Malaysians like the idea of getting rewarded for hard work.
It’s just part of our nature to want something in return and many companies leverage off this fact (even insurance companies, but don’t worry, we will get to that at the end of this article).
For Pokémon GO, although some may say that the hype is slowly ebbing away after a month of its launch, there are still a lot of determined souls out there who dare challenge themselves to the next mile for the sake of the game.
This is of course also due to the gamification aspect of the game, which in this case, rewards players with rare Pokémon and badges.
So to find out just how far a Malaysian Poké-trainer is willing to walk for Pokémon GO, we asked a few to share their accomplishments as well as some interesting experiences they had along the way.
Matt Hong Yee
Matt has been an avid player since the release of the game and he keeps himself motivated in his pursuit to complete his collection by sharing his journey experiences through short posts online.
His longest distance that he has walked was 23.2km in a day and he managed to catch a huge number of Dratini throughout his journey. On an average, he says that he is able to catch at least 100 Pokémon every time he goes for his walks and will successfully catch at least two new ones.
“Every time I go Pokémon hunting, the minimum distance I will walk is at least 10KM. I’ve been doing this for weeks already and I realize I’ve lost 2kg so far. But weight isn’t my main goal, I just want to play the game, meet new people and have fun,” shared Matt.
His most interesting experience so far is when he lost out on catching a Dragonite, a really rare Pokémon. His Dragonite ran away, but in a positive turn of events, he managed to help 2 other people catch theirs and made friends with them in the process!
Jared Tan
With many people following him on his social media, Jared has always been motivated to share his Pokémon GO journey and how far he is progressing whenever he can.
On Day 14, he shared a screenshot of how far he has walked from the release of the game till today and that he will personally take some time out of his daily schedule to dedicate towards completing this goal and claiming the award.
“I’ve seen my weight reduce 1kg but more than that, it’s more about the feeling. People might wonder why some of us can make the effort to do something like this but if it makes that person happy, why not?” said Jared.
Muhammad Farouq
Muhammad Farouq’s Pokémon GO adventure started a little later than everyone else but he has made an achievement that not many can say till today. He only began playing a week after the game was released as his phone was not able to support the app, so he had to wait till his new mobile arrived before he could begin his journey.
To date, he has managed to walk over 150km which he claims that prior to playing the game, he would have never made such an effort. When asked if he noticed any significant physical changes, he said “There’s not much loss on my weight but I do think my leg muscles look more firm now. I don’t even realize I’m working out my legs when I play the game because it’s just that addicting.”
Due to his constant ventures throughout various locations in Klang Valley, Farouq says that the weirdest experience he got was when someone approached him for a photo. “I tend to walk around in a ‘costume’ that resembles my avatar, so one day a young kid came up to me at KLCC park while I was catching a Pokémon and asked me if he could take a ‘selfie’ with me. I was pretty surprised by his request but I couldn’t say no to a kid.”
Arvind Chitra
Ever since he started playing the game, Arvind had only one goal in mind. Catching his favourite Pokémon which is the rare Dragonite. After playing the game for about a week or so, he began to realize that his search was not going to be an easy one and that he needed to make more of an effort.
To date, he has walked for around 50km all in the name of finding a Dragonite and just two days ago, he finally managed to catch one.
“Honestly, when I look at that record of 50km, I can’t believe it myself. I just kept walking around the areas where people say they spotted a Dragonite so I never really kept track of the distance I travelled,” said Arvind.
On one of the days of his Pokéhunt, he shared how he had bumped into a group of Pokétrainers that also had the same mission as him. So they ended up walking along together and were so distracted with talking that they hadn’t realised they had walked straight into a restricted area of a construction site.
Sulyn Teh
Unlike most who may have started playing the game on their own volition, Sulyn was actually given a dare by her friends to see how far she’d be able to walk in a week for Pokémon GO. Being one to not dismiss a challenge, she accepted it.
In just a week, Sulyn managed to walk a total of 43km, which also allowed her to catch some rare Pokémon along the way. She says her proudest catch is a Gyarados which is also one of the strongest Pokémon in her collection.
Her funniest experience so far was a man walking up to her and using the game as an excuse to subtly ask her out on a date. “It was a flattering experience but I did find it weird that he thought I would easily follow him just because of a game,” said Sulyn.
Rewards For Right Choices
The rewards system seems to have worked pretty well, with these Poketrainers who were willing to exert more effort than the average person. Not only do they get a higher chance of collecting the rarer Pokémon, they’re also directly living a healthier lifestyle by being active.
So what if, just by living healthy, you get to earn greater rewards like 50% off flights from big airline brands and luxurious hotel stays? That’s exactly what AIA wants to do with their new programme called AIA Vitality.
How it works is: for every healthy choice you make, you get rewarded with AIA Vitality Points. The more points you earn, the higher your AIA Vitality Status becomes which in return will give you great rewards.
Walked 7,500 steps daily? Get points.
Worked out? Get points.
Participated in a sports event? Get points.
Went for a health screening? Get points.
And you can then use those points to get up to 50% discount on AirAsia, or hotel rooms at Marriott International and Berjaya Hotels & Resorts, Fitness First gym memberships and more!
Want to start earning your next holiday? Fill up a form with your name and contact details, and you’re done.
So other than earning Pokémon rewards in the virtual game, how about some actual rewards in real life as well?
Feature Image Credit: pokemongomasterbook.com
