Niantic brings Pokemon Go to Antarctica thanks to two bored scientists

Two Pokemon Go-playing scientists have made the world a better place for fans after a request to Niantic to add some functions near their Antarctic base was seen by the mobile developer.

If you are a Pokemon Go player who has traveled the world recently, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the popular mobile app seems to work in just about every corner of the world.

Well, that isn’t quite true, as two scientists found out while working at a remote research center in Antarctica. While this sounds like the start of a John Carpenter movie, the ending is actually rather touching, as the scientists bonded over their love of catching Pocket Monsters.

As revealed in a story by Independent, scientists Raimon Hennessy, 29, and Pete Rizzo, 60, are scientists from Australia who started working at Davis Research Station, in the Antarctic. However, Raimon was a Pokemon Go fan who eventually realized the app didn’t work in the remote location.

Independent

It’s revealed that Raimon’s partner Alexandra – upon hearing this – made a plea to Niantic through a Reddit post, and it was eventually noticed by the developer. While Pokemon can spawn anywhere, there was no Poke Stops or Gyms, until Niantic made some changes to help out the scientist.

Once the Poke Stop was installed, Raimon soon found out that Pete was also a Pokemon Go fan, thrilled by the new addition, and in fact, Pete had put in a request for a Poke Stop to mark the facility previously.

Pete works as a medical practitioner at the Antarctic Research Center and had started playing Pokemon Go after his son suggested it. Now, Raimon and Pete can not only play the game together, but enjoy the new set of Poke Stops and Gym littered around the facility.

Raimon and the crew of the Davis Research Station can end up working for months on end away from home, so his partner had asked that as well as keeping in touch, they also communicate by sending each other postcards in Pokemon Go.

While it’s not clear if this is the most remote location in the world, it’s fascinating to consider the true scale of Pokemon Go across the globe.

Of course, if you want to travel the world while playing Pokemon Go, you can also plan a trip for Pokemon Go Fest 2024, and visit one of the many in-location events happening in Madrid, New York City, and Sendai Japan.