Fighting back in Pokémon GO

It’s an hour away from midnight and we’re standing in a circle in the parking lot of Saint Agatha’s church. There are eleven of us sharing drinks, stories, snacks and holding phones in our hands. What are we doing out so late at night?

Playing Pokémon GO.

I’ve talked about playing before because Sander and I are pretty active in our community. There are three times, red, blue, and yellow. Members fight for control over real life landmarks that are gyms in game.

A few members of our community were threatened a few months ago by members of the neighboring town. Our members were blocked off from leaving as they were verbally assaulted.

“This is Red territory, get out of here.”

In retaliation, we decided to head out late at night and turn the whole town blue. Of course we’re friends with a handful of yellow members so we team up and fight all the red gyms we can find. We head out around 8PM in several cars and storm through the area. We capture anything that isn’t ours and by the end of the night, we’re laughing about it.

The Pokémon GO, for the most part, is full of helpful and generous members. We look out for each other and generally have a fantastic time. It’s a great excuse for getting out of the house and getting some exercise. As I’ve stated before, Sander and I usually go biking for two hours at a time when we play.

However, there is a side of the community that’s aggressive to no end. There are also cheaters and abusive players who get a rise out of abusing other players. It’s so great to say that our group rallies to stand up against this childish behavior. It’s a great way to relieve stress that builds up from the tension in the community.

I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be doing this more often. Each time we rally, there are more snacks and laughs to go around.