made it to the PokéStop, which was located on the side entrance. We had to take the U-turn and park right outside the gate to access it.
After this I thought we would just go straight through all the ‘8’ sectors and then see where to go, but then I found like a bazillion PokéStops concentrated around two gyms on the other side of the highway. And of course these were going to take us completely off our course but who cares, it was like 10 PokéStops.
So we went on our merry way to the monument and came across two more PokéStops along the way.
I also spotted a gym and PokéStop at Centaurus on the map.
And here are more:
Jasmine Garden
Pak-China Center
This one required getting out of the car and going inside the gates to access and that was not going to happen because I was saving all my walking energy for the monument.
Apparently we were raising security concerns as well
After crossing these PokéStops and making the turn towards Lok Virsa/Pakistan Monument, we were pulled over and questioned at the check post because it is Islamabad and I was with a na-mehram so, of course. We were asked what it is we were doing and where we were going and we were blank for a moment because how do you explain to the cops that you’re roaming around Islamabad looking for fictional, animalistic pocket monsters to catch with your phone? So we said we were just headed to check out the monument they sent us on our way, but only after a joke or two about our “situation”.
Come on, Islamabad police; it really is time to grow up now.
After a little bit of “questioning” we were on our way again
While driving towards the monument, we found another PokéStop nearby and decided to go there first. We had to park the car and walk a while, amidst the throng of tourists, to get to the PokéStop.
Garden Monument
After this we drove to the Pakistan Monument and discovered a gigantic line of very apparent tourists at the entrance. But there was a Squirtle and Bulbasaur nearby and I wasn’t leaving without them. So we waited in line to get tickets and went in.
Pakistan Monument
Nearing the monument, I found a Bulbasaur, Beedrill, Weedle, and Pidgey all almost on top of each other. So I stood there at the bottom of the steps and started throwing Poké Balls. After 3 tries and the app crashing 3 times, I finally managed to catch Bulbasaur, but then I lost 3G service (thank you, Ufone). After restarting my phone several times and trying to load the game, I visited the 6 PokéStops and the gym, all located around the monument.
And apparently Badshahi Masjid is in Islamabad too now.
This game is helping us discover more and more things around us.
By this time, my battery had dropped to 40 percent because of the constant signal searching and Pokémon hunting, so that was a big disappointment. It was a tense race, me and Pokémon against my iPhone battery.
We drove towards Lok Virsa and visited the two PokéStops along the way.
The museum was also a gym as well.
After driving around for two hours and me having a sore throat from shouting at my phone, we decided to go to Jungle Spot for some tea and discovered 2 more PokéStops and a gym on the way, inside Japanese Park.
Japanese Park
Important Notice: Not too many Pokémon here though.
After tea, we made our way to F-9 Park to do some good old fashioned walking and tracking. While the Margalla Road entrance showed a lot of Pokémon, the only thing I had to show for 30 minutes of walking around was another Weedle and a hatched egg with a Magikarp in it.
By this time, we had spent a total of about 2 hours walking and 2 hours driving and our pokéquest was coming to an end. We decided to go to F11 and end it there, but I needed to run an errand in E-11 so we went there first. And who knew that that was gonna be where the whole khuwari paid off.
I visited the PokéStop at the markaz and then saw a Snorlax nearby and started screaming at my friend that we aren’t leaving before catching it. I instantly used my incense and caught the Snorlax after about 3 tries (YASSS!).
While on the way to the other PokéStops in the area, the two water towers, the incense brought all the Pokémon into the car and I had the car stopped after every 2 minutes. I found a Magmar, Pidgeot, Pinsir and a lot of other Pokémon in that half hour incense period.
After hitting up the two water towers, we decided to check out the Northern Strip and then head to F-11.
We drove around and were heading back because no Pokémon showed up when suddenly, a wild Pidgeot appeared!
I made my friend pull over until I caught it and there were a few people staring at us because (1) randomly stopping the car suspiciously and (2) Northern Strip, so obviously.
But who cares, I got a Pidgeot!
By this time my incense had run out and I realized it was 9 pm and I had a desi ami waiting at home so it was time to get some food and head home, which my unfortunate driver was thrilled about.
After a long and tiring day of driving and running around town, this is the conclusion I have come to:
- Driving around all of Islamabad takes a lot longer than I had thought
- Never go to tourist spots during the weekends/the summer
- PokéStops are usually masjids.
- Parks have a lot of PokéStops
- Why are there so few PokéStops in Islamabad?
- This game murders your phone’s battery
- Japanese Park still looks as appealing to me now as when I was 10
- E-11 is the best place to catch Pokémon (that I visited so far)
- Looking for Pokémon looks weird AF to people who don’t know what you’re doing
- Pokémon hunts should be left for less humid weather
- I do a happy dance every time I catch a good Pokémon
And finally, despite getting exhausted from the 5 hour hunt, I’m still addicted to the game and will continue on my quest to catch them all.
Happy hunting, folks. Gotta’ catch ’em all!
Zarra ye bhee check karein:
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