Pokemon Go is much better in cities and developed areas, with heaps of Gyms to battle and Stops to spin. But, if you have ever wondered how difficult Pokemon Go is in a remote location, then YouTube content creator Trainer Tips may have the answer.
The Go player and video creator published a video called “I Played Pokemon GO’s Biggest Event on a Deserted Island” and it does just that. Exploring a small island in the Philippines, Trainer Tips even decided to visit during Pokemon Go Fest Global 2024, so rare Pokemon were at stake.
In the video, Trainer Tips (real name Nicholas Oyzon) jetted off to Siargao. It isn’t actually deserted, as the video suggests, but the remote island has a population of around 100,000 (as of 2015 according to Wikipedia) so it’s certainly not as bustling as busy cities like London or New York.
Oyzon explored the small island alongside his family – like in many of their videos – exploring the remote location with their mother and sister. While the island did have some Poke Stops, the activity was slim to none, and many of the stops didn’t even have images to show what they were.
As explained later on in the video, the signal was a large issue, as was the heat, but one of the biggest was getting anyone to take part in the event’s Necrozma Raids. Thankfully the game did work in the location, but it was far from the densely populated map of busier places.
At one point, the signal became so bad that Oyzen’s phone malfunctioned, with a support message appearing saying “This phone is not compatible with Pokemon Go” before eventually fixing itself.
One of the benefits of exploring the island was that Oyzen went straight to the top of any available Showcases, thanks to a lack of other players to populate them.
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Plenty of other Pokemon Go players, and fans of Trainer Tips, shared their thoughts in the comments as well as their own experiences playing in some of the more remote locations dotted around the globe.
A comment said, “Siargao!!! Amazing!!! Didn’t know they had gyms!” Then another person added, “Looked like a super fun place to play the game. Even if the shiny haul was low, lots of good island vibes.”
Then another comment shared their own experience in a remote location, saying, “Here in Brazil they just added a ton of these Poke Stops with the generic Poke Stop picture. They are all local businesses.”
One person even explained that they had visited the same Island, commenting, “What a coincidence, I have already been there. I was there 3 years ago, with the intention to play Pokemon Go.”
They continued, saying that at one point they, “controlled all of the Pokemon gyms for Mystic for almost a week” and that they “think one of my Pokemon is still in one of those gyms on the island.”
You don’t need to go to a remote island to play Pokemon Go, so if you want to experience everything the game has to offer, be sure to check out all the upcoming Pokemon Go events, then get ready for Popplio in the next Pokemon Go Community Day.