One of the most consistent complaints from Pokemon GO players since the game launched has been the lack of things to do in rural areas. Cities are flooded with Stops, Gyms, and spawn points; but players in rural areas often feel left out of the fun. Hopefully that may be changing soon, now that Ingress, Niantic's other mobile AR game, is opening up submissions for new Portal locations.

Players who have been following Pokemon GO closely may be aware that in some ways the game launched as a Pokemon-themed re-skin of Ingress. That's not completely accurate, but the basic mechanics and, most importantly, community data are built on the same foundations. Because of that, nearly every Pokemon GO Stop or Gym correlates to an Ingress Portal. So if new Ingress Portals are on the horizon, the hope is that new Pokemon GO Stops or Gyms aren't far behind.

Niantic recently announced that level 11+ Ingress players are now able to submit locations as potential new Portals...

At first, PoGO players may think this is a great time to make an Ingress account and get to level 11 over the weekend. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. Level 11 in Ingress is roughly the equivalent of level 30 in Pokemon GO, which is no joke. There's no speed leveling to 11, especially if you're already in one of the rural areas with little to do.

Some Pokemon GO players are attempting to leverage their friends in the Ingress community by posting submission suggestions on Reddit. Many members of the Ingress community seem interested in helping out, since it helps their game as well, as long as Pokemon GO players don't start flooding Ingress channels of communication with PoGO requests. Hopefully many of the submissions will be accepted and this will end up making both games more enjoyable for players who live outside of cities. The popularity of Pokemon GO is still fairly strong, so the game could definitely benefit from another wave of Stop and Gym additions.

Good luck out there, trainers (and agents)!

Pokemon GO and Ingress are both available now on Android and iOS devices in select regions.