Tonight was one of my greatest experiences with a game ever. I have been a long-time fan of the Pokémon games ever since my father gave me my first Gameboy Color with a copy of Pokémon Yellow Version.
So when Pokémon Go was announced, I was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of playing a Pokémon game in which millions of fans would travel around the world in order to catch ‘em all. As soon as I was able, I picked up my brand-new Smart Phone and began to play this incomplete, glitchy, overloaded game which within a matter of days became the single most talked-about and played game in the world.
As I progressed further into gameplay, I began to see people all over my city whipping out their phones and attempting to capture the closest Pocket Monster in order to be the very best like no one ever was. I was not at all surprised to see my fellow hardcore Pokéfans playing, but I was surprised to see just how many other people were into the game. It literally seems like 90% of the population of Redding is playing this game. Children, teenagers, college students, parents, and even grandparents are playing exploring a whole new world, including a great many people who have never played Pokémon in their lives. Millions are playing this simple game, and this is exactly what the world needs right now.
It is no secret that the world is a very dark and depressing place. There are many who simply do not turn on the news anymore because it seems like every story is about how sick the world is, and how evil it has become. Mass shootings, political shootouts, hate crimes, muggings, race crimes and natural disasters seem to have become the norm, and people are more divided on these issues than ever.
Tonight, I went on a walk around my college campus, playing Pokémon Go (of course). As I traveled, I encountered a family who had come to Simpson University looking to expand their Pokémon collection, as Simpson is the perfect location for catching many species of Pokémon. This family consisted of a father, his two high school-aged daughters and his two sons who were in Jr High and Elementary school, each holding a Pokémon-catching device in their hands. Hoping to be a helpful hand, I pointed out a Horsea which I had just captured. This simple interaction transformed into a friendly conversation in which I shared my knowledge of the game and its mechanics, showed them how to do a gym battle (although none of them came even close to defeating my Rhydon, as I was the Gym Leader), and helped them catch a few Pokémon.
This incredibly simple interaction between complete strangers is a brilliant example of how this simple Smart-phone App is a catalyst of some much needed unity within the world. As I was writing this, I witnessed a video of hundreds of people streaming into Central Park in order to capture a Vaporeon which had been spotted there. Pokémon Go transcends race, political preference, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, etc. in order to bring about a true sense of unity amongst the world, in which humanity everywhere feels connected to each other in a very unique way, echoing the series’ core themes of love, friendship, cooperation and unity.
