Pokemon Adventures

I know I’ve mentioned Pokemon Go in the past. But I think it deserves another go. Above all else, this blog is meant to be a little time capsule of Elijah and Luca’s lives. And I want them to truly understand just how important this little mobile game is to our lives in 2016.

Our house currently runs on a Pokemon Go based economy. Do your piano practice? Play Pokemon Go. Leave a wet towel on your bedroom floor? I taketh Pokemon Go away. I cannot believe I am writing these words, but the boys don’t even really play Xbox in favor of the game. I don’t even know who they are anymore.

I’ve stopped feeling conflicted about it. Yes, it involves a screen. But the boys have had more fresh air this summer than their entire lives up to this point. We’ve discovered more of our hometown on foot or on bikes than the original white, middle class explorers of Evanston in 1830.

And we’ve had close to honest to goodness adventures on our hunts.

A few Sundays ago, Luca and I trekked out on our bikes to find some Dickerdos or Flubbywubs. He had heard rumor that Pokemon spawned like rabbits over by his grade school. 

Despite having 3 different apps on my phone that tell me the weather, it began to pour rain ten minutes into our ride. This was the first time Luca had ever gotten caught in the rain and it was glorious.  I buried my guilt at having this moment happen almost 6 full years into his life and concentrated on the joy in his eyes as he realized there was simply nothing we could do but get soaked on the street. He also learned that one’s underpants are the best place to put your phone during a downpour.

The other night, we were walking a giant loop in our neighborhood and were flush with excitement over catching that one Pokemon with a big tongue and we came across a bunch of pre-teens doing pre-teen stuff (succumbing to the horrors of hormones).

Luca was highly intimidated by the big kids. As was I. I encouraged him to talk Pokemon with them. “Tell them about the Flobbyjoe you caught.” Luca inched towards them and in a small voice mentioned his get. The boys reacted like real middle schoolers and not like movie middle schoolers. They simply said, “Oh. Cool.” And then ignored us. But we both felt the victory.

As we strolled home, one of the boys warned us that there were scary murder clowns in the area. We did not want to catch them.