A Pokemon Go player became a hero during the holidays as they saved another user’s Gyarados stranded at a Gym they ran by while on vacation.
Pokemon Go is very well known for its gameplay, constant events, and Raid battles, but also its very active and interconnected community.
As proof of this, a player recently asked for help on the Pokemon Go Reddit page to retrieve their best Water Pokemon stuck far away in Nebraska and one hero appeared to save the day.
Send my son home
The post stated that the user was over in Bridgeport, Nebraska just for a weekend and decided to leave their best Water-type creature – a Gyarados – in a Gym near the Fire Department.
Since some more remote areas – like in this case – have fewer players, the Pokemon did not return ‘to the user ‘home’ after a while as there were no other trainers nearby to challenge the gym and take it over.
Luckily, a user who apparently lived close to the area saw the post and immediately went to the Gym to save the Gyarados. As they claimed “I’ve sent your boy home”, the post’s author replied excitedly saying “I LOVE YOU!!! Thank you, this made my whole day!!!”.
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Many other trainers joined to celebrate such a heroic feat, with one player writing, “What a legend”, while another added, “What a great holiday present”. A user overflowing with joy even stated, “I love this f* community”.
However, the major concern remains. As the author mentions, there’s still – up to this day – no way to recall a Pokemon after you’ve left it in a Gym, which is odd given that you can do so with Power Spots, a feature added just a few months ago during the Max Out season.
So, while many celebrated, others took the chance to raise their voices, as recalling a Pokemon is a feature they’ve been asking Niantic for many years. “As a resident of Nebraska, I’ve had some Pokemon in Gyms for 90+ days.”
Another user mentioned, “I put one in a Gym in Poland while on holiday and the poor bugger was stuck there for 77 days”, added another frustrated player.
Until Niantic decides to allow players to take their Pokemon out of Gyms without the need to be defeated, this issue is set to happen over and over again. For now, trainers can only hope that the studio listens to their complaints and decides to add a possible recall mechanic in 2025.