What do gamers do when they have already invested many hours in a particular game and then die of boredom? They look for new challenges. What became known in World of Warcraft in the form of the Iron Man Challenge or in the shape of the flower-picker Double Agent is now making its way into Pokémon GO in a similar form: leveling up one’s own character under more difficult conditions.

Hatching eggs and shooting Pokéstops

One trainer took on such a challenge in Niantic’s mobile game, leveling up his character without catching a single Pokémon in the wild:

Within six months (since October 2021), reddit user notAKawaiiCatGirl reached level 30 this way, after exclusively catching his starter Pokémon. His self-imposed rules for the challenge were:

• Catching Pokémon is not allowed.
• He is allowed to hatch eggs.
• He may only add friends to his friends list that he knows in real life.
• He is not allowed to trade Pokémon.

The player writes that he has only unlocked two best friends in the game so far, and has gained experience points primarily by shooting Pokéstop photo discs, hatching eggs, accepting and sending gifts, and evolving Pokémon.