Pokémon Go Community Day, 5/21/2022

It's another late edition of Community Day this month, but as they say, it's better to be late than never. And that might also apply to a few other aspects for this edition, particularly a few regarding how that is organized in my local area. For years, I've had casual meetups in different places with different people for different editions of the event, and that's pretty much how Community Day itself began and what it still is today, as a driver of casual meetups where Trainers can socialize in addition to doing things in Pokémon Go. Over time, though, that has "evolved", not only in its event aspects but meetup aspects as well, and that's something that has to be particularly notable, even for this edition.

But first, there are always the usual aspects or "bones". This month, the featured Pokémon is Alolan Geodude - and only that and its species family, making it the first realization of a "regional form" Community Day; Kanto Geodude may still have the possibility of appearing later on. When evolved fully to Alolan Golem, it gets the Fast Move of Rollout, which is always an interesting move no matter the game. The main bonus for this edition is tripled Stardust for captures, but there are also double Candy and Candy XL bonuses in effect as additional bonuses. All of these are still nice to have, for this and any other Pokémon that may just become featured in Community Day later on.

As usual, Lure Modules and Incense are extended for three hours, which should cover the duration of the event, now back to three hours and for this one being from 11 AM to 2 PM. Then there are the photo bombs, commemorative stickers, item packs in the Shop, and the extra paid Special Research, this time titled "A Rocky Road" and exploring the characteristics of the regional species family. New to this edition is the ability to purchase the extra paid Special Research as a gift to Great Friends and up who haven't gotten it. That is notable for increasing camaraderie, as the friends who receive this as a gift are likely to be inclined to participate and join in the fun, perhaps with the closest community possible.

From the previous edition, the trade discount and extra Special Trade bonuses are retained; this is beneficial in the current case, as Alolan Graveler as the next stage of evolution can evolve with no Candies to Alolan Golem if it had been previously traded (including possibly Lucky ones), and thus the bonuses facilitate just that. The same is true for the "Group Play Bonus", this time pertaining to Stardust instead - catch enough Pokémon at a Lure Module and the triple becomes quadruple. Research tasks also mostly defaulted to "catch 3" and Candy rewards were absent (in a way, "normalized"). But the most important thing that is (or was) retained was the local meetups and the support for them from Niantic.

Thanks to the success of the previous edition's meetups, many of them were repeated, and that applied to the one in my local area as well. This time, my local organizer received the proper supporting goodies from Niantic, which was distributed for a good number of attendees that came first. I was one of them, luckily, and I received those goodies, which I will detail in a separate post. Along with the personal goodies, a community goodie in the form of an official banner was introduced, and that became the defining element in the group photo taken moments after Community Day started and after a number of attendees had claimed their merchandise, including myself (I'm on the right of it):

This reminds me of my very first EX Raid.

One footnote is that the meetup was supposed to be held in the same place as the previous edition, but as the place became restricted in access, it was changed to a park, which happens to be the one closest to where I live and where I've had past Community Days. In that way, I was blessed in having the gathering closer to home this time around. Meanwhile today, after the three hours of catching plus the two-hour extended evolution window, I evolved the best regular one, best Shiny one, a Lucky one, and ones for possible usage in Great League and Ultra League. The Alolan Golem I received from the paid Special Research wasn't too shabby either, and that capped off a mostly good turnout for everyone.

Evidently, from all the elements mentioned above, Community Day in Pokémon Go has really expanded and therefore "evolved" its event aspects over time, and its meetup aspects have followed suit, to the point that now a local meetup in my area can now be fully supported by Niantic and be part of the grander scale of meetups around the world. The casualness is still there, but it is now supported by common goals and grand goals that are held together by the fabric of local groups wherever they might be, as with mine above. In that sense, the goal of Community Day has been continuously achieved with reinforcing feedback over successive editions, including this rocky and electric one.

One year ago: Anime with Mixed Language Content?

Two years ago: More Virulent Impacts

Three years ago: Respect for Rica Matsumoto

Four years ago: Throwing Poké Balls

Five years ago: Cosplay: East and West