JP/Donny Fernando

Pokémon Go fever has been infecting the city for a while, even though the augmented-reality game is not yet officially available in Indonesia. It is so popular that people sometimes ask “are you looking for Pokémon?” when you look at your phone. Business entities have also jumped on the bandwagon of the game’s popularity, luring customers with Pokémon hunting events.

According to players, there are five hot spots for finding rare virtual Pokémon, short for “pocket monsters”, in the capital. Coz you gotta catch ’em all.

National Monument

The National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta is among the notable places to catch rare Pokémon. With many business players distributing in-game items known as lures in the area, hundreds of Pokémon hunters can be seen flocking to the landmark on weekends.

Rikang Soleh is one player who has spent time wandering around Monas with his eyes glued to his smartphone, ready to throw his Pokéballs once a monster pops up on his screen. Along with his neighbors from Depok, West Java, Rikang said he now had a good reason to leave his house and check out landmarks on the weekend.

“The lure really helps me to collect Pokémon; I caught six monsters today,” Rikang said recently.

Kota Tua (Old Town)

Kota Tua is not just a place for tourists to enjoy old buildings with Dutch colonial architecture, but also a hot spot for Pokémon Go enthusiasts as it is inhabited by many of the rare virtual monsters that players are passionately searching for.

In Kota Tua, Pokémon Go users are not only able to hunt for rare creatures but can also gather items such as Pokémon eggs and Pokéballs at several PokéStops.

Many Pokémon Go hunters said rare and high-combat power monsters like Pidgey CP25, Zubat CP26, Doduo CP54 and even Pinsir CP87 could all be found in the area, particularly in and around Fatahillah Museum.

Pokémon Go hunter Stanley, 24, recently visited Kota Tua not just to spend time with his family but also to hunt for Pokémon, which he said were rare and had high combat power.

“I intentionally came here because the scores of Pokémon monsters here are high,” he said as quoted by kompas.com recently.

So next time, if you want to spend a day out but you happen to be a Pokémon Go enthusiast, you might like to consider visiting Kota Tua.

North Jakarta coast

Many of Jakarta’s Pokémon hunters have made their way to the northern part of the capital, particularly coastal areas like Ancol Beach, to catch water-element monsters, like the red-orange fish Magikarp, horned goldfish Goldeen, or blue tadpole Poliwag.

Some players are even willing to go further along the coast that borders neighboring Tangerang in Banten to catch the monsters.

West Jakarta resident Michelle Ang, 25, for example, managed to get a Poliwag, Magikarp and a starfish Staryu when she visited Teluknaga — a coastal district in Tangerang that is just 12 kilometers away from Jakarta’s coastal border.

“I also found a Zubat, Paras and Snorlax along the way to Teluknaga,” said the level-11 Pokémon hunter, referring to a purple bat-like monster, orange cicada nymph and fat blue bear-like Pokémon.

Central Park mall

Some Pokémon Go users say Central Park Mall in Grogol Petamburan, West Jakarta, is among the best areas to play the game. With nine PokéStops and two gyms, many Jakartans have flocked to the mall just to catch the best and rarest Pokémon.

Aside from its many PokéStops, Central Park wins over many visitors with its strong mobile signal throughout the area.

Podomoro Tower Fountain inside the mall complex is the most visited spot, as there are three PokéStops there.

Taman Suropati

The park located in Menteng, Central Jakarta, is said to be home to many grass species of Pokémon, including a blue plant bulb with a round body, beady red eyes and oval, foot-like roots called Oddish, the quadruped Pokémon with blue-green skin and dark green patches, Bulbassaur, and the stem-like brown monster Belsprout.

Popular

PDI-P will likely be part of opposition: Ganjar

Indonesia one step from Olympics after beating South Korea

Bahlil leads task force to boost sugar, bioethanol production in Papua