Dratini 100: The Pokémon Go Dating Analogy
As I was playing Pokémon Go and trying to catch the very best Pokémon, I realized there was a parallel between catching Pokémon and dating.
You don’t want the commons. You don’t want the 51% Rattata who spawns right outside your door. No. You want that 100% Perfect Move Set Dragonite that you would run over a mile for and feed hard earned candy. But is it really worth it?
Let me just explain to the non-hardcore Pokémon Go players a bit of the game mechanics. All Pokémon aren’t created equal — they have a set of stats for Attack, Defense, and Stamina. The max stats are 15/15/15 which means it is 100%. When you catch a Pokémon, you receive candy for each Pokémon you catch. You need a certain amount of candy for evolutions. In the case of the strongest available first generation Pokémon, Dragonite, you need 125 candy to evolve one from a Dratini. And if you aren’t anywhere near water, it’s hard to save up 125 candy and also to catch this rare 100% Dratini. And once you evolve your Pokémon, you might (very well likely) be cursed with a non-ideal set of attack moves — not all moves are equal. Then you have to choose whether or not to invest precious stardust and more candy to power your Pokémon up to the next level.
I started playing Pokémon Go on the first day it came out in July 2016. It took me SEVEN months to find a 100% percent Dratini. It was 64 CP — a very low level, meaning if I ever wanted to max that baby out in the future, it would take me 200+ Candy and 200,000+ stardust (you receive 100 stardust for each Pokémon you catch, so that’s over 2000 Pokémon of work right there).
So now the Pokémon-People analogy. You may very well find a low level but still perfect Pokémon like I did — it just means that that Pokémon will take some more time and investment. It’s not ready at its level. It’s a wonder, but it needs your patience, care, and love. So you might find the right person — but he or she just isn’t ready without some effort.
You may also find this 100% Pokémon — but fail to catch it at all. You can throw a Razzberry at it, curve your ultra ball, get an excellent throw and still have it run away. You might’ve had it in your Pokéball for a few turns, only to have that Pokémon break out, do the little bounce, and say “Naw.” In real life, people run away, too, after you’ve tried your hardest to woo them your way.
And with evolutions, especially even with a perfect Dratini, it doesn’t always turn out the way you hoped it would be. It’s the same with people — you’ve found the perfect person — attractive, nice, intelligent, whatever…but as you invest more time and your relationship evolves, it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted. It’s like your perfect Squirtle evolved into a Blastoise with Bite and Flash Cannon.
And sometimes, your world view will change. What was viewed as perfect or desirable can shift — just as Pokémon Go dropped Generation 2 today and nerfed that magical Lapras down after you had already invested all that stardust and candy in leveling it up. The moves were reworked, so a perfect move set might’ve changed as well. I mean, Tyranitar just took over the top CP title from Dragonite. So one month after I found my 100 percent Dratini, the new mons arrived and I may have to hunt for the 100 percent Larvitar!
So is it really worth holding out for that rare fabled perfect Pokémon? Do you really need that 100% over your 96%? Or your 84% with the perfect move set?
There’s no right or wrong answer — you may feel like you will never settle for anything less. That you can only have that bar of pure gold — you wouldn’t be happy with 23K gold. But the reality is that your less than perfect mon, while it might not hold the top slot at the gym, is probably good enough. And all those less than perfect people (I mean, there’s really no perfect person) will probably love you more than that 100% person everyone has been searching for will.
In the mean time, I have to prep myself for the next wave of Pokémon. There’s so much yet to be said about this new generation and I need to figure which moves and mons are best now!
Love,
Your Casual Level 36 Instinct, Asian Pizza Monster
- Post Gen 2 Release Notes: With the retirement of Dragonite’s old Dragon moves, I think the answer is clear — should’ve evolved my 91–93 percent Dratinis as well (still have them sitting around)! You can indeed hold out for that 100 percent Dratini, but don’t pass on perfectly good ones because it might be too late! The game is always changing — as is life. It’s still unclear to me if the new moves are in fact better.
