(Routine or Special) Local Ex-Raid, 7/20/2018

Depending on how players perceive them, Ex-Raids can be a routine thing or still be a special thing. It can be routine once a player has experienced many of them, yet it can also be a special thing since even players may or may not regularly experience them due to the effort needed for partaking in one. I myself have been in 10 of these since I started to partake in them, and I can say it's both; it's routine because it's trivial to get to participate in one and special because it doesn't always happen for me (notably, including one for this game's second anniversary). The same can be said of today's Ex-Raid for both qualities.

There were a number of things that made the Ex-Raid this time routine. The "qualification" for this one was a simple one that occurred while I was out doing some errands and made some time to play; I only needed to raid the place where the Ex-Raid happens to get one, and sure enough, I got my Ex-Raid Pass off of a fortunate Manectric. From then on it was only a matter of reporting to my raid group that I got one and the division of battle flights with the rest of the players that got one as well. And then when the day came, I only needed to battle as scheduled before having the chance of capturing Mewtwo; both were smooth and successful, though it seems I got the short end of the shaft again as my Mewtwo was not very strong. Given all of these, it really does sound like it's a routine thing.

The Mewtwo in question.
(Sorry, no photo. Everyone quickly disappeared.)

Yet this Ex-Raid was special in a number of ways. Prior to this, my raid group had quite expanded with a handful of new members, so they were informed about Ex-Raids and how to "qualify" for one, and indeed some of them did, which made this their first one. While I wasn't able to oversee their performance, I can only assume that it went well. Another thing that made this one special is that this was not the only Ex-Raid in my area; a Gym some distance away which appears possible for hosting an Ex-Raid "broke through" and hosted one, at exactly the same time. Thus some of the players who would usually participate in the usual place got their Ex-Raid Passes and participated there instead. This seems to bode well for the expansion of Ex-Raids in my area, and that is a special thing indeed, as are the other things.

Ex-Raids will continue to happen for a fact, and that alone makes them routine, especially for those in the know, like most everyone in my raid group. But then again, efforts have to go into one to partake in one and make them successful, and this evokes a special quality. However they're regarded, they're still something to deal with, and if they're dealt with properly, the results can be amazing, no matter how routine or special they are. May they remain both, especially in my case.

One year ago: On Pokémon Promotional Toys