Plus, you'll see more Psychic-type Pokemon than normal during a Pokemon Go event this month.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trails and National Wild & Scenic Rivers systems, Pokemon Go developer, Niantic, partnered with the National Park Foundation to encourage players of its games — Pokemon Go and Ingress — to visit America’s trails and rivers.
From now until December 31, 2018, Pokemon Go and Ingress players in the U.S. can send a physical or digital postcard from one of the country’s trails or rivers to Niantic in order to receive a postcard back from the developer, along with a special patch.
Here’s how this works:
If your family wants to send a physical postcard or letter, address it to “P.O. Box 194770 San Francisco, CA 94119 (Attn: Social Impact)”. Make sure to include your mailing address, so Niantic can send you the postcard and patch in return.
If you want to share a digital postcard, take a picture of the river or trail you visit and share it to Instagram along with the hashtags #ExploreWithNiantic and #FindYourWay. You’ll also need to tag the location you’ve visited, as well as Niantic’s Instagram account, @NianticLabs. If you want to receive the patch and postcard in return, you’ll need to fill out this form to share your address with Niantic.
You only need to fill out the form if you’ve shared a digital postcard. If you send a physical postcard, you don’t need to fill out the form. Just remember to include your address on the letter or postcard you send, and you’re good to go.
For every digital or physical postcard sent during this event, Niantic will donate $5 to the National Park Foundation, up to a maximum of $100,000. To learn more about this event, head to Niantic’s website.
Need some inspiration on where to go to find a postcard or take the perfect, Instagram-worthy shot? Check out the National Recreation Trails database to find the recreational trail closest to you. You can also download a map of the National Wild and Scenic River System here.
If you decide to head to a trail or river this weekend (or even if you don’t), keep an eye out for an increase in Psychic-type Pokemon appearing in Pokemon Go as you play. The Psychic Spectacular event will start October 5 at 4 p.m. ET and last until October 14 at 4 p.m. ET.
During this time, Psychic-type Pokemon will appear in the wild more frequently, and players will be able to collect Field Research tasks focused on Psychic-type Pokemon by spinning the discs at nearby PokeStops. Finally, a shiny version of Drowzee will begin randomly appearing, so keep an eye out for this rare critter as you’re playing during the Psychic Spectacular and beyond.
Top image © Aleksei Potov / Adobe Stock
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
