I downloaded Pokemon Go exactly one month ago today, and it has absolutely improved my life. Granted, I flailed a bit before I figured out how to catch anything, but given that the first time I logged into World of Warcraft I sat for five minutes while I was attacked by a ... very low level thing (IDK, its been seven years) in the human starter region until I died, I feel catching my first pidgey two hours in is a pretty good learning curve.
My starter is a bulbasaur I've named Daisy, and while she's 58cp trash she's very dear trash to me. After I downloaded Pokemon Go I became obsessed with walking around the neighborhood looking for anything I could find. Which admittedly, isn't much, but since this game is everything I've ever wanted since I was ten, I'm just as happy with my fiftieth rattata as with my first.
As a child my mom kept an eye on the games I played, and since I was of the Pokemon Generation she was pretty up on the individual pokemon and she watched the tv show with me sometimes. Ever since I moved back home after college she and I have our (adult lol) weekly tv shows we watch together. We don't have the same interest in games AT ALL though (I like card games and football, she likes board games and plays video games occasionally, and loves baseball) so playing Pokemon Go together is a new thing for us.
So, first off after downloading we wandered the house with AR on catching zubats and eevees. Pretty soon we ran into the log-on problems everyone else had, and for the next week or so we could only get on through my smartphone at random times, and for short bursts. My young cousin visited during this time, so we, being the awesome aunt and cousin we are, took her to the local Big City (she's a southern country girl and we couldn't wait to take her to a couple of the local attractions). While we were there I handed her my phone and we had a blast walking around catching anything we could. During lunch we ate at a Hard Rock Cafe and watched a nearby gym flip teams maybe every three minutes. I'm sure I'm now very unpopular with my aunt, as I not only helped my cousin pick the pastel hair color she wants to dye her hair for back-to-school, I also helped her catch the pokemon collector's bug. The things we do for the next generation. :)
For the last three weeks mom and I have formed a new routine of going to the local park and walking around, hitting pokestops and incubating eggs. We have been joined in this evening team by Everyone Else. Seriously, park attendance has more than quadrupled, by my rough estimate. Kids are walking with their parents, families are grinding for kilometers together, and I've seen multiple parents or grandparents getting their steps in while they incubate their kids'/grandkids' eggs. When rare pokemon pop up the word goes out across the park and everyone congregates on one field.
Guys, this is literally the future I've always hoped for. Plus, we live in a diversifying area, and now I'm seeing so many people meet at the park and go pokemon hunting together. My brother has made a whole lot of new friends, my mom and I have met people, and (most important of all!) my catcher's softball tan is evening out. ;)
My mom and I have spent so much time talking, sharing our day's events, and even telling stories to each other. I really love this new family time we've set up, and I just wouldn't have had the same experience with our normal schedules.
She downloaded the app on a new smartphone she bought this weekend. So far, we've learned the lessons from leveling my avatar, and she's gone to level eight in five days. (we also know how to hatch eggs, so it helps when you're not walking two miles and wondering why your non-incubated eggs aren't hatching!) We're having so much fun, we've met a ton of people, I've lost four pounds, and we've doubled our pidgey catching production. I hope they don't drop the second generation until I finish evolving this vulpex, but when they do I'll have enough eevee candy to evolve an espeon and umbreon immediately.
So, I guess the takeaway from this is take a friend or relative with you when you go, and happy hunting!
Random thought: I live in a grassy area, and I've had magikarp non-stop by my house for the last two days. What??