A new semester brings multiple new Pokestops and gyms to our campus.

That includes Pouch Hall, the Edgewood Gazebo and the Magna Gazebo. Pokestops are significant landmarks or buildings where you can restock your items in the game Pokemon GO.

Currently including Edgewood, there are eleven Pokestops and three Gyms. There are also Pokestops located across the street by the Post Office.

This makes becoming a Pokemon trainer more fun than ever!

To those unfamiliar with the app Pokemon GO, it’s a game that is GPS driven to locate Pokemon; a fictional creature with battling powers, within a set radius of about thirty feet. The goal of the game is to ‘catch em’ all’ and you do this by first collecting weak, normal Pokemon from around your neighborhood; in this case your campus, and level up their CP (combat points) so they can fight in Gyms and Raids where you can get stronger and rarer Pokemon.

Students are giving the game an A-plus.

“It’s a very fun, interactive, time and battery killer,” stated Brian LaValley, Academic Captain of Wrestling and Model Congress e-board member, when asked to describe Pokemon GO into one sentence.

Walking is also a major theme to the game, as you need to walk around in order to find Pokemon, hatch eggs, and collect candies. Luckily, with the new Pokestops located around campus, AIC students have a clear advantage in the game as they can simply stock up on Pokeballs, potions and other cool stuff on their way to class.

Pokestops also occasionally drop eggs.

“If you get a 2k egg, it’s a common Pokemon. A 5k egg is uncommon, and a 10k egg is a rare Pokemon,” Phil Harper, a sociology and education major at AIC explained. “In order to hatch the eggs, you need to walk the specified kilometers.”

To AIC students who have yet to play the game, you start out with a choice of three starter Pokemon: Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. PRO-TIP: If you decide to not choose these Pokemon, then go for a walk! Eventually the game will spawn a new Pokemon, Pikachu!

Pikachu was Ash Ketchem’s (the main character of the cartoon which Pokemon GO is based upon) first Pokemon, and this phenomenon is no glitch in the game, but rather a clever Easter Egg as the game’s developer wanted to only show this Pokemon to those who are stubborn just as Pikachu was from the TV show.