SwitchCon

As a linguist who's a Pokémon fan, I love to break down any matter related to both. That includes terms that may be conceived by fans around me (like one in the past year). One of those terms is the term that I've presented as the title of this post. It's a term that applies particularly well to the people in my raid group in pursuit of Meltan, or any Pokémon Go player with similar goals. And of course, it involves the Nintendo Switch and a process that I've outlined with the LGP/LGE games on discussing their uptake.

Actually, I have to admit that the term as I presented above is a translated presentation of the original term as perused by the fellows in my raid group. The original term combines "Switch" - which is obvious - and a word for "gathering". In translation, "gathering" is synonymous with several words that begin with "con" like "convention", "congregation", and "conference", so that was what I chose. It's a bit of a neologism, and I don't expect for it to catch on widely, but at least I've presented the original understanding of the term and a way the term could be generally used.

Regarding its possibility for me, I'm not sure when I will be able to participate in another "SwitchCon" so that I could transfer one of my Pokémon to the LGE owned by one of my raid fellows and have another chance to open the Mystery Box to catch more Meltan. I also haven't traded away any of the Meltan I caught by opening the Mystery Box... after I had completed the Meltan Special Research, of course. I'd love to be able to have the chance to open up the Mystery Box again, but I'll need to have done away with the previous Meltan I caught that are subpar and have no plans for.

The situation gets slightly more complicated as one did take place at a regional gathering that I wished I could have gone to, though on a more limited basis. Meanwhile, a friend (who doesn't play Go) had informed that he has LGP and it's being actively played (in fact, it has been completed), which means that there is a second possibility for a SwitchCon to take place with my friend. It is as equally intriguing for some of the fellows in my raid group, though it would need to be discussed quite further. Perhaps all of us need to get together to really plan things out, and then a SwitchCon just may happen.

Though I don't know when the next SwitchCon will occur, it remains wise to think about how it might happen and with whom it might happen. Given things that recently transpired, these are good things to think about in the hope that it might be realized soon. It's also wise for me as a linguist to take note of language phenomena such as terms and to break them down for my understanding as well as others. And if they involve Pokémon like this one does, they become all the more relevant for me, as well as other fans.

One year ago: Private vs. Public Raids?
Two years ago: The Times They Are a-Switchin'