On Friends And Friendship: Part 1: Pokémon Go

I started playing Pokémon Go back in the summer of 2016. I was one of those players not helping the server strain on launch by logging to a US store account and downloading it not my phone before it was officially released outside the US.

Everyone was playing. I’d go to the nearby big park and camp out in the grass beside a triangle of three PokéStops with friends and sit there for hours catching digital monsters on my phone. Dozens upon dozens of other players would be there, all in their little groups, all looking at their phones.

It was huge.

And there was absolutely no in game player interaction. The only benefit to being in a group was when someone on the far side of the grass screamed “DRAGONITE!!” and we all flocked to their location, like a herd of gallimimus.

Once the weather turned, the appeal of Pokémon Go wore off quickly. There was noticeably less people playing and with all the common Pokémon in my PokéDex, little to no reason to sit in the rain soaked mud. I stopped checking every day, slowly lost interest, eventually stopped playing and finally deleted it from my device.

Occasionally, over the next two years I’d see updates and articles about the game. It was still massively popular, with a huge player base. But I never felt the need to get back into it.

Then, this summer, some friends started playing again. One particularly sunny day, I had the kids at a splash park with two of my friends and they were playing. We talked about the new features, like friend lists, gifts and trading, and I started to think about it. Then they joked that Claire and I should just get the app again and log back in while we’re in Ireland just long enough to catch them some regional exclusive Pokémon.

And that did it. The lure of those first generation Pokémon I could never catch before was enough for me to crack. There and then, while sitting under the shade of a tree I downloaded Pokémon Go and logged back in.

I was immediately surrounded by new creatures I didn’t recognize. Everything I caught was a new Pokémon and it was thrilling and exciting again. With two whole new generations out now, 235 new Pokémon in the game, I had lots and lots to catch and it felt like the very first day all over again.

Only this time, I had friends.

And gifts.

And trading!

Oh my!!

Before we left the park I had texted Claire to tell her to download the game as well. She thought I was joking, but by the time she got home from work that evening, she was hooked too. It was fun discovering all the new features, systems, creatures and treasures the game had to offer together.

We travelled home to Ireland and brought back a bunch to trade. Suddenly, those annoying gaps in our PokéDex were within reach. Everyone had a few spares they could share around.

But we only knew of our few friends. Did anyone else in our neighbourhood play? How would we find them. I turned to the most evil thing I could think of, that vile tome of personal information, collected to sell to the highest bidder, the one place I was sure I’d find something, because it has seemingly everything.

I joined the local Facebook group. They were a big, active group that met up regularly and scheduled events together. One of the features added during my hiatus was raids. Raids are big fights in key locations that, at the higher levels, can only be completed with a group, and the rewards are rare and powerful Pokémon. I started to attend these organized raids, meeting other players in person and quickly became friends with some of the more active community members.

Pretty soon I was recognizing more and more people in my neighbourhood while out shopping or walking with the kids. People that were strangers to me a month before were waving at me on the street and exchanging pleasantries on a first name basis, or sometimes (okay, okay, more often than sometimes), Pokémon Go username.

And that’s how I made a couple dozen new friends in my neighbourhood after living here for almost eight years.

Today’s Pokémon Go is a whole different beast from what I played two years ago. Four months into my return, I’m still playing every day. Not as much as when I started in July, but then, I have all the common Pokémon again. But this time, it’s different. I’m not playing just hoping to catch that rare creature in the wild. I’m not even hunting very much anymore. Now I play for raids. I play to meet up with friends for a few minutes three or four times a week. I play for the events that happen regularly, where I meet more new friends out enjoying the game.

I play for the friends I have and the ones I yet to find in the wild.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All.