pokemon go silliness

[auronlu]

Today and tomorrow are Eevee Community Day on Pokemon Go, which means that IF (big if) you live in an area with multiple Pokestops, you will have Eevees coming out of your ears. (If you don't, maybe try incense, although it only works if you keep moving.) There will be another Eevee infestation tomorrow, 11am-2pm PST in North America, for anyone interested.

Lures lasted 3+ hours during the event. At the parks near me, several players put up Lures, so my main problem for the first time ever was nearly filling up my pokemon allotment.

Luckily the wind was blowing the smoke and ash away from us today, although I'm afraid that probably means bad news for the poor firefighters who are busting their asses while I'm blithely wandering around collecting digital critters.

So I walked for most of the 3 hours, giving myself sunburn on the back of my calves (apparently the ONLY part of me that hasn't developed some immunity to sun after living in CA for 20 years.) I don't know if I'll be able to walk tomorrow after walking about 6? 8? km today. My feet hate me now. But I'd like to, as I'm greedy.

Today I picked up ONE top-tier Pokemon that I intend to evolve into my very first Espeon or Umbreon -- I'm waiting until I've assessed tomorrow's haul before I decide. I would also dearly love to have some functional Vaporeons which are stronger than soap bubbles. Because in my part of the world, there are a lot of Pokemon gyms, and a lot of power gamers.

(Here's how to appraise pokemon in PGO, and then if you're curious about hidden stats, here's a calculator that can usually figure them out. It helps me decide which ones are worth powering up.)

Also, I found my very first Shinies. One of them is SO INCREDIBLY PATHETIC, with its highest stat 6-7 and all the rest 1-4, but I will keep it because it is Shiny. And I found a handful of 70-80% range Eevees that are worth evolving.

It was fun, but I'm chagrinned on behalf of players in rural areas who get shortchanged. At least suburb dwellers can send some items gleaned from our Pokestops to even out the disparity, but it sucks we can't trade long distance.

Comments

[heavenscalyx]

As you know, Bob, we were in Salem yesterday. SO MANY POKEPLAYERS, and ALL the stops were lured and shoujoing everywhere all along Essex St. (There are 3 stops accessible from our favorite pizza place, which is around the edge of the park with the Bewitched statue.)

Alas, even though we're not rural, our house is *just* far enough from the pokestops in the center of town that we get zero critters here, and I'll be damned if I'm going to go walking in the rain today. But I did get a shiny Eevee, so I'm pleased.

[auronlu]

As you know, Bob, I'm pleased for your shiny!

I am still recovering from sunburn in oddly specific places: the upper backs of my calves and the tops of my feet. Nothing else seems to burn anymore, although I do put sunscreen on my face and wear a hat.

which is not a magicarp.

(I pride myself on having one of the most ridiculous Pokemon Trainer outfits possible without paying for anything. I couldn't find anything snazzy I wanted to wear, so I went for goofball.)

[cumuluscastle]

My friends who play seem to have made fun connections with the Pokemon Go community. Have you had any positive interactions with other players? From what I hear they seem to be a pretty pleasant bunch as a rule, but I am curious to know if that's actually true.

[auronlu]

Yes, on the whole, people are fairly friendly.

I've had some good encounters, including a few fun raids with people standing around on a corner taking down a boss together, but I'm a little shy. I really need to get in on the social aspect-- my area has a Discord so that people can get together for trading and raiding. I've gotten as far as registering (I was invited) but haven't quite taken the plunge yet.

[cumuluscastle]

I think you should do it. My friends love Ingress and Pokemon Go because of the community. They often go on trips just to do the special events and meet people they only talked to on Discord before. But I totally would probably still be at the same phase you are if I was playing (do as I say not as I do) ;)

[pete_thomas]

If you'd like, I can drop you my friend code and we can add each other, give gifts, and boost friendships. If I ever find myself back in Cali, I'll donate some of my shinies to you. I have plenty of spares/ones I don't care about (Mareep, Larvitar, Squirtle with and without sunglasses, and more Eevees if you want them).

I did both days of PkMnGo CD and ultimately, was disappointed there wasn't more. With how unique and wonderful Eevee is, I was hoping for more, but was greatly disappointed. Not even a teaser of Gen IV by giving us the next two Eeveelutions. Snore.

My haul ended up netting me 16 shinies: one wonder, two certainly caught, and 13 potatoes (if you're Team Mystic, that's the appraisal words, don't know them if you're Valor or Instinct). I'm walking my wonder now to get the Umbreon, and was lucky to have gotten Jolteon/Flareon/Vaporeon in one evolution each, even if their stats suck. Thankfully I have some wonders in regular Eevee's that I can boost up and see what they become.

[auronlu]

That's an impressive haul!

I'm kicking myself for not evolving my one IV about 90% until the next day, on the mistaken belief that since my test-eevees had retained Last Resort when I evolved them after the event was over that evening, it'd work on Last Resort eevees the next day.

But I did manage to catch and/or evolve one shiny of all the current Eevee family, and I just evolved my first non-shiny Umbreon to complete my set. Having been away from the game for a year, I probably had more fun with this than a lot of people, as I didn't have Espeon or Umbreon or ANY shinies before it started.

Thanks for the invite! I might take you up on that at some point, but I'll pass for now. (I'm an old-fashion gamer from the 2000s, and I'm disconcerted every time I see it telling me where one of my online friends has been. But she and I have known each other and spoken more or less weekly for many years.)