Pokémon Go launches on Apple Watch — and now I want an Apple Watch

It finally makes sense to own an Apple Watch — you can now use it to capture digital Charmanders.

Above: An egg hatching in Pokémon Go for Apple Watch.

Image Credit: Niantic

Pokémon Go is now available on Apple Watch, according to developer Niantic. The studio launched its location-based monster-catching game for Apple’s Smartwatch in the App Store, enabling you to manage most of the game’s mechanics without having to pull out your phone. This should make hatching and searching for pocket monsters easier than ever before. You can even log your Pokémon Go sessions as a “workout” for the watch’s built-in fitness features. This version of the app could also keep Apple Watch owners more invested in the game, which is one of the top-grossing apps of the year in the $36.6 billion mobile gaming market.

“Apple Watch is particularly well suited to Pokémon Go as it seamlessly combines gameplay and imagination with getting exercise and exploring the real world,” the development team at Niantic wrote in a blog post. “You can easily interact with Pokémon Go on Apple Watch, using quick taps to discover nearby Pokémon and collect items from PokéStops. Once you encounter a Pokémon, you can catch it from your iPhone.”

Pokémon Go on Apple Watch will send you a notification when a Pokémon is nearby. It enables you to get steps for your buddy Pokémon or your incubating eggs without having to hold your phone in your hands at all times. You can also collect items and get information about a PokéStop or hatched egg directly from the Apple Watch screen.

And, honestly, this is probably the best gaming experience you can have with the Apple Watch. And the timing of this is ideal for the Pokémon Go and Niantic, since we’re days away from Christmas. Next week, it’s likely that tens of thousands of people will get an Apple Watch as a gift or for themselves using gift cards, and they will likely see that Pokémon Go game they played on their iPhone over the summer waiting for them at the top of the watch’s app store. That should lead to increase in player engagement and, potentially, spending for the game.