The Collaborative for Multilingual Writing and Research (CMWR) had its first Walk and Talk of fall quarter on Monday, October 3rd. Our first walk and talk theme was Pokemon Go.
We had two veteran players on the walk, and two new players to the 
game. Katelyn, the graduate assistant for the CMWR, had never played the game before, but was completely fascinated by the Pokemon that we encountered; she even took a picture with one!
Together, we walked along the pier with the hope of encountering some cool water type Pokemon. We walked along the Chicago lakefront, making our way to DuSable Harbor, and then headed back into the city. While the main objective was to play Pokemon together, we also talked about our experiences in Chicago, and what we look forward to doing in the future.
One of the highlights of the walk was encountering a Dratini! We were all really excited to see it since it was one none of us had. Other noteworthy Pokemon we saw and caught are Magickarp, Horsea, Krabby, and Starmi. We also took down a level eight Team Instinct gym! While I’ve battled opposing gyms before (go Team Mystic!), it was my first time taking down a team in a group.
As fun as playing Pokemon Go was, it was hard to play it as a group when two of our members couldn’t play it during the whole walk. One member’s internet connection was acting up, while the other’s phone ran out of battery.
All in all, it was a really fun experience! It makes me look forward to our next walk and talk on the 17th of October. Next time we’ll be exploring the neighborhood of Andersonville!
