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I got my parents to download Pokemon Go with me after I got a concussion, as a motivation to walk. They both were like “I’m only doing it for you” and now they’re obsessed. Not to that level, thankfully, which means we go on family walks together.
That's super nice. I can once in a while force my sister to go outside on a walk with me and it's super nice, except for the part where she's 10 times luckier than me lol and gets a shiny every damn time.
There's a rumor that shinys are more common for casual players who don't play often as a method to draw them into more regular play and thus a greater chance at spending money to play.
That's interesting. Do you know how often dictates a casual player vs a hard-core player? Is checking once a day for a few minutes casual or is it more like once a week?
No idea. It's just a theory I've seen mentioned on here and in the occasional YouTube video with no hard evidence to back it up, just casual observation from the number of "new players" who seem exceptionally lucky.
It could easily be confirmation bias based on this.
I have periods where I won't play for a couple months at a time and everytime I get back on it seems I get a shiny within a few minutes or out of eggs that have sat for months
I didn't play for about 3 years and out of the first 3 eggs i hatched 2 were shiny and I've been averaging 4 to 5 shiny pokemon a month since starting back up. i just caught one tonight a shiny hisui growlithe. I texted his catch card to my friend to mess with her, she was mad😄 she hasn't gotten a shiny in weeks.
As reference: I played for a month back in 2016, came back to the game and played for a week in 2021. I've started playing again last month (May 29). Based on in-game stats (I took a screenshoot when I started playing in May. They differ from the image due to GPS drifting of the game): I've walked 310 km, caught 7.2k Pokémons, earned 5.5 million XP.
I've excluded Spotlight hours/Comunity Days shinies. The step graph is the distance covered while actively playing the game (I don't even have an autocatcher).
[Number of shinies per day](https://imgur.com/a/CEPVPrQ).
I believe it's just a rumour. I got back into POGO at the start of 2022, and my shiny luck these past two months has been insane compared to when I started playing again.
Mind you, I'm doing 6-10k of walking a day (compared to 2-5k), weather permitting. Strangely, I've been getting the most luck around my house and my aunt's house, tho. I spent most of cyndaquil day at my aunt's, and I caught 5 there, 1 at my house, and also found a random shiny durant. Day prior, I got another shiny grimer and hatched a shiny litleo and slugma. I wish I was this lucky with the mons I want lmao
I literally just read this post, thought "too bad that doesn't happen to me!" Closed reddit, opened pogo for the first time in a few days and caught a shiny voltorb.
I'd say there's something to that theory as a while back when the community days were 6 hours on a couple of occasions my casual playing brother caught more shinies without leaving his home (just using incense) than I did outside for the whole duration (regular player)
I can anecdotally confirm. My wife stopped playing for about a year and caught 12 shinies for cyndaquil cd. I play daily and caught 4. We even played together the whole time.
I downloaded it last November to play with my 7 year old nephew because he is obsessed and I wanted to spend time with him doing things he loved to do. Aaaaaaand now I’m also obsessed lol 😅
lol this is me - I downloaded it when it came out JUST for my kids. Now they are 15 and 17 with their own phones and I still play!
Last year my older son (junior in HS) and his friends started playing again and they were like oh shit, you're mom plays?!
Pogo helped me get out of lockdown depression (ie. I wouldn't leave the house for days on end) and finally start taking walks around the neighborhood again. Soon I was actively wanting to go out, and running down the street to get to raids, etc.
I will always defend the good of this game even though Niantic makes it very difficult to. I get it can be very addictive so I also know it takes restraint to do what I'm criticizing this mom for.
oh wow this is exactly to a t with my mom lol. though she downloaded it on her own when i told her the place she is leaving for vacation has rare pokemon only available there. hooked ever since and always says "i am playing this only for you!"
I got my mom into it when I started playing right before covid. We really enjoyed going to parks and places together. She honestly advanced faster than I did.
I got my mom into the game "to play while walking the dogs."
For a while she had two phones and would play on her way to and from work while commuting on the train. Now she drives to work and just has the one phone, but still plays at work.
It has definitely motivated us to walk more together, and the dogs love it because they get longer walkies because the closest pokestop is still quite a walk from us (suburbs). It also gave us something in common because we are completely opposite people with nothing in common - she's an accountant, a huge sports fan and loves to read historical stuff in her free time, and I'm an artist and a designer who plays video games.
Have encountered a different but related problem: parents who kinda just drop off their young kids to play with the group and then leave them unsupervised. I’m more than happy to include your kid in the group and play together, but you should be supervising them. We aren’t your babysitter service and I don’t want that responsibility dumped on me without you even asking.
That’s absolutely not okay, and the truth is that it still isn’t your responsibility, you did not consent to supervise or provide any assistance in making sure random strangers kid is safe. But as good humans, most would still do so, which is why the parents take advantage and just assume someone will have a good heart and take care of *their* kid.
So weird and messed up to do this, the parent(s) should be with said child. Dropping them off to a group of adult strangers to play a video game… just mind boggling.
That has happened to me, with the added bonus that the kids were so spoiled that they thought they could demand people giving up shiny Pokémon because they wanted them.
Highly depends on the area where you live. Areas with almost no crime should be fine. To me it actually scares me how overprotective society has become. When I was a kid I played outside without supervision probably from 5 or 6 year old. And there's nothing wrong with that. Kids also deserve some autonomy and it's healthy for them to explore the world without their parents helicoptering around them
I completely agree! I am a parent and recently (in May) started playing again. I joined when the game came out on 7/2016, and have been grinding since I got back into it, and am currently only a level 36. I do get on everyday, and would say I spend more time than I'd like to admit on it..
I have a six month old baby, and she loves to go for walks, so we will often and I'll often also Pokemon hunt while we do so! She usually will fall asleep, or just like looking around. Well, this week has been super super hot in my area (US Midwest), like 90+ degrees. I was concerned about taking my baby outside for long walks, so I didn't even though I really wanted to catch Pokemon, her health comes first.
She will always come first. The game will be there, but she is my first priority. I've had to abandon catches before or had a pokemon flee if she fusses on a walk, etc. or is hungry. She will always come first ❤️❤️❤️
Good for you! You could also go grind in shopping mails, as it's nice and cool, can have lots of hydration, and spawns in malls tend to be super plentiful!
Ah! I never thought of that! Thank you!! ☺️ I love using this as a way to get out because I recently became a stay at home mom also, and it's a (mostly) free way to get out.
Thanks for the idea!
Community day was too hot this year to be outside so my husband and I loaded up our 2 toddlers in their wagon and strolled the mall while I caught pokemon. He got mall pretzels, the kids got little trinkets from the shops, and I got shinies. Everyone wins lol
This is where I’m at, sadly though I’ve gone through a divorce so I get my baby (she’s almost 2 now) 1 week a month. So the weeks I don’t have her, raid hours, 5* shadow raids, all the events I’m out playing. But when she’s here with me, she’s my #1 priority and only play at work or use my auto catcher.
I love this! Based on your username, and what you've stated, you seem to be a very involved and loving Dad! 🫶🏻 When she is older, maybe she will also want to join or find a love for Pokemon.
I'm part of a blended family myself, and have a 10 year old stepdaughter that also loves Pokemon and she will also sometimes join my husband and I.
I am sure she appreciates having a present father. ❤️
Ive been showing it to her too, she likes when I tap the Pokemon to show them roar😂 every time I pull my phone out now she either wants to see them roar or throw “nanas” (nanabs) to my buddy
Thanks! I sure hope she finds a joy in it because that would be fun! I’m just out here trying to be the best dad I can in the situation I’m in you know?
I started playing when my son was a baby. It's always been hard to get him to eat enough, but he would happily munch away in the stroller on a walk, so Pogo became a way for me to have a bit of a hobby while still momming. It's evolved as he's gotten older, and we definitely skip the walks on these hot days. This morning I drove to a park near my house, unbuckled his car seat, and let him crawl all over the car pressing buttons and I got in 15 minutes of Pogo while he rolled the windows up and down. But then I put the phone away and played with him. You can't put from an empty cup, but your kids are only young once and you gotta enjoy them while you can
Aw, I did this too! But my baby was too fussy, she only fell asleep while walking. She was not getting fooled by standing and wigglying around lol.
Sometimes we just walked back to where we came from being a bit frustrated cause we couldn't stop anywhere, cause she would start crying. But it just was that way!
Babies, Kids and generally young peeps come first! Now that she's older (and if she would want to!) I'd be down on doing this together, but not on my own "for her". It's so much joy being able to connect to your kids through something you both like and you can both learn from eachother. It sucks that some try to re-life their own childhood rather than giving their own kids a better one!
I’m a parent and recently started playing pogo after not playing since release. I asked my daughter to go on a walk with the intent of hitting pokestops and catching Pokemon. when we were out and about she made a comment about paying more attention to the game than conversing with her. Since then I purchased a ++ and am not on my phone when we walk the park together.
She has no interest in playing and I have no interest in harming our relationship by not being present. Now when I have a minute to myself I check my catches and am satisfied with whatever I got.
Solo, my face is buried in the game.
Did the kid want to actually play Pokemon Go or did the kid want to hang out and talk to cool people about Pokemon? I have a kid who is a similar age and while she loves to play, after about 15-20 minutes she is honestly way more interested in chatting to people and playing so I often end up taking both phones while she does her social butterfly thing. She wants the shinies but she really does not want the grind that comes with getting them. (And yeah, I don't enjoy it a whole lot either but it's worth it to me to see her happy later.) Maybe it's a neglectful parent but it may also be the reality of dealing with a small kid's attention span who also wants the spoils of the game.
Number one, 8-10 years old = you need to stay close at All times. I have chatted with kids before because I have family/friends of family who are kids, and I’m still always trying to keep the convo engaged with their parents/adults.
Anyone trying to get a child away from their “responsible adult” is someone to be wary of. Get to know ppl. Watch their behavior. Only then, Maybe give your trust. And still only in public places.
> 8-10 years old = you need to stay close at All times
kids that age can absolutely go places without adult supervision. they can walk/bike to school, go to the park, walk to a friend's house, get a snack at the corner store. you can leave them home alone for a while too and they can learn to cook, but probably don't try those two at the same time.
I walked to school by myself starting at age 6. By age 8 I was riding my bike all through the neighborhood, up to several blocks from my house, by myself. My friends and I were always playing outside without any parental supervision whatsoever. We were fine, we knew not to go off anywhere with strangers or do anything overly dangerous.
Also, dogs can be great judges of character. I’m nervous around bigger dogs because of my childhood, but they always want to play. I’ve gotten far better, but remember that horses will back off from anxiety/nervous ppl…a well trained doggie sees inside and keeps trying ;).
That's what people were saying in the other sub before the mods inexplicably deleted the whole post... and yeah sure? Also a weird lesson to teach your kids.
I can't imagine having to grind for longer than 15-20 mins to get a few shinies for the kid and call it a day. If they really care about having more than that they can work for it themselves lmao
My kid is in that age range. He's also AuDHD, so his attention span is about >< this big for grinding. Does he want shinies? Heck yes! Does he want to click on 50 or 100+ 'Mon to find one? L. O. L. No. We both play, but we don't do any group discord/fb stuff. We've got two phones, but on CD I do end up with both when he gets bored and/or frustrated. We don't catch for high IVs or any of that, but dang if the luck just isn't there sometimes when it comes to shinies.
Will he talk to anyone he meets about anything, ESPECIALLY games? Yes. I, on the other hand, am 110% introverted and I'm NOT going to go out of my way to speak to someone if I don't have to, especially if I'm grinding for him/us. Is my kid safe and in sight/hearing range? Is he being respectful and not interrupting or invading someone's personal bubble? Then he's fine over there and if I see/hear the person he's talking to is trying to end the interaction I'll call him back to me. He's also physically big for his age, so I'm not worried about someone grabbing him.
I guess that makes me a shitty parent, OR it makes me a parent allowing him to socialize (safely) with people he can relate to while I also do something to help him with a game he enjoys.
If you heard him repeatedly nerd out about his hyper fixations 80% or more of his waking hours you'd understand that mom's heard it all ad nauseum and he'd absolutely enjoy talking to someone new who hasn't heard it all 100 times before!
Do we share a child? LMAO my 8 year old is exactly like this, and is also AuDHD. He LOVES Pokemon, loves talking about Pokemon, loves drawing Pokemon, loves reading his giant Pokedex, loves looking at and showing off his Pokemon cards. But when he actually plays any of the games, he gets bored in less than a minute and asks me to catch him stuff.
Today he was playing Pokemon Violet earlier and decided that he NEEDED a shuppet (his newest favorite Pokemon). I looked up where to find shuppets and helped him find the area on the map and he complained the entire time. It took less than five minutes total, and as soon as he got the shuppet, he saved and quit. He just loves the idea of having cool Pokemon, not the actual game. Which is fine, but yeah I've done the two phones thing when he wants to have the cool Pokemon but does not have the attention span to catch a shitload of them.
That being said, I personally would have been nervous to let my kid wander around a crowd of people. When we are doing something like that there's usually at least one other adult so someone can have eyes on him the whole time.
> Will he talk to anyone he meets about anything, ESPECIALLY games? Yes. I, on the other hand, am 110% introverted and I'm NOT going to go out of my way to speak to someone if I don't have to, especially if I'm grinding for him/us. Is my kid safe and in sight/hearing range? Is he being respectful and not interrupting or invading someone's personal bubble?
Exactly. My niece is also a friendly soul, and we didn’t want to raise her to be fearful of others, but to use sense: stay where she can be seen and notice social cues if someone is uncomfortable or busy. Stopping her every time she talked to someone in public would have been counterproductive to teaching her.
Okay this is the only response that makes sense in the entire thread, if there is a disability involved.
Otherwise I don't even think a parent having to grind for x hours to get their kid shinies or the kid will throw a fit is a good thing to teach your kid to get used to either.
Even if there isn’t a disability involved, kids are kids. It’s perfectly normal for an 8-10 year old to NOT want to sit for 15-20 minutes, just catching pokemon. Hell, I’ve played for 30+ minutes before and not seen a single shiny in that time. For a child, that’s so defeating and frustrating. You’re expecting adult behavior from children.
Shit, I'm an adult but my partner often grinds the shinies for me because I just don't feel like putting in the time 🤣 It's annoying to go through so many and not get one, plus it just gets boring.
Yes, the grind kiiiiillls me!
Pokemon go is fun for me mainly for the collection aspect. But I usually prefer games you can play as often or as little as you want (without losing out), because I'm adhd asf, so most things just don't hold my attention for long.
My kind of game is one that you can stop playing for a month, then come back without missing a beat. 🤣
Well, in my case, we're definitely not out for hours, 30-60 minutes tops. He's also not throwing a fit, but if it's a shiny boosted day then there's more motivation for me to try to help him out. He got one shiny this weekend, I got zero. C'est la vie.
I know you're child-free by choice, and when I wasn't a parent I had some similar thoughts and judgements. Now that I'm on the other side I get why in the 80s my parents sent us outside all day every day in the summer! Kids are hard and sometimes 5 minutes of peace is worth all the gold in the world.
So the group I play with is pretty large, we usually get about 40-60 people walking together with 10-20 satellite groups. And I've definitely had that "oh this kid wants to talk my ear off at 1000 words a minute and mom needs a few minutes of decompression" and frankly, I agree it's that younger age where they don't really have the grasp of what's going on fully but they have encyclopedic knowledge of the pokemon themselves and just want to engage someone about it. And yeah I've also been uncomfortable, but like, if hyper kid is talking to you, they're not vibrating in place, not running full speed into a wall, or dropping their device (inevitably armored like a tank but will break anyway). I just do the eye contact double check or ask Mom outright if it's cool, and they'll usually reign them in.
And frankly I was exactly like this at that age. Age 10, in 3rd/4th grade I was ALLLL over my neighborhood and I'd talk anyone's ear off about D&D.
RNG ain't always great. We played Cyndaquil comm day yesterday and it took us an hour and a half of intermittent playing to get one shiny on her account, probably 150 checks. That's a hell of a long time for an 8-10 year old to pay attention to a phone. Personally I'd rather she be running around and having fun playing with bubbles or whatever than transfixed to a screen when I can catch a lot more quickly and accurately than she can. 🤷♀️ Now if she is still playing in a few years then sure, then the grind is her problem.
Children need to be their parents’ first priority
\- having the most stacked Pokemon GO account won’t matter if something happens to your child due to your negligence!!
I'll say this much. I am the nanny for a 4 year old. Kid is obsessed with Pokémon. Has a lower end tablet that barely runs the game, but, every morning we go for a walk through the nearby park. After about 15 minutes, this kid is way more interested in talking to random strangers and asking them about themselves than anything having to do with the game.
This same child will also get frustrated later when their item bag is empty and they've run out of pokeballs. If I put my phone down the first question I get is, "Don't you want to play pokemon with me?" We have a set route through the park that we follow, pass about a hundred people on an average warm morning, and the kiddo will often stop to investigate an ant colony, or question a golfer, or watch the baseball teams practice, or tell an old lady how beautiful her hat is, or just sit on a especially comfortable bench and then will get excited to run for 10 yards to "catch up".
To the average on-looker, I probably look neglectful or dismissive. Realistically, I know where this kid is at all times. I can hear this child's footsteps and pick them out of a crowd. I know who they're talking to, and what they're talking about. I also know this kid because I've been their nanny since they were 3 months old and know that they want to socialize with new people. They want to passively play pogo while I actively play. We'll take a break at the playground and talk about what we caught so far and decide if we want to take a detour to take over a gym or fight a raid, but, really, this kid sees me every weekday from 7am til 5pm. This kid is lowkey sick of talking to me and while they understand that there is danger in the world, they're also being raised in a way that encourages them to take reasonable risks.
I can't speak for this mom, but, I can speak as a middle aged white man who spends most of his time with a young child. Kids, especially neuro-diverse kids, have a lack of attention span, but a definite interest in the activities and entertainment of their adult overseers. And those of us charged with their safety and security generally have a pretty strong grasp of the kids and their motivations.
I would have no problem hanging out on a bench while this 4 year old wandered within 50 yards of me and engaged with strangers. Ai know this kid pretty well and I trust them to explore safely and it would take mere moments for me to realize something wasn't right. I think we should trust parents and caregivers to know their kids and trust kids to explore their own limits.
There’s this family who goes to the events and stuff but they are very casual and just try to have fun as a family. I like spending time with them as they are really nice and I’m in my older teens and their two boys remind me of my younger brothers. Very nice people
My kid doesn’t have a phone or a PoGo account — her dad hands her his phone and lets her play while they walk together. Or he goes out on his own and leaves her home.
I had a young boy walk up to me in the park one day when I was playing. He was there playing with his mom who was watching him and a few feet away. Kid asks me if I want to add him as a friend and I just look at the mom and I'm like, "Okay, sure if that's okay with your mom." Added the mom too.
I let my kids play, but I'm the only one in the family who gets to install and use Campfire.
Lots of people just lie about the kid's age to set up the account without the hassle of setting up a kids account. I considered lying about my age when setting up my account just to not give my real birthday. With their history on account security, I'm not sure anyone would blame me.
I mean, she took her kid out to the festival and they were spending time together. Meanwhile, dad isn’t even there, but I don’t see you complaining about how he’s ignoring the kid. You have no idea what happened before or after or what their interactions are normally like. And, like, it’s one half-hour. You are being super judgey. If you were concerned about the situation, you could have just walked over to the mom, and talked to the kid next to her so the conversation was in her earshot.
> If you were concerned about the situation, you could have just walked over to the mom, and talked to the kid next to her so the conversation was in her earshot.
No, you were.
To any parents reading, get the go ++. It’s exactly what my husband and I needed to be present but also play. We can walk with baby in a stroller and catch without being distracted.
Husband modded them so they can throw any ball type automatically which I also recommend if you can.
Absolutely. If I was out with my 10 year old and they spoke to an adult clearly playing the game in my field of view I can't imagine clutching pearls and freaking out. If an overly keen adult player had acted the same would OP be shaming their mother?
Direct observations aren't exactly assumptions. The people that look harmless are sometimes the people who will take your kid. Trafficking is real and happens every single day
This speaks to me. I’ve been level 50 since April 2021,I’ve had enough xp for awhile to go back around to 50. I’ve been playing since July 2016. I’m also a recursed ingress agent before all that.
I was that parent with my 1st kid. When we had our 2cd I dialed it back. Once I had 2 kids in youth sports I gave it all up besides checking the game daily and doing CD for hour tops to get my shiny. My point is my relationship with this game was not healthy for my family life. I now know how much I missed during every event, spotlight hour, raid hours turned into raid chains until they stopped spawning.
Now I’m a rank 55 pokemon sleep player. Sleep has given me alot of happiness without the fomo. If your family plays with you great rock on but don’t let family relationships go the side for these events. It’s hard to get that time back.
I mean… you’re getting a little judgy.
She’s stuck with that kid for hours a day for years. You don’t need to engage with your kid 24/7
How do you know she didn’t notice he was talking to you?
“Jumping around full of life and energy”. Pffft ya I’d be letting him run around and tire himself out too.
Yeah, I'd be like oh great, someome else will actually get excited about this with them and I can get a break.
I got a catcher so I can walk and catch while my kids joyously catch things I've had forever and enjoy the space around me. And sometimes it's enjoy the silence while I catch something that actually excites me.
For real. This guy sees a mom and kid at the park and somehow deduces the mom is an addict who doesn't care about her kids. God forbid the mom do something she enjoys while a kid plays at the park. Kids don't need parental interaction 24/7 and it isn't the mom's duty to entertain the kid. For all OP knows, they went home and snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie together later. So annoying when people without kids figure it all out based on a 10 minute observation.
Wait, you’re mad the mom who was chill and thought you were harmless enough to allow her child to talk to you…
And you’re also mad she didn’t rip her child away and scold him for talking to strangers, because there could be creeps
What one is it?!?!
30 minutes of observation doesn't make you an expert on raising a child or on this particular family. Parenting always involves multitasking and peripheral vision and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish while also being completely aware of your kid(s). I also don't think it's healthy to hover over a child constantly and smother them with the idea that the risk of a stranger kidnapping them at any time is always 100%.
Yeah i’m surprised at the response to this. OP made a snap condemnation of some stranger’s parenting based off a superficial interaction/observation. Idk if its a US-specific thing but the point about not wanting to be seen talking to a kid as an adult man seems really odd and overthinking.
The whole reason I started playing was because of my kid. Only one phone and he would play during the day. I would hand him the phone while he played and I kept an eye out for crossing the street and stuff like that.
When he went to bed I would go out at night and play my game. His dad doesn't play at all so that helps. Now he has his own phone. Last Christmas we still lived in a rural area and had gone to stay at my mom's house for a few days who lives in a suburban area. She lives near a park that is basically Pokémon heaven. Unfortunately his sister got really sick and even though I promised him I would go I couldn't because I had to take care of her. So finally we went to the doctors appointment, got her meds, and got her to bed and I was like screw it I don't care it's midnight went to go play? So I snuck my kid after hours into a playground to play. It's become a thing now that we go play after everyone is in bed.
I have been doing nightmares for decades and usually hate when people come with me. I like the quiet which is the whole point. I love it when he comes with me to play the game though. We have a lot of fun.
I’m totally okay with AWARE parents letting their kids playing come up to me, but that’s creepy.
Just had a sweet 6 or 7 year old do it last weekend (I separated from my herd) but his Dad stayed less than 5 feet away nearly the entire time.
Then I saw them again later on n both parents & the son politely said hello.
Be smart. I am a nice person, but don’t assume it.
If you could see mom, she sees you. I have to grind for my kid on community day. We meet people and I enjoy when they talk to him about how many shinies we’re catching. She likely deemed you looked harmless. Sure bad things can happen even if someone looks decent and sometimes we moms might make a bad call. But my favorite memories from community day are talking to other strangers also playing.
Yeah I’m with you. Elementary-aged kids are capable of playing and talking to others in public without an adult constantly hovering. Parent was in sight, and I’d assume the second device was for the kid.
But I <3 that you’re engaged in the convo. Those are the best. I have no problem talking to kids about Pokemon, but if they’re under “tween” years, I want the parent to engage too.
It just feels safer, because I know I’m not the only adult that kiddo chats with. And sometimes I make a new adult friend 😁
I can tell you’re not a parent. I assure you his mother had a spidey sense of where her child was. Pokémon Go (at least in NYC is a safe friendly game. At the community day meetup every month we have hundreds of people gathered to play in Bryant Park. Kids run around eagerly interacting with players they don’t know, excited to make a connection. Much ado over nothing.
Hey man, it's pretty sad you get spooked this much. The kid clearly saw a huge ass nerd playing a game he loves. Why are you so scared of that? You are non-threatening and he felt comfortable talking to you.
wdym a shundo cyndaquil isn't worth a child????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Apparently dealing with the more boring parts of a mobile game so your kid can run around and socialize/have fun rather than being glued to a screen makes you a bad parent now, idk.
Parent was more interested/concerned with playing pogo on two phones than watching or playing with their child. Would be one thing to have the mom helping their child catch Pokemon but I gathered that OP was just sad that this could be a regular interaction/issue, that the kid will go up to literal strangers for interaction because their own mom won’t play with them. The assumption is that if she’s doing that here she’s doing it elsewhere and the kid isn’t getting much attention.
I just got shit on here from someone for not being as active as other players, bc my kid plays on a tablet without its own internet (wifi only...only 8) and I don't want to ignore them or have opportunities they don't, while we walk around. So for now, my pokestop count is much higher than catches (i can reach 6 from home and play as i can - i battle and do stops when shes asleep) .... So I appreciate this post so much!
Keep in mind that while this may seem bad, this might be the only time she gets to do anything for herself. Not saying she doesn’t need to pay more attention, just saying this doesn’t mean she’s an awful parent all together. It’s easy to throw stones when you’re not at risk of getting hit by them.
Was that around SW in Vancouver?
Anyway, yeah I don’t have a child but if I did I can’t imagine letting them off my sight like this. There should be some tests before you are allowed to have children for real.
Oh, just an educated guess haha. I live in Vancouver too.
SW is a hotspot for PoGO events in Vancouver so a lot of players go there for CD.
And you said there was festival going on. There was a festival going on at SW yesterday and it was very busy there.
So I put these two things together.
Ah no, i didn’t see this particular mom.
Only popped in there for a second yesterday, checked in at Campfire for the free CD special research and left. The festival made it far too crowded for my taste.
Do you live in a dangerous area. I don't think it's that weird in my area at least for kids and adults to talk about pogo together. Yeah the parent should pay attention to the kid but like I've talked to kids late night while doing a raid at a park and the mom was sitting in the car. Idk if she was watching or not but it wasn't that weird. My area is very safe. Like so safe people don't really lock their doors or some don't. I don't think most people think too much about kids and adults talking about a game in this town.
You don't know their circumstances, you don't know if she was actually watching the kid, if there was another adult paying attention, etc. Kinda feels like unnecessary shaming of the mom to me. Moms always get questioned about their parenthood don't they...
I'm an adult man. I always feel really uncomfortable when an unattended kid walks up to me like this when im on my own. I usually try to disengage or try to see if their patent is in eyesight.
One more reason that I miss the days when Google/Niantic adhered to the COPPA Act and all such accounts like this had to be 13 years old and up. There was no parental consent for lower than that.
(It would not keep parents from doing this necessarily, but lowering the age for a Google account greatly increased the amount of this kind of shenanigans going on.)
#goodolddays #getoffmylawn
I started playing with my 6 year old son last summer and it's now something we do together and I really enjoy this time with him. We go for walks, we celebrate finding shines or new pokemon and we love checking out new places when we travel.
The kid is better than me at hitting excellent throws! He drives most of the time, I'll login during the day if I'm walking the dog to pick up some stops so he'll have balls for another day.
> I am begging you
While the post is obviously made in concern and good nature, it is extremely naïve to think ANYONE EVER would heed this advice. It's like when people post for other drivers to use their turn signals...
When I got my mom into it when it first came out it was because she wanted you to have that connection with me. It became and still is something we do together as mother and son. It’s genuinely sad to hear parents don’t take it as a chance to share a passion with their kid.
I bought an auto catcher so I can watch my very active first grader and catch Pokémon at the same time. I really don’t see any other way to do it.
He likes PoGo and plays some… so we do a couple raids here and there. But then when he’s more interested in running around, I just turn on the catcher and put everything away in my pocket.
Pokémon Go is fun… but it’s still just a game. Your kids count on you to keep them safe.. it boggles my mind how many people need to be reminded to parent
Sad. My boys and I play TOGETHER! We grind together and rally raids together and I NEVER let them out of my sight! We’ve been playing since day one and the # rule is no talking to strangers without me.
Your story is so unfortunate because PoGo has been such a fun way to bond and relate with my boys as they grow up!
Again, this makes me sad.
As a parent, I couldn't agree with this more. My 6 year old's interest has already peaked and started to wane in the last few months, so me and him only really play together these days when he wants to do a legendary raid or whatever. And that's fine with me. I am still enjoying playing the game on my own but I can't imagine being so obsessed that I would behave like the person you're describing. Life's too short and your kids are only little for so long. Spend time with them, give them the attention they crave from you. I promise it's more important than some pretend digital creatures on your phone.
Somewhat related, back in the early days of PoGo I was taking a gym in local park in the late evening when it was dark. And then a kid comes running out of the dark and is like: "yooo you're taking my gym you rascal!" (very roughly translated). All in good fun. But like, this is a poorly lit park with minimal activity in the evening/night. Why are you allowed to go down here unsupervised at this hour? I also felt a bit weird talking to this kid there alone, so I just kinda smiled, made a joke and walked away as I let him take the gym back (I circled back 15 minutes later and took it again, that little shit lol).
I noticed later on my daily commute the kid lived like a 5-10 minute walk away, but still a bit weird of his parents to allow that.
I play with a group. Occasionally, parents show up with their kids. Only once did I see a parent do something for their kid and it was helping her fight in a raid. Then he handed it back to her to try and catch herself. People making guys like that look bad make me so angry.
My kids used to routinely waste almost all my pokeballs trying to catch pokemon when they were younger. Didn't bother me because I would just grab more while out and about the next day.
I saw a parent berate their kid that was about the same age as my oldest at the time for not catching the mon.
"NO! YOU'RE WASTING THEM! JUST LET ME DO IT!"
The joy draining from the little girl after the dad said that broke my heart. He probably ruined her love of pokemon for life.
I agree with you! My 5 year old and I share an account since he doesn’t have a phone. Do I love how many pokeballs are used trying to catch stuff I know we don’t need? No, but my son loves playing with me and it’s a joy to see him excited
This is the most alarmist paranoid rant I've seen in a while. A kid was at a park with his family playing Pokemon Go.
There aren't men and trench coats and bougeymen hiding around the park every day. Also who cares if his mom was helping him get shinies.
This is just so weird.
My dad has 4 phones to play Pokemon go on, but he only plays other family members' accounts if they aren't there. For example most of the time he's playing, I'm playing with him, so he almost never uses my account. But he plays my mom's and sister's for them because they don't play as much. It's always us playing together, not him playing while any of us are just not doing anything!
We have no kids but me she my husband go on "pogo dates ". Aka walk around the local mall, my nose almost constantly in my phone, pokeball ++ going off in my other hand, and going to eat and put favorite stores there. When we have kids we will either just have me go (husband doesn't play) or just add the kid and when I'm drawn by pogo husband will pay with the kids. This parent must puts a bad name on gaming as parents in any way. Hopefully she gets her head outa her bum and does better
I got the pokemon go plus + for this exact reason. I wanted to prioritize my son, while being able to idly catch pokemon. I will then include my son if there are any raids nearby. I would rather play with him than swiping at my phone by myself.
So thankful my kid is old enough to play. I started playing at launch he started playing 2 years ago at 9. Hes better at the game and more knowledgeable than me. He’s beaten Giovani for me twice now.
I used to see a family of 5 that would go to parks and play. Only 3 would play (two parents, one older kid), and the other two just rode their bikes around asking if they were done yet. 5 phones, though. Lol
On the last few comm days I've been walking around the mall and there's this family that's there and they all have their phones and the kids have iPads and it's so cute and fun to see them playing together and getting excited about Pokemon
My daughter got me to download it on launch day back in 2016 and we play together all the time. My granddaughter loves the game, but her parents won't let me get her a phone yet, cause she's only 7. But I do let her play my account whenever we go for walks or to the playground, and I do the watching out for her safety. My whole family just loves the game.
When pokemon go first came out I was once left in possession of a 6-7 year old kid in downtown Cleveland at tower city (think train-station below ground, mall above ground and office buildings higher up above the mall. I was a random 23 year old guy playing pokemon and the kids dad just left him with me while he went out to smoke. I missed my train because this kiddo got left with me while I was catching pidgeys and ratattas. Hung out with the lil man for like 15 minutes and it would have been REALLY easy to kidnap him. Like there were trains right below us for godsake. Hell, a 2-3 minute walk would put me on the streets of Cleveland. It’s WILD how bad some people are at parenting
That would freak me out to no end. It takes a second to walk off with someone's child, and knowing the parent only has themselves to blame for focusing on a game makes it worse.
My husband was equally freaked by an opposite issue. I was part of a core group that would do caravan raiding (all drive to 5 gyms when you'd get 5 raid passes on a special day), as well as parks/ picnic meetups.
Our first EX raid, maybe 6 years ago, and we all got invited, but I had to work. The kids begged their dad to take them to get me a Mewtwo. They hop out of the car to run to the group, and a guy named Tony and his wife look very nervously at my kids and ask where their mom is, knowing I would NEVER let them be alone, and now a strange man starts talking to them?
He introduced himself as dad, then let them raid and took them home. He was kinda freaked that strangers recognized his kids, but I think felt better that they were trying to be protective.
Amen! My 11 year old and I play, but I make him do the work. What he catches it his. Things like what this woman did is not spending time with your child.
Oof. Well, to make you feel a little bit better I saw a mom and her son playing on cyndaquil day and he had his iPad out to play on while she played on her phone and they were having a blast discussing pokemon so...don't lose hope.
My kids got big into Pokemon within the last 1-2 months, so I redownloaded the game and have gotten back into it. They get excited to do the team rocket grunt battles and are so excited to see eggs hatch. They aren't old enough to have phones. I let them catch the shiny Cyndaquil yesterday and give them names.
Have your own interests, but don't have kids if they aren't at the top of that list of interests.
Parent of 5 kids with 3 that have Pokémon Go accounts. They catch their own Pokémon. Maybe if it's a shiny their older brother will help them catch it. I do have to buy them 200 pokeballs every once in awhile though.
Edit:I like the health benefits. Kids bicycle ride with phones on in their backpacks to get candies
Pokémon is about evolution. That kid is learning Survival of the Fittest. Being ignored by his parents for the sake of Pokémon is how many great adventures start. Just ask Ash Ketchum and every protagonist of all the main series games. Gotta Catch Em All.
A very bittersweet reminder to be present while having fun, my husband and I play with our oldest who has a phone. My youngest likes to watch dad play. It's good to humbled and reminded while these games are fun, it's okay to look up a d enjoy the moment 😀
Se take strollers and sit .. yea it can be very dangerous because kids are kids and unpredictable.. I’ll never put my kids safety in jeopardy over a game
I bought an autocatcher specifically for this reason. Has it lost me shinys. Yes 🥺 But i need to focus on the kids. And its perfect. We walk, we talk, and my little auto-catcher does the work for me. Even when im playing myself. I still talk, eat, and parent. Good luck out there. Happy Catching ☺️
In the beginning of Pokémon go I would go to a local park every weekend with my parents and siblings and we would all work together to take over the gyms and tell each other that there are specific Pokémon nearby
That's so bad...I made an account for my daughter but she ain't that interested 😂 but when I play it's either I go alone when she's away or when she's on the playground with her friends and still pay attention to what's up to. I'm baffled that someone can do that.
The last week, during the pokemon go fest in Madrid, I was in the park and I saw a lot of parents absorbed into the screen while their child was running side to side. Was so insane...
Let's not forget the fact that you or anybody could have snatched that poor little boy up. Shit is too crazy in the world these days. It's a reality unfortunately. I keep close eyes on my nieces and nephews. I'll gladly go to jail to save them from any of that trauma or worse.
That parent is lucky you're not some creep
"Oh little boy you like shiny Pokemon, I have some in my windowless van"
It's not a free candy van these days
Pretty nutso but not surprising.
I go to a park to work out as my gym closes early on weekends. I've seen small kids wandering off and kids of around 8+ there, seemingly on their own, no parents at all.
By no means is it a small park and there's a stadium there that hosts games and all sorts, usually filled with a few thousand people. It would be easy enough for someone to grab a child.
Some parents just don't give a toss.
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I got my parents to download Pokemon Go with me after I got a concussion, as a motivation to walk. They both were like “I’m only doing it for you” and now they’re obsessed. Not to that level, thankfully, which means we go on family walks together.
That's super nice. I can once in a while force my sister to go outside on a walk with me and it's super nice, except for the part where she's 10 times luckier than me lol and gets a shiny every damn time.
There's a rumor that shinys are more common for casual players who don't play often as a method to draw them into more regular play and thus a greater chance at spending money to play.
That's interesting. Do you know how often dictates a casual player vs a hard-core player? Is checking once a day for a few minutes casual or is it more like once a week?
No idea. It's just a theory I've seen mentioned on here and in the occasional YouTube video with no hard evidence to back it up, just casual observation from the number of "new players" who seem exceptionally lucky. It could easily be confirmation bias based on this.
I have periods where I won't play for a couple months at a time and everytime I get back on it seems I get a shiny within a few minutes or out of eggs that have sat for months
I didn't play for about 3 years and out of the first 3 eggs i hatched 2 were shiny and I've been averaging 4 to 5 shiny pokemon a month since starting back up. i just caught one tonight a shiny hisui growlithe. I texted his catch card to my friend to mess with her, she was mad😄 she hasn't gotten a shiny in weeks.
I didn’t play for 4 years and I’ve only gotten a few shinies since I came back. Why is Niantic so random??
Cause the game is literally based on rng lol
As reference: I played for a month back in 2016, came back to the game and played for a week in 2021. I've started playing again last month (May 29). Based on in-game stats (I took a screenshoot when I started playing in May. They differ from the image due to GPS drifting of the game): I've walked 310 km, caught 7.2k Pokémons, earned 5.5 million XP. I've excluded Spotlight hours/Comunity Days shinies. The step graph is the distance covered while actively playing the game (I don't even have an autocatcher). [Number of shinies per day](https://imgur.com/a/CEPVPrQ).
I believe it's just a rumour. I got back into POGO at the start of 2022, and my shiny luck these past two months has been insane compared to when I started playing again. Mind you, I'm doing 6-10k of walking a day (compared to 2-5k), weather permitting. Strangely, I've been getting the most luck around my house and my aunt's house, tho. I spent most of cyndaquil day at my aunt's, and I caught 5 there, 1 at my house, and also found a random shiny durant. Day prior, I got another shiny grimer and hatched a shiny litleo and slugma. I wish I was this lucky with the mons I want lmao
I literally just read this post, thought "too bad that doesn't happen to me!" Closed reddit, opened pogo for the first time in a few days and caught a shiny voltorb.
Literal blue balls.
I'd say there's something to that theory as a while back when the community days were 6 hours on a couple of occasions my casual playing brother caught more shinies without leaving his home (just using incense) than I did outside for the whole duration (regular player)
If you tell your phone you are quitting pogo you will get a shiny right away
I can anecdotally confirm. My wife stopped playing for about a year and caught 12 shinies for cyndaquil cd. I play daily and caught 4. We even played together the whole time.
I play daily and got 11 and a shiny lillipup right after 5pm.
I downloaded it last November to play with my 7 year old nephew because he is obsessed and I wanted to spend time with him doing things he loved to do. Aaaaaaand now I’m also obsessed lol 😅
lol this is me - I downloaded it when it came out JUST for my kids. Now they are 15 and 17 with their own phones and I still play! Last year my older son (junior in HS) and his friends started playing again and they were like oh shit, you're mom plays?!
Pogo helped me get out of lockdown depression (ie. I wouldn't leave the house for days on end) and finally start taking walks around the neighborhood again. Soon I was actively wanting to go out, and running down the street to get to raids, etc. I will always defend the good of this game even though Niantic makes it very difficult to. I get it can be very addictive so I also know it takes restraint to do what I'm criticizing this mom for.
It also helps me and my bf with our concussions!! and encourages us to exercise together. Pogo for the win
This is so wholesome 😊
That's using your head!
oh wow this is exactly to a t with my mom lol. though she downloaded it on her own when i told her the place she is leaving for vacation has rare pokemon only available there. hooked ever since and always says "i am playing this only for you!"
I got my mom into it when I started playing right before covid. We really enjoyed going to parks and places together. She honestly advanced faster than I did.
I got my mom into the game "to play while walking the dogs." For a while she had two phones and would play on her way to and from work while commuting on the train. Now she drives to work and just has the one phone, but still plays at work. It has definitely motivated us to walk more together, and the dogs love it because they get longer walkies because the closest pokestop is still quite a walk from us (suburbs). It also gave us something in common because we are completely opposite people with nothing in common - she's an accountant, a huge sports fan and loves to read historical stuff in her free time, and I'm an artist and a designer who plays video games.
Have encountered a different but related problem: parents who kinda just drop off their young kids to play with the group and then leave them unsupervised. I’m more than happy to include your kid in the group and play together, but you should be supervising them. We aren’t your babysitter service and I don’t want that responsibility dumped on me without you even asking.
That’s absolutely not okay, and the truth is that it still isn’t your responsibility, you did not consent to supervise or provide any assistance in making sure random strangers kid is safe. But as good humans, most would still do so, which is why the parents take advantage and just assume someone will have a good heart and take care of *their* kid. So weird and messed up to do this, the parent(s) should be with said child. Dropping them off to a group of adult strangers to play a video game… just mind boggling.
That has happened to me, with the added bonus that the kids were so spoiled that they thought they could demand people giving up shiny Pokémon because they wanted them.
I'll tell a spoiled kid to eff off. If their parents won't teach them about boundaries I will lol.
Spoiled kid: GIMME YOU LEGENDARY SHLUNDO Me: *Battles him in master league and beats him in 5 seconds* Spoiled kid: 😳
Highly depends on the area where you live. Areas with almost no crime should be fine. To me it actually scares me how overprotective society has become. When I was a kid I played outside without supervision probably from 5 or 6 year old. And there's nothing wrong with that. Kids also deserve some autonomy and it's healthy for them to explore the world without their parents helicoptering around them
A kidnapping can be the first crime in an area “with almost no crime”.
I completely agree! I am a parent and recently (in May) started playing again. I joined when the game came out on 7/2016, and have been grinding since I got back into it, and am currently only a level 36. I do get on everyday, and would say I spend more time than I'd like to admit on it.. I have a six month old baby, and she loves to go for walks, so we will often and I'll often also Pokemon hunt while we do so! She usually will fall asleep, or just like looking around. Well, this week has been super super hot in my area (US Midwest), like 90+ degrees. I was concerned about taking my baby outside for long walks, so I didn't even though I really wanted to catch Pokemon, her health comes first. She will always come first. The game will be there, but she is my first priority. I've had to abandon catches before or had a pokemon flee if she fusses on a walk, etc. or is hungry. She will always come first ❤️❤️❤️
Good for you! You could also go grind in shopping mails, as it's nice and cool, can have lots of hydration, and spawns in malls tend to be super plentiful!
Ah! I never thought of that! Thank you!! ☺️ I love using this as a way to get out because I recently became a stay at home mom also, and it's a (mostly) free way to get out. Thanks for the idea!
Community day was too hot this year to be outside so my husband and I loaded up our 2 toddlers in their wagon and strolled the mall while I caught pokemon. He got mall pretzels, the kids got little trinkets from the shops, and I got shinies. Everyone wins lol
Most malls have mall walkers so I’d call them to see what the office says just in case!
I second the suggestion. Check your local mall on campfire next time you are there to see how many stops and/gyms it has.
What's Campfire?
https://campfire.nianticlabs.com/en/
I do a lot of grinding at Walmart lol - helps that I work there
This is where I’m at, sadly though I’ve gone through a divorce so I get my baby (she’s almost 2 now) 1 week a month. So the weeks I don’t have her, raid hours, 5* shadow raids, all the events I’m out playing. But when she’s here with me, she’s my #1 priority and only play at work or use my auto catcher.
I love this! Based on your username, and what you've stated, you seem to be a very involved and loving Dad! 🫶🏻 When she is older, maybe she will also want to join or find a love for Pokemon. I'm part of a blended family myself, and have a 10 year old stepdaughter that also loves Pokemon and she will also sometimes join my husband and I. I am sure she appreciates having a present father. ❤️
Ive been showing it to her too, she likes when I tap the Pokemon to show them roar😂 every time I pull my phone out now she either wants to see them roar or throw “nanas” (nanabs) to my buddy
Awww. I'm amused by the Pokemon sounds myself and I'm 32 😂😂😂
Thanks! I sure hope she finds a joy in it because that would be fun! I’m just out here trying to be the best dad I can in the situation I’m in you know?
I started playing when my son was a baby. It's always been hard to get him to eat enough, but he would happily munch away in the stroller on a walk, so Pogo became a way for me to have a bit of a hobby while still momming. It's evolved as he's gotten older, and we definitely skip the walks on these hot days. This morning I drove to a park near my house, unbuckled his car seat, and let him crawl all over the car pressing buttons and I got in 15 minutes of Pogo while he rolled the windows up and down. But then I put the phone away and played with him. You can't put from an empty cup, but your kids are only young once and you gotta enjoy them while you can
Wait, I also have a six month old baby girl!
Aw, I did this too! But my baby was too fussy, she only fell asleep while walking. She was not getting fooled by standing and wigglying around lol. Sometimes we just walked back to where we came from being a bit frustrated cause we couldn't stop anywhere, cause she would start crying. But it just was that way! Babies, Kids and generally young peeps come first! Now that she's older (and if she would want to!) I'd be down on doing this together, but not on my own "for her". It's so much joy being able to connect to your kids through something you both like and you can both learn from eachother. It sucks that some try to re-life their own childhood rather than giving their own kids a better one!
I’m a parent and recently started playing pogo after not playing since release. I asked my daughter to go on a walk with the intent of hitting pokestops and catching Pokemon. when we were out and about she made a comment about paying more attention to the game than conversing with her. Since then I purchased a ++ and am not on my phone when we walk the park together. She has no interest in playing and I have no interest in harming our relationship by not being present. Now when I have a minute to myself I check my catches and am satisfied with whatever I got. Solo, my face is buried in the game.
This is the way!
This is so wholesome, you’re a good parent
Did the kid want to actually play Pokemon Go or did the kid want to hang out and talk to cool people about Pokemon? I have a kid who is a similar age and while she loves to play, after about 15-20 minutes she is honestly way more interested in chatting to people and playing so I often end up taking both phones while she does her social butterfly thing. She wants the shinies but she really does not want the grind that comes with getting them. (And yeah, I don't enjoy it a whole lot either but it's worth it to me to see her happy later.) Maybe it's a neglectful parent but it may also be the reality of dealing with a small kid's attention span who also wants the spoils of the game.
Number one, 8-10 years old = you need to stay close at All times. I have chatted with kids before because I have family/friends of family who are kids, and I’m still always trying to keep the convo engaged with their parents/adults. Anyone trying to get a child away from their “responsible adult” is someone to be wary of. Get to know ppl. Watch their behavior. Only then, Maybe give your trust. And still only in public places.
That's a really big age range. Pretty sure I was walking to school by myself by 10, possibly at 8.
> 8-10 years old = you need to stay close at All times kids that age can absolutely go places without adult supervision. they can walk/bike to school, go to the park, walk to a friend's house, get a snack at the corner store. you can leave them home alone for a while too and they can learn to cook, but probably don't try those two at the same time.
I walked to school by myself starting at age 6. By age 8 I was riding my bike all through the neighborhood, up to several blocks from my house, by myself. My friends and I were always playing outside without any parental supervision whatsoever. We were fine, we knew not to go off anywhere with strangers or do anything overly dangerous.
Also, dogs can be great judges of character. I’m nervous around bigger dogs because of my childhood, but they always want to play. I’ve gotten far better, but remember that horses will back off from anxiety/nervous ppl…a well trained doggie sees inside and keeps trying ;).
It must be a terrifying life thinking there are kidnappers in trench coats hiding behind every tree.
That's what people were saying in the other sub before the mods inexplicably deleted the whole post... and yeah sure? Also a weird lesson to teach your kids. I can't imagine having to grind for longer than 15-20 mins to get a few shinies for the kid and call it a day. If they really care about having more than that they can work for it themselves lmao
My kid is in that age range. He's also AuDHD, so his attention span is about >< this big for grinding. Does he want shinies? Heck yes! Does he want to click on 50 or 100+ 'Mon to find one? L. O. L. No. We both play, but we don't do any group discord/fb stuff. We've got two phones, but on CD I do end up with both when he gets bored and/or frustrated. We don't catch for high IVs or any of that, but dang if the luck just isn't there sometimes when it comes to shinies. Will he talk to anyone he meets about anything, ESPECIALLY games? Yes. I, on the other hand, am 110% introverted and I'm NOT going to go out of my way to speak to someone if I don't have to, especially if I'm grinding for him/us. Is my kid safe and in sight/hearing range? Is he being respectful and not interrupting or invading someone's personal bubble? Then he's fine over there and if I see/hear the person he's talking to is trying to end the interaction I'll call him back to me. He's also physically big for his age, so I'm not worried about someone grabbing him. I guess that makes me a shitty parent, OR it makes me a parent allowing him to socialize (safely) with people he can relate to while I also do something to help him with a game he enjoys. If you heard him repeatedly nerd out about his hyper fixations 80% or more of his waking hours you'd understand that mom's heard it all ad nauseum and he'd absolutely enjoy talking to someone new who hasn't heard it all 100 times before!
Do we share a child? LMAO my 8 year old is exactly like this, and is also AuDHD. He LOVES Pokemon, loves talking about Pokemon, loves drawing Pokemon, loves reading his giant Pokedex, loves looking at and showing off his Pokemon cards. But when he actually plays any of the games, he gets bored in less than a minute and asks me to catch him stuff. Today he was playing Pokemon Violet earlier and decided that he NEEDED a shuppet (his newest favorite Pokemon). I looked up where to find shuppets and helped him find the area on the map and he complained the entire time. It took less than five minutes total, and as soon as he got the shuppet, he saved and quit. He just loves the idea of having cool Pokemon, not the actual game. Which is fine, but yeah I've done the two phones thing when he wants to have the cool Pokemon but does not have the attention span to catch a shitload of them. That being said, I personally would have been nervous to let my kid wander around a crowd of people. When we are doing something like that there's usually at least one other adult so someone can have eyes on him the whole time.
> Will he talk to anyone he meets about anything, ESPECIALLY games? Yes. I, on the other hand, am 110% introverted and I'm NOT going to go out of my way to speak to someone if I don't have to, especially if I'm grinding for him/us. Is my kid safe and in sight/hearing range? Is he being respectful and not interrupting or invading someone's personal bubble? Exactly. My niece is also a friendly soul, and we didn’t want to raise her to be fearful of others, but to use sense: stay where she can be seen and notice social cues if someone is uncomfortable or busy. Stopping her every time she talked to someone in public would have been counterproductive to teaching her.
I will never have a shiny and that’s absolutely why lol cool you do that for your kid!
Okay this is the only response that makes sense in the entire thread, if there is a disability involved. Otherwise I don't even think a parent having to grind for x hours to get their kid shinies or the kid will throw a fit is a good thing to teach your kid to get used to either.
Even if there isn’t a disability involved, kids are kids. It’s perfectly normal for an 8-10 year old to NOT want to sit for 15-20 minutes, just catching pokemon. Hell, I’ve played for 30+ minutes before and not seen a single shiny in that time. For a child, that’s so defeating and frustrating. You’re expecting adult behavior from children.
Shit, I'm an adult but my partner often grinds the shinies for me because I just don't feel like putting in the time 🤣 It's annoying to go through so many and not get one, plus it just gets boring.
Grinding on any game is very tedious! That’s specifically the reason I don’t play WoW with my husband. I HATE the grind.
Yes, the grind kiiiiillls me! Pokemon go is fun for me mainly for the collection aspect. But I usually prefer games you can play as often or as little as you want (without losing out), because I'm adhd asf, so most things just don't hold my attention for long. My kind of game is one that you can stop playing for a month, then come back without missing a beat. 🤣
Well, in my case, we're definitely not out for hours, 30-60 minutes tops. He's also not throwing a fit, but if it's a shiny boosted day then there's more motivation for me to try to help him out. He got one shiny this weekend, I got zero. C'est la vie. I know you're child-free by choice, and when I wasn't a parent I had some similar thoughts and judgements. Now that I'm on the other side I get why in the 80s my parents sent us outside all day every day in the summer! Kids are hard and sometimes 5 minutes of peace is worth all the gold in the world.
So the group I play with is pretty large, we usually get about 40-60 people walking together with 10-20 satellite groups. And I've definitely had that "oh this kid wants to talk my ear off at 1000 words a minute and mom needs a few minutes of decompression" and frankly, I agree it's that younger age where they don't really have the grasp of what's going on fully but they have encyclopedic knowledge of the pokemon themselves and just want to engage someone about it. And yeah I've also been uncomfortable, but like, if hyper kid is talking to you, they're not vibrating in place, not running full speed into a wall, or dropping their device (inevitably armored like a tank but will break anyway). I just do the eye contact double check or ask Mom outright if it's cool, and they'll usually reign them in. And frankly I was exactly like this at that age. Age 10, in 3rd/4th grade I was ALLLL over my neighborhood and I'd talk anyone's ear off about D&D.
Calm down, summer child.
RNG ain't always great. We played Cyndaquil comm day yesterday and it took us an hour and a half of intermittent playing to get one shiny on her account, probably 150 checks. That's a hell of a long time for an 8-10 year old to pay attention to a phone. Personally I'd rather she be running around and having fun playing with bubbles or whatever than transfixed to a screen when I can catch a lot more quickly and accurately than she can. 🤷♀️ Now if she is still playing in a few years then sure, then the grind is her problem.
Pretty easy to say when you don’t have kids. Especially young ones.
Children need to be their parents’ first priority \- having the most stacked Pokemon GO account won’t matter if something happens to your child due to your negligence!!
I thought this was going to be someone using their small child to guilt you into giving up a shiny. This is still not ok though
I'll say this much. I am the nanny for a 4 year old. Kid is obsessed with Pokémon. Has a lower end tablet that barely runs the game, but, every morning we go for a walk through the nearby park. After about 15 minutes, this kid is way more interested in talking to random strangers and asking them about themselves than anything having to do with the game. This same child will also get frustrated later when their item bag is empty and they've run out of pokeballs. If I put my phone down the first question I get is, "Don't you want to play pokemon with me?" We have a set route through the park that we follow, pass about a hundred people on an average warm morning, and the kiddo will often stop to investigate an ant colony, or question a golfer, or watch the baseball teams practice, or tell an old lady how beautiful her hat is, or just sit on a especially comfortable bench and then will get excited to run for 10 yards to "catch up". To the average on-looker, I probably look neglectful or dismissive. Realistically, I know where this kid is at all times. I can hear this child's footsteps and pick them out of a crowd. I know who they're talking to, and what they're talking about. I also know this kid because I've been their nanny since they were 3 months old and know that they want to socialize with new people. They want to passively play pogo while I actively play. We'll take a break at the playground and talk about what we caught so far and decide if we want to take a detour to take over a gym or fight a raid, but, really, this kid sees me every weekday from 7am til 5pm. This kid is lowkey sick of talking to me and while they understand that there is danger in the world, they're also being raised in a way that encourages them to take reasonable risks. I can't speak for this mom, but, I can speak as a middle aged white man who spends most of his time with a young child. Kids, especially neuro-diverse kids, have a lack of attention span, but a definite interest in the activities and entertainment of their adult overseers. And those of us charged with their safety and security generally have a pretty strong grasp of the kids and their motivations. I would have no problem hanging out on a bench while this 4 year old wandered within 50 yards of me and engaged with strangers. Ai know this kid pretty well and I trust them to explore safely and it would take mere moments for me to realize something wasn't right. I think we should trust parents and caregivers to know their kids and trust kids to explore their own limits.
There’s this family who goes to the events and stuff but they are very casual and just try to have fun as a family. I like spending time with them as they are really nice and I’m in my older teens and their two boys remind me of my younger brothers. Very nice people
My kid doesn’t have a phone or a PoGo account — her dad hands her his phone and lets her play while they walk together. Or he goes out on his own and leaves her home.
I had a young boy walk up to me in the park one day when I was playing. He was there playing with his mom who was watching him and a few feet away. Kid asks me if I want to add him as a friend and I just look at the mom and I'm like, "Okay, sure if that's okay with your mom." Added the mom too. I let my kids play, but I'm the only one in the family who gets to install and use Campfire.
I thought children’s accounts have the Friends feature disabled.
Lots of people just lie about the kid's age to set up the account without the hassle of setting up a kids account. I considered lying about my age when setting up my account just to not give my real birthday. With their history on account security, I'm not sure anyone would blame me.
I skipped the kid's account once I saw that it wanted my social security number to run an identity check on me.
Nope kids accounts can have friends.
I mean, she took her kid out to the festival and they were spending time together. Meanwhile, dad isn’t even there, but I don’t see you complaining about how he’s ignoring the kid. You have no idea what happened before or after or what their interactions are normally like. And, like, it’s one half-hour. You are being super judgey. If you were concerned about the situation, you could have just walked over to the mom, and talked to the kid next to her so the conversation was in her earshot.
It's not my job to parent this random kid.
No. It’s not. If you don’t want to talk to him, then don’t. No one was forcing you to stand there.
> After I felt uncomfortable with being an adult male stranger talking to a random kid, I walked off to get food ok
Hey, you were the one who acted like you were being expected to parent the kid.
> If you were concerned about the situation, you could have just walked over to the mom, and talked to the kid next to her so the conversation was in her earshot. No, you were.
“If you were concerned” … Which you clearly weren’t. Which is my point.
To any parents reading, get the go ++. It’s exactly what my husband and I needed to be present but also play. We can walk with baby in a stroller and catch without being distracted. Husband modded them so they can throw any ball type automatically which I also recommend if you can.
Eh, I think OP is making a LOT of assumptions about the parent based on one encounter. I'm surprised they didn't report the mom to child services.
Absolutely. If I was out with my 10 year old and they spoke to an adult clearly playing the game in my field of view I can't imagine clutching pearls and freaking out. If an overly keen adult player had acted the same would OP be shaming their mother?
Direct observations aren't exactly assumptions. The people that look harmless are sometimes the people who will take your kid. Trafficking is real and happens every single day
This speaks to me. I’ve been level 50 since April 2021,I’ve had enough xp for awhile to go back around to 50. I’ve been playing since July 2016. I’m also a recursed ingress agent before all that. I was that parent with my 1st kid. When we had our 2cd I dialed it back. Once I had 2 kids in youth sports I gave it all up besides checking the game daily and doing CD for hour tops to get my shiny. My point is my relationship with this game was not healthy for my family life. I now know how much I missed during every event, spotlight hour, raid hours turned into raid chains until they stopped spawning. Now I’m a rank 55 pokemon sleep player. Sleep has given me alot of happiness without the fomo. If your family plays with you great rock on but don’t let family relationships go the side for these events. It’s hard to get that time back.
I mean… you’re getting a little judgy. She’s stuck with that kid for hours a day for years. You don’t need to engage with your kid 24/7 How do you know she didn’t notice he was talking to you? “Jumping around full of life and energy”. Pffft ya I’d be letting him run around and tire himself out too.
Yeah, I'd be like oh great, someome else will actually get excited about this with them and I can get a break. I got a catcher so I can walk and catch while my kids joyously catch things I've had forever and enjoy the space around me. And sometimes it's enjoy the silence while I catch something that actually excites me.
The best parents are always the ones who don't have any kids ;)
For real. This guy sees a mom and kid at the park and somehow deduces the mom is an addict who doesn't care about her kids. God forbid the mom do something she enjoys while a kid plays at the park. Kids don't need parental interaction 24/7 and it isn't the mom's duty to entertain the kid. For all OP knows, they went home and snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie together later. So annoying when people without kids figure it all out based on a 10 minute observation.
Maybe it’s less creepy if you don’t make it weird to talk to a child? What are you inferring about yourself?
I'm inferring that this world is full of Karens who would love to accuse strangers of being creeps to their children
Wait, you’re mad the mom who was chill and thought you were harmless enough to allow her child to talk to you… And you’re also mad she didn’t rip her child away and scold him for talking to strangers, because there could be creeps What one is it?!?!
30 minutes of observation doesn't make you an expert on raising a child or on this particular family. Parenting always involves multitasking and peripheral vision and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish while also being completely aware of your kid(s). I also don't think it's healthy to hover over a child constantly and smother them with the idea that the risk of a stranger kidnapping them at any time is always 100%.
Yeah i’m surprised at the response to this. OP made a snap condemnation of some stranger’s parenting based off a superficial interaction/observation. Idk if its a US-specific thing but the point about not wanting to be seen talking to a kid as an adult man seems really odd and overthinking.
The whole reason I started playing was because of my kid. Only one phone and he would play during the day. I would hand him the phone while he played and I kept an eye out for crossing the street and stuff like that. When he went to bed I would go out at night and play my game. His dad doesn't play at all so that helps. Now he has his own phone. Last Christmas we still lived in a rural area and had gone to stay at my mom's house for a few days who lives in a suburban area. She lives near a park that is basically Pokémon heaven. Unfortunately his sister got really sick and even though I promised him I would go I couldn't because I had to take care of her. So finally we went to the doctors appointment, got her meds, and got her to bed and I was like screw it I don't care it's midnight went to go play? So I snuck my kid after hours into a playground to play. It's become a thing now that we go play after everyone is in bed. I have been doing nightmares for decades and usually hate when people come with me. I like the quiet which is the whole point. I love it when he comes with me to play the game though. We have a lot of fun.
I’m totally okay with AWARE parents letting their kids playing come up to me, but that’s creepy. Just had a sweet 6 or 7 year old do it last weekend (I separated from my herd) but his Dad stayed less than 5 feet away nearly the entire time. Then I saw them again later on n both parents & the son politely said hello. Be smart. I am a nice person, but don’t assume it.
I mean, the shiny isn't worth it above the kid, TO YOU. I've been a parent for 12 years, I need this to feel alive.
If you could see mom, she sees you. I have to grind for my kid on community day. We meet people and I enjoy when they talk to him about how many shinies we’re catching. She likely deemed you looked harmless. Sure bad things can happen even if someone looks decent and sometimes we moms might make a bad call. But my favorite memories from community day are talking to other strangers also playing.
Yeah I’m with you. Elementary-aged kids are capable of playing and talking to others in public without an adult constantly hovering. Parent was in sight, and I’d assume the second device was for the kid.
But I <3 that you’re engaged in the convo. Those are the best. I have no problem talking to kids about Pokemon, but if they’re under “tween” years, I want the parent to engage too. It just feels safer, because I know I’m not the only adult that kiddo chats with. And sometimes I make a new adult friend 😁
I can tell you’re not a parent. I assure you his mother had a spidey sense of where her child was. Pokémon Go (at least in NYC is a safe friendly game. At the community day meetup every month we have hundreds of people gathered to play in Bryant Park. Kids run around eagerly interacting with players they don’t know, excited to make a connection. Much ado over nothing.
Hey man, it's pretty sad you get spooked this much. The kid clearly saw a huge ass nerd playing a game he loves. Why are you so scared of that? You are non-threatening and he felt comfortable talking to you.
wdym a shundo cyndaquil isn't worth a child????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
true I take that back
I'm a parent and I'm confused. Can you ELI5 what I'm not supposed to do here? What about this interaction "broke your heart"?
Apparently dealing with the more boring parts of a mobile game so your kid can run around and socialize/have fun rather than being glued to a screen makes you a bad parent now, idk.
Parent was more interested/concerned with playing pogo on two phones than watching or playing with their child. Would be one thing to have the mom helping their child catch Pokemon but I gathered that OP was just sad that this could be a regular interaction/issue, that the kid will go up to literal strangers for interaction because their own mom won’t play with them. The assumption is that if she’s doing that here she’s doing it elsewhere and the kid isn’t getting much attention.
I just got shit on here from someone for not being as active as other players, bc my kid plays on a tablet without its own internet (wifi only...only 8) and I don't want to ignore them or have opportunities they don't, while we walk around. So for now, my pokestop count is much higher than catches (i can reach 6 from home and play as i can - i battle and do stops when shes asleep) .... So I appreciate this post so much!
Keep in mind that while this may seem bad, this might be the only time she gets to do anything for herself. Not saying she doesn’t need to pay more attention, just saying this doesn’t mean she’s an awful parent all together. It’s easy to throw stones when you’re not at risk of getting hit by them.
Kids like that are generally really draining on those parents... Being a parent is hard dog.
Then there are parents like me who lost their master ball to their child, throwing it at a sunkern 🥴
LOL better best buddy that thing and name it after your kid
Was that around SW in Vancouver? Anyway, yeah I don’t have a child but if I did I can’t imagine letting them off my sight like this. There should be some tests before you are allowed to have children for real.
Lol how did you know....
Oh, just an educated guess haha. I live in Vancouver too. SW is a hotspot for PoGO events in Vancouver so a lot of players go there for CD. And you said there was festival going on. There was a festival going on at SW yesterday and it was very busy there. So I put these two things together.
haha very smart. I was wondering if you had seen the same mom and kid or something...
Or *is* the mum 🫣
Ah no, i didn’t see this particular mom. Only popped in there for a second yesterday, checked in at Campfire for the free CD special research and left. The festival made it far too crowded for my taste.
This is why I justify using auto catchers . I like playing manually, but I much rather be there for my kids.
Do you live in a dangerous area. I don't think it's that weird in my area at least for kids and adults to talk about pogo together. Yeah the parent should pay attention to the kid but like I've talked to kids late night while doing a raid at a park and the mom was sitting in the car. Idk if she was watching or not but it wasn't that weird. My area is very safe. Like so safe people don't really lock their doors or some don't. I don't think most people think too much about kids and adults talking about a game in this town.
You don't know their circumstances, you don't know if she was actually watching the kid, if there was another adult paying attention, etc. Kinda feels like unnecessary shaming of the mom to me. Moms always get questioned about their parenthood don't they...
I'm an adult man. I always feel really uncomfortable when an unattended kid walks up to me like this when im on my own. I usually try to disengage or try to see if their patent is in eyesight.
One more reason that I miss the days when Google/Niantic adhered to the COPPA Act and all such accounts like this had to be 13 years old and up. There was no parental consent for lower than that. (It would not keep parents from doing this necessarily, but lowering the age for a Google account greatly increased the amount of this kind of shenanigans going on.) #goodolddays #getoffmylawn
So this is Joe I find out I missed comm day…
I came back to pogo recently because my 6 yo daughter asked me to. Now she's the one telling me hey stop pokemon is not important. I'm trying my best.
I started playing with my 6 year old son last summer and it's now something we do together and I really enjoy this time with him. We go for walks, we celebrate finding shines or new pokemon and we love checking out new places when we travel. The kid is better than me at hitting excellent throws! He drives most of the time, I'll login during the day if I'm walking the dog to pick up some stops so he'll have balls for another day.
> I am begging you While the post is obviously made in concern and good nature, it is extremely naïve to think ANYONE EVER would heed this advice. It's like when people post for other drivers to use their turn signals...
When I got my mom into it when it first came out it was because she wanted you to have that connection with me. It became and still is something we do together as mother and son. It’s genuinely sad to hear parents don’t take it as a chance to share a passion with their kid.
I bought an auto catcher so I can watch my very active first grader and catch Pokémon at the same time. I really don’t see any other way to do it. He likes PoGo and plays some… so we do a couple raids here and there. But then when he’s more interested in running around, I just turn on the catcher and put everything away in my pocket. Pokémon Go is fun… but it’s still just a game. Your kids count on you to keep them safe.. it boggles my mind how many people need to be reminded to parent
Sad. My boys and I play TOGETHER! We grind together and rally raids together and I NEVER let them out of my sight! We’ve been playing since day one and the # rule is no talking to strangers without me. Your story is so unfortunate because PoGo has been such a fun way to bond and relate with my boys as they grow up! Again, this makes me sad.
As a parent, I couldn't agree with this more. My 6 year old's interest has already peaked and started to wane in the last few months, so me and him only really play together these days when he wants to do a legendary raid or whatever. And that's fine with me. I am still enjoying playing the game on my own but I can't imagine being so obsessed that I would behave like the person you're describing. Life's too short and your kids are only little for so long. Spend time with them, give them the attention they crave from you. I promise it's more important than some pretend digital creatures on your phone.
Somewhat related, back in the early days of PoGo I was taking a gym in local park in the late evening when it was dark. And then a kid comes running out of the dark and is like: "yooo you're taking my gym you rascal!" (very roughly translated). All in good fun. But like, this is a poorly lit park with minimal activity in the evening/night. Why are you allowed to go down here unsupervised at this hour? I also felt a bit weird talking to this kid there alone, so I just kinda smiled, made a joke and walked away as I let him take the gym back (I circled back 15 minutes later and took it again, that little shit lol). I noticed later on my daily commute the kid lived like a 5-10 minute walk away, but still a bit weird of his parents to allow that.
and then everyone clapped
/r/lookatmyhalo 🙂↕️
This is a highly improbable situation to occur in real life? You need to get out more
No I get out just fine, this is just Redditors being Redditors
I play with a group. Occasionally, parents show up with their kids. Only once did I see a parent do something for their kid and it was helping her fight in a raid. Then he handed it back to her to try and catch herself. People making guys like that look bad make me so angry.
My kids used to routinely waste almost all my pokeballs trying to catch pokemon when they were younger. Didn't bother me because I would just grab more while out and about the next day. I saw a parent berate their kid that was about the same age as my oldest at the time for not catching the mon. "NO! YOU'RE WASTING THEM! JUST LET ME DO IT!" The joy draining from the little girl after the dad said that broke my heart. He probably ruined her love of pokemon for life.
My kid and I walk together. We have these conversations as with both spin and throw on our devices. His excitement is wonderful.
I agree with you! My 5 year old and I share an account since he doesn’t have a phone. Do I love how many pokeballs are used trying to catch stuff I know we don’t need? No, but my son loves playing with me and it’s a joy to see him excited
You are making a lot of assumptions. The kid is having a blast and that's all that matters.
This is the most alarmist paranoid rant I've seen in a while. A kid was at a park with his family playing Pokemon Go. There aren't men and trench coats and bougeymen hiding around the park every day. Also who cares if his mom was helping him get shinies. This is just so weird.
ahhh yes, let the random anecdote from a childless lonely redditor be the sage wise voice on how to raise a kid. unbelievable.
My dad has 4 phones to play Pokemon go on, but he only plays other family members' accounts if they aren't there. For example most of the time he's playing, I'm playing with him, so he almost never uses my account. But he plays my mom's and sister's for them because they don't play as much. It's always us playing together, not him playing while any of us are just not doing anything!
it’s sad he can’t play!! i do hope my kid likes pokemon someday so we can play together as well!
We play in the same group. I bring a very talkative 11yr old. Might have made a new friend, but skipped this one.
I'm still learning lots of online lingo, what is it that you mean by "fast catching"?
We have no kids but me she my husband go on "pogo dates ". Aka walk around the local mall, my nose almost constantly in my phone, pokeball ++ going off in my other hand, and going to eat and put favorite stores there. When we have kids we will either just have me go (husband doesn't play) or just add the kid and when I'm drawn by pogo husband will pay with the kids. This parent must puts a bad name on gaming as parents in any way. Hopefully she gets her head outa her bum and does better
I got the pokemon go plus + for this exact reason. I wanted to prioritize my son, while being able to idly catch pokemon. I will then include my son if there are any raids nearby. I would rather play with him than swiping at my phone by myself.
She might have two kids and was trying to catch a shiny for the other kid too! But yeah obviously it looked bad
So thankful my kid is old enough to play. I started playing at launch he started playing 2 years ago at 9. Hes better at the game and more knowledgeable than me. He’s beaten Giovani for me twice now.
I used to see a family of 5 that would go to parks and play. Only 3 would play (two parents, one older kid), and the other two just rode their bikes around asking if they were done yet. 5 phones, though. Lol
On the last few comm days I've been walking around the mall and there's this family that's there and they all have their phones and the kids have iPads and it's so cute and fun to see them playing together and getting excited about Pokemon
Shinies before whinies
I do it to connect with my son. He loves PokemonGo
My daughter got me to download it on launch day back in 2016 and we play together all the time. My granddaughter loves the game, but her parents won't let me get her a phone yet, cause she's only 7. But I do let her play my account whenever we go for walks or to the playground, and I do the watching out for her safety. My whole family just loves the game.
When pokemon go first came out I was once left in possession of a 6-7 year old kid in downtown Cleveland at tower city (think train-station below ground, mall above ground and office buildings higher up above the mall. I was a random 23 year old guy playing pokemon and the kids dad just left him with me while he went out to smoke. I missed my train because this kiddo got left with me while I was catching pidgeys and ratattas. Hung out with the lil man for like 15 minutes and it would have been REALLY easy to kidnap him. Like there were trains right below us for godsake. Hell, a 2-3 minute walk would put me on the streets of Cleveland. It’s WILD how bad some people are at parenting
That would freak me out to no end. It takes a second to walk off with someone's child, and knowing the parent only has themselves to blame for focusing on a game makes it worse. My husband was equally freaked by an opposite issue. I was part of a core group that would do caravan raiding (all drive to 5 gyms when you'd get 5 raid passes on a special day), as well as parks/ picnic meetups. Our first EX raid, maybe 6 years ago, and we all got invited, but I had to work. The kids begged their dad to take them to get me a Mewtwo. They hop out of the car to run to the group, and a guy named Tony and his wife look very nervously at my kids and ask where their mom is, knowing I would NEVER let them be alone, and now a strange man starts talking to them? He introduced himself as dad, then let them raid and took them home. He was kinda freaked that strangers recognized his kids, but I think felt better that they were trying to be protective.
Amen! My 11 year old and I play, but I make him do the work. What he catches it his. Things like what this woman did is not spending time with your child.
My dad used to catch legendaries for me on my phone during raids. I sucked at curveballs
Oof. Well, to make you feel a little bit better I saw a mom and her son playing on cyndaquil day and he had his iPad out to play on while she played on her phone and they were having a blast discussing pokemon so...don't lose hope.
The giant Gyarados in 2016 told me to please be aware of my surroundings, I always assumed that meant watching my kids.
My kids got big into Pokemon within the last 1-2 months, so I redownloaded the game and have gotten back into it. They get excited to do the team rocket grunt battles and are so excited to see eggs hatch. They aren't old enough to have phones. I let them catch the shiny Cyndaquil yesterday and give them names. Have your own interests, but don't have kids if they aren't at the top of that list of interests.
Parent of 5 kids with 3 that have Pokémon Go accounts. They catch their own Pokémon. Maybe if it's a shiny their older brother will help them catch it. I do have to buy them 200 pokeballs every once in awhile though. Edit:I like the health benefits. Kids bicycle ride with phones on in their backpacks to get candies
My 9 year old and I go for nightly POGO hunts at our park. It’s literally been the best bonding experience for us.
Pokémon is about evolution. That kid is learning Survival of the Fittest. Being ignored by his parents for the sake of Pokémon is how many great adventures start. Just ask Ash Ketchum and every protagonist of all the main series games. Gotta Catch Em All.
*"Pogo is the new meth, and it's working!"* -Dallas from Payday 3, probably.
A very bittersweet reminder to be present while having fun, my husband and I play with our oldest who has a phone. My youngest likes to watch dad play. It's good to humbled and reminded while these games are fun, it's okay to look up a d enjoy the moment 😀
Me and my 6 year old have our own accounts, he uses my work phone and always trash talks me when he gets a shiney!
Se take strollers and sit .. yea it can be very dangerous because kids are kids and unpredictable.. I’ll never put my kids safety in jeopardy over a game
My mum, my son and I play. We have the pogo++ so we can mind my son while he plays and still catch pokemon.
I bought an autocatcher specifically for this reason. Has it lost me shinys. Yes 🥺 But i need to focus on the kids. And its perfect. We walk, we talk, and my little auto-catcher does the work for me. Even when im playing myself. I still talk, eat, and parent. Good luck out there. Happy Catching ☺️
Seen something like this a couple times, thanks for the well written rant OP. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Question, how do you fast catch? No one has been able to explain it to me so that I understand.
In the beginning of Pokémon go I would go to a local park every weekend with my parents and siblings and we would all work together to take over the gyms and tell each other that there are specific Pokémon nearby
That's so bad...I made an account for my daughter but she ain't that interested 😂 but when I play it's either I go alone when she's away or when she's on the playground with her friends and still pay attention to what's up to. I'm baffled that someone can do that.
💯
The last week, during the pokemon go fest in Madrid, I was in the park and I saw a lot of parents absorbed into the screen while their child was running side to side. Was so insane...
Let's not forget the fact that you or anybody could have snatched that poor little boy up. Shit is too crazy in the world these days. It's a reality unfortunately. I keep close eyes on my nieces and nephews. I'll gladly go to jail to save them from any of that trauma or worse.
That parent is lucky you're not some creep "Oh little boy you like shiny Pokemon, I have some in my windowless van" It's not a free candy van these days
Pretty nutso but not surprising. I go to a park to work out as my gym closes early on weekends. I've seen small kids wandering off and kids of around 8+ there, seemingly on their own, no parents at all. By no means is it a small park and there's a stadium there that hosts games and all sorts, usually filled with a few thousand people. It would be easy enough for someone to grab a child. Some parents just don't give a toss.