It is 10:30 at night as I make my way down the crowded middle median of Orange Avenue, surrounded by the faces of familiar Coronado residents and also strangers. I was welcomed warmly by a friendly group of “Pokemon trainers” who were working their way up the ladder on their way to becoming Pokemon Masters. I decided to ask them a few questions, given that it is not a normal occurrence for Coronado to be so hustle and bustle after nine in the evening, especially with such a large age range, from two year olds to eighty year olds in my view at the moment. The group preferred to stay anonymous, so I will be referring to them as trainers.
In order to break the ice, I decided to see if they were true Pokemon fans, given that they were of the millennial age-group (mid to late twenties). I asked them if they were original fans of Pokemon, to which they all eagerly responded yes, “The movies, the T.V. show, the games, Pokemon was a late nineties thing, I mean, we all know the theme song!”
Then I was treated to a beautiful adaptation of the Pokemon theme song; although a bit off key, I still enjoyed it. The trainers said it was all about the Game Boy, and how Pikachu was the star of the show, and everyone had their own “yellow” player.
After talking with them for a while about their levels, the skills involved, and how well they were doing in the game, I asked them the most important question, why at night? The trainers did not even hesitate with their answer. The quietest one spoke up first. “It’s HOT! It is hot during the daytime, and at home!” Another trainer then spoke up, “We also work, and when you work from 12 to 8:30, you cannot really go Pokemon hunting during the day.”
They both had extremely sound logic, but why stay in the Orange Ave. median where you could get wet with time sensitive sprinklers when there are many other Poke-stops that are not threatening a surprise shower? Turns out they are not even from Coronado; in fact, they are San Diego natives who travel every night to a new part of the city which have massive “lure areas” where all of the Pokemon trainers hang out and catch Pokemon together.
Interested in starting to play yourself? Read on.
The trainers gave me insight on what new trainers should do when getting started.
First, pick the correct location. “Different Places have different types of Pokemon, i.e. water Pokemon are near the ocean, while the land tends to have the more grass and rock type.”
If you want to catch a lot of the common ones, they recommended Balboa Park, before and after dark, and also Seaport Village. You’ll find crowded areas when people place lures on two or three close PokeStops and then they’ll have “Poke Parties” where ages from two to eighty-two come and hang out together trying to catch these small animated computer characters.
All together, the Pokemon Go night time scene has brought Coronado streets to life with all ages trying to catch them all, even with sprinklers threatening to go off.
