Pokemon Go players stunned as “genius” Route gets approved
Niantic/The Pokemon CompanyA Pokemon Go player has shared their elation at getting a Route approved, even though it was a creation of convenience rather than planning.
Pokemon Go introduced the Routes mechanic in 2023. If a player follows a Route, they will encounter different wild Pokemon. They can also potentially meet Mateo, a new human NPC in Pokemon Go, who can provide special gifts to players.
Players can suggest Routes to Niantic, but there is a whole approval process with specific criteria that must be met. Routes have to avoid private locations (like schools), adult locations (like nightclubs), and potentially dangerous areas (like building sites). and the Route’s title must be appropriate.
The Route approval process can take over a week, and people have been denied them for unknown reasons. Bafflingly, one player managed to get a random Route approved based on their usual routine.
NianticPokemon Go player managed to get their shopping routine approved as a Route
A user on the Pokemon Go Reddit has shared a Route that they managed to get approved, which might seem like a random pattern on the surface, but the user revealed that this was created based on their journey while food shopping.
“I’ve submitted three routes, all just me driving circles around parking lots, and all three were instantly approved. Like, the same minute they were submitted,” one user wrote, while another said, “This is actually so convenient lol.”
Not everyone was quite as pleased, thanks to their own tribulations trying to get Routes approved in Pokemon Go, as Niantic’s judgment on the matter can seem arbitrary. This follows on from weeks and months of trying to get Routes accepted with no luck or feedback.
“Yet I have been trying to get one approved since August, that is walking down the street from one set of gyms to another,” one user complained, while another said, “And here I am waiting for 3 months already for a route through our park to be approved.”
The only problem with this route is that the player can’t deviate much from their path, so any desire to experiment and try new things means leaving the path, depending on the size of the supermarket.
Getting a Pokemon Go Route approved based on a daily routine is a genius idea, as it allows it to be completed regularly as part of your life. Now, the mainline Pokemon games must follow suit, with a Route slap bang in the middle of a mall, where angry shoppers challenge all passersby.