Pokemon GO Fest 2024 Kolkata (India): Highs, lows, and Necrozma abound

While there is no doubt Pokemon GO Fest 2024 is best enjoyed in real-world locations where it takes place, the Global chapter allows the less fortunate among us to immerse ourselves in the proceedings. So this time around, the members of the Sportskeeda Pokemon team in Kolkata (India) packed their bags with Poke Balls and Potions and set out early on Saturday, July 13.

The goal? To find the city's den for the ardent Pokemon GO players, talk with a few, and enjoy what Niantic had to offer in the annual extravaganza. Thankfully, the Niantic Campfire app was helpful in this matter and we soon figured out the meetup was due to happen in Lions Safari Park, Rabindra Sarobar.

I was interested to see how strong the game's community was in my city nearly a decade after launch and the subsequent experience didn't disappoint at all.

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Pokemon GO Fest 2024 reminded me the game is best enjoyed in the outdoors with friends

Stepping out for Pokemon GO Fest 2024 reminded me of the initial fun I had with my friends back when the game first came out. We would band together once a week and visit notable locations around our neighborhood in hopes of a Dragonite or a Gyarados.

Trainers gathering for GO Fest 2024 (Image via Angshuman Dutta)

Once the SK team reached the Lions Safari Park, we noticed a large number of players had already gathered there. The Niantic Community Ambassador was there too. We quickly got busy with the Ultra Beast raids, keeping an ear out for which raid was being prioritized by the groups.

We would hear cries of "Xurkitree spawned has there" and would duly follow five or six trainers. If the lobby got filled the first time around, there were enough players to join the next one promptly. We were even invited by strangers to join them on raids. Each raid was met with an eager question of whether the caught beast was shiny and if it was of good IVs. The occasional shouts of "hundo and shundo" also were a part of the proceedings.

While we had initially planned to visit only on July 13, our positive experience convinced us to join the next day too. After all, it marked the debut of Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wings Necrozma around the globe and everyone was filled to the brim with excitement. Trainers were busy discussing how much Fusion Energy was dropped from each raid and how many they would need to compete in to get both forms.

Kolkata Pokemon GO trainers coming for GO Fest 2024 (Image via Angshuman Dutta)

Both days saw a group photo being clicked around 2 pm and postcards and badges being shared with those present. The second day also saw a giveaway of GO Fest official t-shirts and a GO Plus+. The former was snagged by those who had the highest catches in the Party Challenge combining both days (6k+) and the latter by someone who caught 50+ shinies.

While we had been having a pretty dire heat spell this summer, there was a forecast of rain for both July 13 and July 14. The June 29 Mega Rayquaza Elite Raids had similarly faced heavy showers throughout the day (luckily, we are in for a Mega Rayquaza revisit in August 2024). The second half of the last day saw heavy showers which ruined the fun a little, although I did sincerely hope Ducklett would spawn more in the rain and let me complete the research.

Proud owner of Pokemon GO Fest 2024 badge (Image via Angshuman Dutta)

With the GO Fest 2024 concluded and the two days behind me, I am glad to find that Pokemon GO is alive and quite well in the suburbs of Kolkata and India. As we all know, Niantic has not been kind to all parts of the world equally with only recently in 2024 Kolkata seeing a surge in PokeStops and Gyms.

Nevertheless, GO Fest 2024 was the most fun I had in Pokemon GO in a long long while. Getting a Shiny Dusk Mane Necrozma and a Shiny Dawn Wings Necrozma was the cherry on the top. While the next GO Fest is quite some time away, the Sportskeeda Pokemon GO team and I are eager to revisit Lions Safari Park with the Kolkata trainers at another community event sometime soon.