The "Generals"

First up, I want to say that this weekend might be a busy weekend involving Pokémon Go, so it would be understandable that I'm posting a lot about it. As is true of anything else Pokémon, there are many stories I can stand to tell from Go, so it does deserve some respect. Anyhow, I'm sure it will be great.

Today's story is a term that my raid group uses to refer to certain players. That term, as evidenced by the title of this post, concerns the word "general". That's "general" as in the military rank, a high-ranking officer, and the term is used to refer to certain people within the group. By virtue of this meaning, it does mean that some of these people have certain accomplishments, and in fact, this is true in a couple of ways.

The more common reference for this term is for the players who have reached Level 40, which is the current maximum in the game. There are quite a few people in the group who have accomplished this, and of course, this is no small feat. It comes as a result of extensively playing the game and participating in many, many raids since they were introduced. They are often the most helpful ones in the group, with much information regarding how the game works. They also contribute quite a bit to the raid efforts, whether to inform, start, or even organize them, along with those who are soon to assume the position. Now, there's been word that the maximum level is due to expand soon, so some of those "generals" will likely take new places on the level ranking. Regardless, their help is valuable and appreciated no matter the level, and they should be remembered for that.

The less common reference is for those who have amassed certain things, and recently, the term has been applied to someone who has caught a bunch of Shiny Lugia, while the rest of us are still groping and searching for one. By this logic, it can also be argued that someone in the group who had amassed a bunch of Dratini and some of its evolved forms (prior to last month's Community Day) could be considered a "general" too, though these could be considered lesser accomplishments than the above. Yet this is also respectable in some ways.

The word "general" in the sense of the military rank carries a sense of merit, and that makes it very much an applicable descriptor to both of these situations. And yet, these situations are by no means unique to my group, as many players have accomplished the same things; but even with that, the situations as connected to my experience becomes special things of their own. And this becomes a story worth telling.

I hope we can find "generals" that we can look up to and cooperate with in our Go efforts.

One year ago: Pokémon Food... For Us