Meet Trevor, our pet Magikarp

Magikarp is a famously terrible Pokémon. Yes, with a lot of work it can evolve into a mighty Gyrados, but most players who have encountered Magikarp will be more than familiar with its original, meeker form – a useless, flapping damp squib.

And yet. It is because of its undeniable rubbishness that Magikarp is so loved – adored enough for The Pokémon Company to build a whole game around it. Your task? Raise and train a string of Magikarps to become the highest jumpers in the land. Our current one is called Trevor. Here’s why we’re still playing it:

Your Magikarp’s home is where alot of the action happens. Swipe to have a look around, tap on the floating food to feed your new pet and, later on, you can decorate the place. Other Pokémon drop by too, which means a boost to your stats.

In between feeding sessions, your task is to turn your Magikarp into a champion jumper. Training initially consists of flapping up against a sandbag or jump counter. Later, they’ll push a Dwebble along a beach a little bit or repeatedly hop into a tree. It’s all pleasingly strange.

Once your new pal is properly fed and trained, you battle other Trainers’ Magikarp, which is not as intense as it sounds – you just press a button to make them jump and see if they leap higher than their rival. Simple, but surprisingly tense.

After some training sessions and jumping contests, you’ll get a cutscene. You’re presented with a 50/50 choice: play it safe or risk your pet’s demise in exchange for some more XP. You read that right – this is life or death stuff.

Keep training your Pokémon while keeping it out of harm’s way and it’ll eventually reach retirement, which is heralded by a bittersweet, flopping-off-into-the-sunset cutscene. We'll never forget you, Trevor. Never.

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump

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