"How my local PoGo community rallied for One of Our Own"

#PokemonGO: When raids started, it was hard finding players outside of your own small circle. We are in a medium size town. Very little gym turnover. I started a Raid chat on FB with 9 other players. In a week we grew to 50 and now we have a waiting list. One day while at work, a young man and his friends came in and noticed all my Pokémon stuff around the store and asked if any of us play PoGo. My clerk said that we both did but that I was a hardcore player and raider. They commiserated over being Instinct and not having any luck taking gyms. He added us on FB and my clerk added him to our chat. He was ecstatic over finding friends who were just as excited about playing as he was. He threw himself in with vigor and raided hard. He loved to battle Ttar and did every legendary raid he could. He worked at our local university and would keep us posted on raids there.He had been quiet since Christmas. He didn’t feel well but we fully expected him to be out in force this week.He passed away today. He was 31. He was smart, nerdy, joyful, hilarious, and well loved.The entire community all teams, agreed to turn every gym in town yellow. It’s been countless messages and a true Team Harmony effort to maintain them.We were his chosen family. And his absence will be felt as long as we all play this game.The game is a lot of things. Frustrating. Unfair. Redundant.But Niantic wanted this game to bring people together.We hate that this was why. But we are so grateful it did. via /r/pokemongo http://ift.tt/2EGBAoW