pokemon heartgold and soulsilver released in in 2009. released in parallel was the pokewalker addon, which would connect to the games via infrared connection. (the carts even have a darkened panel on the top for this purpose.)

the pokewalker was functionally a pedometer that you could clip to your belt or other part of your outfit and would count your steps. you would gain 'watts' and spend them to use the dowsing machine or pokeradar and hold up to three items and pokemon per 'walk'.

so, you may be wondering: how the hell would you emulate that?

pokefarm q is a pokemon fansite that allows users to click each other's pokemon to hatch them and level them up. and wouldn't you know it, they have their own fake emulator for a pokewalker, too, though it doesn't connect to the games - rather, it connects to your pokefarm account and lets you send your pokemon from there to the emulator.

now, i haven't played pokefarm q in some time (but at least i got the first melan wingull); that said, their emulation of a pokewalker is pretty decent, despite lack of connectivity to the original games (intentional). i do like the idea of using your phone a la pokemon go.

but, personally, how i'd want it to work, in my pipe dream of pipe dreams, it wouldn't actually rely on GPS, or going places.

what constitutes 'walking' if you are on a computer? laptops can be carried, but desktops aren't designed to be transported as easily as that....

so that means the core idea here is: what is a way we can measure 'steps' in a nontraditional way?

browsing the internet

if you're on your computer, and you're using your browser, you're technically traveling, right? so a browsing-specific setup would allow me to gain watts by browsing idly on the internet. have it connect to the browser somehow and track every time you open a new page.

i can already see a theoretical misuse of the tool and potential cookie exploit, though, so i recognize it's not the best or safest way to measure that.

pokewalker as a writing tool

maybe it could measure the amount you've written in a text editor. it could check to see if you're typing at all in the given program and your pokemon will go on a walk while you're actively putting in work. then, when you stop typing, your pokemon will go from walk mode to idle mode.

i guess this can be less accessible if you aren't a writer, though..

increment over time regardless

honestly, it might work decently enough if it just... ticked up randomly. your pokemon would go walking in short bursts, or perhaps would go walking if you are 'active' on the computer (clicking, typing, moving cursor, whatever) and return when you are idle (or afk).

i think that might be the easiest and most general way to apply the idea. that way it isn't tied to a given program, nor does it track your browsing at all... LOL...

so in short, i think 2024 should be the year of pokewalker emulation. it may be a weird little addon for an old game but it's MY weird little addon for an old game that I REALLY LOVED because i had no friends in middle school. and my nostalgia deserves to be recognized and accommodated via emulation. thank you.