Come to campus after hours
While SRU may not be known for its nightlife, after dark is the perfect time to walk to campus and battle the gyms. After 9 p.m. is when you’ll start to see individuals and even small groups start walking around campus, and while it may look random, there IS a strategy for playing Pokémon GO at SRU.
Start off in the quad: you can collect rewards from four Pokéstops before continuing through campus, ensuring you won’t run out of Pokéballs right as you finally find your first Lapras. You can put Pokémon in four Gyms just by walking from the quad to Old Main, but make sure you’re not going slowly– if you wait too long, another team can take it before you’re able to get your Pokémon in all four gyms at once. Don’t forget to cash in your defender bonus before you peace out: that’s 40 coins to spend on Pokéballs, lucky eggs and upgrades just from walking around campus!
A friend today is a battle buddy tomorrow
Sure, you can try to take all the gyms on campus, but as you start putting your best fighters in Gyms, you’re going to be left with some mediocre Pokémon to finish off those last couple of Gyms. You can always bring a friend, but it’s always more fun to find people along the way!
Chances are, if there is another person just standing by the ECB sculpture that looks like Flat Stanley’s legs tapping their phone violently, they’re probably trying to take down the same gym.
Playing hard-to-get never helped anyone in a Pokémon battle, so ask them what team they are and see if they’ll help you take down the gym. ten coins and someone to complain about Niantic updates with? Double score.
Make the most of your meetings
Have a pesky common hour meeting in the student center? Lucky for you, the Pokéstop at the student center fountain can be accessed from most of the meeting rooms in the building, as well as Starbucks and the bench by the student center bus stop.Even if you’re just waiting in that eternally long Rocky’s wrap line, open up your app. If you’re in that line at common hour, trust me, you might as well be doing something productive with all that wasted time. Don’t forget to be discreet if you’re in an important meeting. Apparently, some people find stocking up on Pokéballs and potions as rude if you’re in the middle of a meeting.
Collect rewards on your way to class
Let’s be real: no college student has time to be a full-time Pokémon trainer, so we’ve got to improvise. Going from a class in ATS to one in Vincent leads you right through four Pokéstops, and if you take the scenic route you can hit the two gyms as well. This is also a good way to double check your standings in the gym. With the app open, you can see what teams and what Pokémon are in any given gym from ECB to Old Main, so make sure you take a few seconds to double check. If there’s something weak, you might want to take time to become a gym leader and skip out on being first in line at Weisenfluh (I know, sacrifice is hard, but did you really think trying to catch ’em all would be easy?) in favor for a coveted gym on the other side of campus. Either way, make sure you’re opening up the app in between classes to maximize your walking/rewards ratio.
