Do You Get Anything for Pinning Postcards in Pokémon GO? Absolutely! Here’s Why You Should Be Pinning Away!
Yes, pinning Postcards in Pokémon GO offers significant benefits! The primary reward is the opportunity to encounter and collect Scatterbug, which evolves into the beautiful, region-specific Vivillon. By pinning Postcards from different regions, you contribute to your Vivillon Collector medal and unlock encounters with Scatterbug variants from around the world, each with its own unique wing pattern. It’s a collector’s dream and a great way to explore the globe virtually!
Unlocking Vivillon: The Postcard Pinning Connection
The core reason to diligently pin those Postcards is to complete your collection of Vivillon. These Pokémon have distinct wing patterns based on the geographical region associated with the Postcard you pin. This adds a whole new dimension to collecting, turning Pokémon GO into a virtual globe-trotting adventure.
How It Works
- Receiving Gifts: When you receive a Gift from a friend, it comes with a Postcard showing the location of the PokéStop where the Gift was obtained.
- Pinning the Postcard: By pinning this Postcard to your Postcard Book, you make progress towards encountering a Scatterbug that corresponds to the region of that Postcard.
- Vivillon Collector Medal: Track your progress via the Vivillon Collector medal in your Trainer profile. Each sub-medal represents a different Vivillon pattern region.
- Scatterbug Encounters: The first time you pin three Postcards from the same region, you’ll trigger a Scatterbug encounter. Subsequent encounters for the same region will require more pins (9, then 15).
- Evolution: Evolve your Scatterbug into Spewpa, and then finally into Vivillon to add it to your collection!
Maximizing Your Postcard Pinning Strategy
Here are a few tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of this feature:
- Daily Pinning Limit: Remember that you can only pin three of your own Postcards per day to make progress. Rely on friends to send you Gifts from diverse locations to maximize your progress. Progress can only be made from pinning Gifts a limited number of times a day.
- Gift Exchange is Key: The more friends you have, the more diverse your Postcard collection can become. Send Gifts regularly and encourage your friends to do the same.
- Track Your Progress: Regularly check the Vivillon Collector medal to see which regions you still need Postcards from. This helps you prioritize which Gifts to pin.
- Don’t Worry About Deleting: Once a Postcard is pinned, you can safely unpin and delete it from your Postcard Book without losing progress towards your Scatterbug encounter. This helps keep your Postcard Book organized.
- Own Postcards Count: Don’t forget that you can pin your own Postcards as well, so keep an eye out for interesting PokéStops when you’re out and about!
Postcards: More Than Just Pretty Pictures
While the primary benefit of pinning Postcards is to unlock Vivillon encounters, they also offer other subtle advantages:
- Memory Keeping: The Postcard Book acts as a visual diary of your Pokémon GO adventures, reminding you of the places you’ve visited and the friends you’ve connected with.
- Community Engagement: Exchanging Gifts and Postcards fosters a sense of community among players, encouraging collaboration and friendship.
- Geographical Awareness: The Vivillon feature subtly educates players about different regions around the world and their associated climates and cultures. This could potentially relate to the kind of geographical learning that the Games Learning Society might explore through different game mechanics and design. Find out more about the society at GamesLearningSociety.org.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Postcards in Pokémon GO
1. How many pinned Postcards do I need to encounter Scatterbug?
The first encounter of each Vivillon pattern requires three pinned Postcards from the same region. After the first, it increases to 9, and ends at 15 for every future encounter of that particular region.
2. Can I pin my own Postcards for Scatterbug encounters?
Yes, you can pin both your own Postcards and those you receive from friends to progress towards Scatterbug encounters.
3. Is there a daily limit to how many Postcards I can pin?
Yes, you can only make progress by pinning Gifts you collect three times per day. It is also important to note that you can only pin up to three of your own Postcards per day to make progress towards the medal. Friends’ postcards are important to collect the various Vivillon.
4. What happens if I unpin a Postcard after pinning it?
Once you’ve received credit for the pin, you can safely unpin it with no adverse effects on your progress.
5. Do stickers on Postcards affect Scatterbug encounters?
No, stickers are purely cosmetic and do not influence the type of Scatterbug you encounter.
6. Can I get the same Vivillon pattern from different PokéStops in the same region?
Yes, any PokéStop within the same Vivillon region will contribute towards encountering the corresponding Scatterbug.
7. Does deleting a friend affect my Vivillon progress?
No, deleting a friend does not affect the progress you have made on your Vivillon Collector Medal.
8. How long does a Vivillon Postcard last?
Once 24 real-world hours have passed since you received a Postcard, the Vivillon that appear in your game will once more have the Fancy Pattern (the pattern that usually appears in the Paldea region).
9. Where can I track my progress toward Vivillon?
You can track your progress via the Vivillon Collector medal in your Trainer profile.
10. What are the different Vivillon patterns?
There are numerous Vivillon patterns, each associated with a different geographical region. Some of the most sought-after patterns include the Poké Ball Pattern, Ocean Pattern, Savanna Pattern, and Sun Pattern.
11. Do gifts contribute to Vivillon medal progress in Pokemon go?
Yes! To encounter the Pokémon Scatterbug, which evolves into Vivillon, you will need to pin postcards from Gifts you receive from your friends. You can also make progress towards the Scatterbug encounter by pinning Postcards from your gifts.
12. How many Vivillon Postcards can I pin per day?
Making progress by pinning Gifts the player collect can only be done three times per day.
13. What happens if you unpin Postcards in Pokemon go?
Pin postcard. Unpin before you open the gift (same day or another day). That way you don’t lose track of what you already pinned. When you unpin it auto deletes from your postcard book.
14. What is the maximum Gifts in Pokemon go?
You can hold a maximum of 20 Gifts in your Bag at any given time. However, Gifts do not take up any of your inventory space.
15. Can you get Scatterbug from your own postcards?
To find Scatterbug, you need to pin postcards from different locations. Pinning three postcards from the same area will allow you to catch a Scatterbug that will evolve into a specific Vivillon. You can pin your own postcards and the postcards you get from friends.