The sun is shining and Ada park is busier than usual. Despite the good weather, there is another reason why the park is bustling.

On community day, there is a higher abundance of Pokémon and a higher chance of catching rare ones, but Pokémon are not the only things that crowd the area. 

Kids, teenagers, parents, and grandparents walk around the park with their eyes glued to their phones as they try to catch as many Pokémon as possible.

Even though the game’s active players base has decreased since its release in November of 2016, the game is still popular in Ada and Cascade. In fact, it is so popular that a group chat was made just for the local players.

In this group chat, more than 300 fans of the game talk about where the best Pokémon are, who has the best Pokémon, and when to go to different places to catch them.

As I walk through Ada park with my friends, we stop to talk to the other people playing the game. Suddenly, the people that I see talking on my phone every day become the people that join me and my friends as we stroll through the park catching Pokémon.

Two people who traveled with us throughout the park for the majority of the day were a dad and son. Although they were very different ages than my friends and me, we still had lots to talk about with them—well, at least lots of things about Pokémon to talk about. 

The kid, who was probably about ten-years-old, showed me some of his favorite Pokémon that he had caught. Afterward, he then proceeded to tell me stories of how he caught them.

The stories felt like they were dug out of my brain. They brought a smile to my face as I reminisced about all the similar experiences I had had catching Pokémon.

In the middle of a story about a rare Pokémon, a terrible thing happened: my phone died. However, I was saved by the dad.

He swiftly grabbed a yellow portable charger, with a picture of Pikachu on it, out of his bag.

It felt like Christmas had come early. I was able to quickly recharge my phone and continue playing the game.

When the kid and his dad left the park, I exclaimed to my friends how grateful I was that I was able to charge my phone effortlessly.  

Shortly after, I was onto my next adventure: lunch. While driving, I realized that what makes this game great isn’t catching Pokémon or bragging about what you caught, but rather it is the people you meet along the way.

While being able to continue playing the game thanks to the dad was nice, it was the fact that it was a complete stranger from the community that helped me out that brought a smile to my face.