As has been chronicled on Kotaku, my journey into Pokémon GO has been one which started two years in the past in lockdown-induced happiness, after which slowly descended into disappointment after disappointment. However, this weekend, regardless of what look like Niantic’s finest efforts, I lastly skilled Pokémon GO at its very best: A joyful time out with a bunch of superior individuals, chasing shinies and dealing collectively to tick off duties.

This previous Saturday marked the conclusion of 2022’s dragged out Pokémon GO Fest, throughout which the godforsaken story of Professor Willow’s disappearance was lastly resolved, and in the end we had been capable of catch the long-promised Ultra Beasts, Pheromosa, Buzzwole, Xurkitree and Nihilego, in addition to the last word prize of Shaymin Sky-Form. But, for the primary time in my expertise, it wasn’t simply me and my boy enjoying. And it modified all the things.

My primary level of competition with Niantic’s latest undesirable adjustments to POGO, past its dedication to disregard covid recommendation that borders on fervor, is the corporate’s bewildering perception that in the event that they make occasions tougher to affix in, one way or the other extra individuals will find yourself enjoying collectively. This Saturday, nonetheless, had no such silliness in place. Instead, the closing Fest occasion ran from 10 a.m. to six p.m., with a brand new set of duties and raids each two hours. So, as is changing into conventional for such in-game occasions, Toby—now seven years outdated—and I set off to the native park, the place there are a number of gyms and stops to extra simply plow by means of challenges.

The ‘bandstand’ is the very best spot. Three gyms in attain without delay, plus it’s the one place we’ve ever seen anybody else enjoying, even when it was for only a cursory, barely awkward mutual nod of recognition. Toby had his swimming lesson at 11.30, so we figured we’d get the primary chunk of duties accomplished, after which inevitably after the break he’d resolve he now didn’t wish to play any extra, and I’d be left attempting to complete the challenges at residence like the massive, unhappy individual I so fairly often am. Except one thing else occurred. Standing by stated bandstand was a circle of people, all holding telephones, all holding them out and searching down.

As we walked down the hill, as an alternative of protectively closing in, they seemed up, observed our cellphone held out in that particular approach of POGO gamers, and invited us over! Three adults, three youngsters, many Pokémon t-shirts. We made it eight. They had been the loveliest bunch, a pair with their 10-year-old boy, and a mum together with her 9 and 13-year outdated boys. Straight away we had been invited to catch a Pheromosa, and for the primary time in two years of enjoying this daft recreation, I skilled a real, real-life, in-person raid.

G/O Media could get a fee

Up to 90% off

Humble Bundle’s Summer Sale

Game and Save
Great news for PC gamers out there looking to save money and add more games to your backlog which you’ll eventually get to. Humble Bundle has kicked off its Summer Sale in which you can save up to 90% on games.

This is not for want of trying, but instead as a result of what Niantic cannot accept: That it’s not 2016 any more, and there aren’t gaggles of excited players crowding around every gym. For my entire POGO career, I’ve had to use apps like Poke Genie for it to be possible to do any five-star raiding, meaning I’ve mysteriously captured legendaries from countries all around the world, but never from down the road from my house.

We chatted away, swapped Pokémon experience stories, Toby whipped out his binder filled with his favorite TCG cards, and just the most congenial hour was had by all. But it was time to go to swimming, and so—having swapped friend codes—we said our goodbyes to our fleeting friends.

Determined to try to keep him on a Pokémon GO track for a bit longer after his lesson, because yes, obviously, I’m the one who wants to be playing it now far more than him, I suggested we walk even further from home to get some lunch. At 1.45 p.m., and with a Machop still missing from that second section’s collection challenge, I made him scoff down his remaining ice cream and we set off to catch the blue blighter who refused to appear inside the restaurant. He was right outside, but the third chunk of the day was about to begin, new Pokémon to catch, and most importantly, the electrical fire risk of Xurkitree to capture. I suggested we walk back through the park, just in case.

And they they all were! Our gang! They’d moved about since, but were back at the bandstand too, and once again we were warmly invited to join them. It turns out the two families had met each other in the same location a few months back, despite each living in other cities in opposite directions from our small town. All were avid Pokémon fans, the one couple having been so since the beginnings in the late 90s, the other mum having picked it up when her kids did, along with her partner, and then quickly becoming the most obsessed member of the family. Which is, er, a little familiar. Cough.

As the tasks ticked around, we all completed them as a group, working together to help each other out. When Toby found a hundo Swirlix, everyone rushed to try to grab it, including what turned out to be other players who were quietly nearby. When that tiresome other-(one)-dimensional helmeted chap told us we needed to walk a kilometer and hatch an egg, we set off in two groups to do a lap of the park. There was friendly ribbing, cheerful banter, and even some deep-and-meaningful grown-up chatting.

We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon, through to about 5.30, with these awesome people, and I’m delighted to report we swapped numbers, and are planning to meet up for future Community Days and events. It’s the golden Pokémon GO experience I’ve only previously heard about, most often in the comments below other POGO articles I’ve written, from nostalgic, lamenting long-term players. And I finally encountered it for myself.

I much better get why Niantic is so fixated on this. While of course the billion-dollar company is primarily driven by making vast amounts of money, its rhetoric is almost entirely framed around a desperation to rebottle the escaped genie of 2016. It will infuriate and alienate the entire planet of players, by making bone-shatteringly obviously bad decisions, just because it gets the idea in its head it’ll cause people to find community once again. The company halved the length of Community Days this year, just because it thought it meant people would be more likely to encounter each other if the timeslot was restricted. The obvious reality is that it just means more people are unable to join in, and the chances of encountering someone when there’s no one else around aren’t improved if you make taking part more inconvenient.

Yet, on Saturday, for one of the game’s biggest events of the year, I experienced it. I get why people who lived through the game’s heyday would so desperately want to see that happening again. It makes a massive difference, and one that I imagine most people who (like me) never played the game before covid have never known. I can’t wait to meet up with them all again come the next chance, and play the game as it was intended.