CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Day 6 (April 5th): More walking, and my back is feeling much better. I started the day with the following missions left to do - and was very relieved to spin up a new Field Research task. It was quickly completed, and I scored my sixth sticker. The next stop replaced task. By the end of the day, I had found, and almost completed, a third Field Reserch task, but, in spite of catching innumerable Rattatas, Pidgeys, and Whismurs, along with a couple of Taillows and Zigzagoons, I had yet to come across one. I had also seen only one ghost-type, outside a raid, and that one appeared at a time when I had an errand to run. All in all Day 5 saw no progress on the fifth part of the Special Missions since I'd lost my third ghost-type raid on Day 4. On the upside, I had seen three Skitty in the scanner: one when I had no balls and no way to get any in time, one that was at a stop I could not reach due to errands, and one that disappeared before I could reach the stop it was at. ...

Day 5 (April 4th): The Mission and Research Tasks continue. These are the ones I had scheduled as I headed out the door: It didn't take long for me to catch one more Pidgey and one Murkrow. One was waiting on the path, and the other was at the nearest pokestop. Bonus! And I was given a new research task, straight away, and completed it before I researched the next stop, where I received another one. Of course, there wasn't a Meowth or Skitty in sight... and not a single ghost pokemon, either. The best part of the day, however, was hatching my 500th egg, and earning the Breeder gold. It's been a long time coming. Somewhere along the way, I managed my twentieth Great throw, and to catch my third Fire-/Ground-type pokemon, too. The day ended with the following tasks left to complete - and I hoped either for a kitty cat invasion, or an achievable task to spin up the next day, or I wouldn't be earning a sticker.

So, the missions continue - and they get a little harder to achieve each day - but they're still fun, and they still give my walks purpose, meaning I walk for longer and am getting fitter. All good stuff. DAY 4 (April 3rd): Day 4 started with the following missions waiting to be completed (and you'll notice I got rid of that Excellent Throw requirement because I've only thrown about three of those in the last two years - ironic, because the next throw I made was, indeed, Excellent; we live and learn): So, it took an hour to earn the next sticker, instead of five minutes, but it was worth it... and I learned something new - if you just can't catch your reward pokemon, and you run out of balls, the reward stays in your scanner until you can. I am so very grateful for that. then, because I'd see only one Skitty, only one Swablu and only one Meowth in over a fortnight, I ditched those Field Research missions, too. The next two missions promised to be anot...

March 31 marked the start of Pokemon missions in Australia. I'd been looking forward to them since I'd see the notification on the phone, and was quite excited to find them ready to go. That morning, I was met by the message, and then a picture of Professor Willow's head appeared at the bottom right of the screen, just above the part of the scanner showing what pokemon are nearby.  Tapping on that icon, took me to a dialogue where the Professor asked for help in his research. To move between each section of dialogue, I had to tap the screen once I had finished reading. After agreeing to help (not that there is an option to say no), I was taken to the screen showing the list of tasks I had been set. At the top of that screen, under the heading 'Research Progress' were six circles leading to a circle with a box. Below that were two headings: 'Field' and 'Special'. The screen that opened showed the three tasks Professor Willow had set. The headi...