HENRICO, Va. — Over 2,000 people attended the first Pokémon Go night at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. The reception was so fantastic that the Garden decided to host PokéMondays every Monday in August — that’s five Mondays to check out the Garden and capture Pokémons.
There will also be two evening Pokémon GO events scheduled during the Flowers After 5 evenings, on August 18 and September 1. On Sept. 1, The LEGO Movie will be shown.
On PokéMondays, Lewis Ginter will have lures out from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to attract Pokémon to the over 20 Pokéstops scattered throughout the grounds. There are also two Pokégyms at the Garden.
Their unique ecosystem of grasslands and water features attracts a wide variety of rare and uncommon virtual “pocket monsters.”
Some of the more common Pokémon found at Lewis Ginter includes; Caterpie, Krabby, Magikarp, Paras, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Poliwag, Psyduck, Rattata, Spearow, Venonat, and Weedle.
The Garden writes that they also have some more uncommon Pokémon, like:
- Clefairy (# 035)
- Vulpix (# 037)
- Oddish (# 043)
- Gloom (# 044)
- Venomoth (# 049)
- Golduck (# 055)
- Growlithe (# 058)
- Poliwhirl (# 061)
- Abra (# 063)
- Tentacruel (# 073)
- Slowpoke (# 079)
- Slowbro (# 080)
- Gastly (# 092)
- Voltorb (# 100)
- Exeggcute (# 102)
- Horsea (# 116)
- Seadra (# 117)
- Goldeen (# 118)
- Seaking (# 119)
- Scyther (# 123)
- Jynx (# 124)
- Pinsir (# 127)
- Tauros (# 128)
- Lapras (# 131)
- Eevee (# 133)
- Vaporeon (# 134)
- Dratini (# 147)
- Dragonair (# 148)
** Please note this list is not comprehensive, nor is meant as a guarantee that you will find any of the listed Pokémon during a visit to the Garden.
The fountains and sculptures throughout the Garden serve as great meeting spots for players, or places to sit and enjoy the view while waiting for Pokémon to appear.
Regular Admission: $13/Adults, $11/Seniors 55+, $8/Children 3-12. Children under 3 free. FREE for Members. Click here for online tickets, or purchase at the door. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
The “Nature Connects” exhibit is still up, which only adds more delight to everything else happening! The project consists of half-a-million LEGO bricks to make giant flowers, birds, insects and more. You can’t catch ’em all but you can snap some pretty pictures of the masterpieces.
There are restrooms, refreshments for sale at The Garden Cafe, a kid’s play area, and a library with a place to charge up your phone.
If you want to plan your strategy, the Garden put together ahandy map.
Map credit: Lewis Ginter
