First Anniversary of My Raid Group

The feature of raids in Pokémon Go has only been in for a year and a month, so it would be understandable that any fully organized activities that pertain to the feature would appear only shortly after it was introduced. My local raid group would be no exception, as it recently celebrated its first anniversary. Today I went to the anniversary celebration for it; the actual anniversary was on July 25, four days ago, but no one was free to celebrate on that day, so the celebration took place the following Sunday instead when most people are free.

From what I've been told, this group started out with only a handful of players (as does any group) raiding a select number of Gyms. Today there are over 200 members spread out over a good portion of my area, though many are admittedly inactive or currently active only in select places and times. Even today there were only about 30 people that could come to celebrate, and quite a few senior members ("generals") and junior members alike could not come, citing one reason or another. The good thing is that many of the current regulars were still able to come.

We have a cake!

Today's celebration focused on the aspects of food and fun, and first was the food. Though the food is typical of common celebrations in my area, it still made the occasion special, especially as people could take what they like and however much they like. The final food spectacle of the day is a cake complete with a printed image of the emblem of the local raid group. The print was only a covering, sadly, and not an actual print over the cake, but the cake was great nonetheless.

It's a picnic and a celebration.

The fun element is what happened before and after the celebration with the game. Thanks to the addition of trades, players hit up one another to get a few special things while still gathered. After that, the fun was doing the activity this group is known for, which is raids. Many ended up hitting up a certain group of Gyms that are usually raided, with or without special events. I dare say that this really made players closer.

The ones who joined in the fun. (I'm in blue, near the middle.)

It's hard to believe that my local raid group is one year old, but it is. Though I wasn't in it for about half that time, it still feels special to relate to one another within the time I've been in the group. A lot of things have happened in and out of the game, and they'll continue to happen; it's a blessing that I and the other players have connected with and supported each other through the group.

I look forward to future milestones that I and my local raid group will have.

One year ago: Under 100 Hours?