Image from Gameskinny.com

On Thursday, July 14, teens and librarians took to the streets of Pasadena to gather XM from the Enlightenment and explore the world of Ingress. If you aren’t familiar with Ingress, you will be in for an incredible adventure that will force you to explore every corner of the city in search of a power substance that can change the fate of all humankind. Before we embarked on our first mission, teens picked their teams and, surprisingly, we all ended up joining the Resistance.

After briefly explaining the objective of Ingress, we set out to hack the Enlightenment networks starting with the Central Library. After realizing that we were near a portal, we made our way to Day One and that is where we started our first mission at the All Saints Episcopal Church . After completing the All Saints Mission, we then chose to the Pasadena City Hall Mission and then the Plaza de Las Fuentes (PDLF) Mission. Although we didn’t travel far from the Central Library, we found some pretty cool works of art including: a statue of Saint Francis de Assi, various plaques dedicated to important individuals, murals, fountains, and impressive mosaics near the Westin Hotel. As we hacked our way through City Hall and the PDLF, our group realized that Ingress is just like Pokemon Go. In fact, Niantic, the company that built Ingress, is also responsible for Pokemon Go, which naturally meant we had to play Pokemon Go.

After switching gears, not only did we catch super cute Pokemon, we came upon various gyms and other cool things to look at near the Paseo Colorado. It’s amazing how quickly two hours goes by when you are hacking networks and catching Pokemon and we only traveled a mile or so. As we made our way back to the Central Library, we needed to refuel so the group stopped by the local fueling station (AKA Starbucks) for a drink and then we chased more Pokemon back to Central. Needless to say, we accomplished quite a bit and, hopefully, recruited new members to join the Resistance and become Pokemon Trainers.

If you didn’t know, but you can claim your very own “Pokemon Go” badge by searching for Pokemon in any of the Pasadena Public Libraries. To claim this badge, you can get a physical badge by asking a staff member or you can get a virtual one by clicking on the “Activities” link of the of this year’s summer reading program website. If you haven’t signed up yet for the 2016 Read for the Win Teen Summer Reading Program, you still have time to read and do activities to get prizes and a chance for one of ten grand prizes. To sign up, click on this link and starting logging your minutes and activities today!

If you’re following the news about Pokemon, check out these awesome articles:

Pokémon Go’s predecessor, Ingress, has never been more popular

‘Pokémon GO’ Hack: Find Rare Pokémon With ‘Ingress’

 

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Photos by Jane Gov