(Image via gamerant.com)

Business Manager: Brendan Flaherty

Email: bflaherty1@umassd.edu

As it has for many years, the war for control of the campus gyms has been an everlasting struggle for superiority.

Ever since 2016, when Pokémon Go was first released, there was a sort of peacefulness around the Pokémon community.

The war between teams began with the introduction of a sort of AR world of Pokémon on our beloved campus.

The three factions were brought out, immediately driving a divide between friends and family. Those factions are Team Mystic or Blue, run by Blanche; Team Instinct or Yellow, run by Spark; and Team Valor or Red, run by Candela.

The three teams have since established their positions in the corners of the campus, with various chokeholds dotted throughout the region.

As you can see displayed here on this map, the region is split up into three sections for each team. The major points of interest are marked with the X on the map.

Teams Valor and Mystic battle for control of the gyms around the soccer field and track, teams Instinct and Mystic fight for control of the entrance to the campus, and all three teams have been spotted attempting to fight for control of the Karam Campanile.

Control of all the gyms can vary from time to time, but it has been regularly observed that the teams have their set regions, and it is something that they do not stray far from.

Every now and then, you might see a random attack from the Valor team in Instinct territory, but it is quickly taken back.

The teams have also likely been split into different types of students here on campus. Through the research of the battlefield, it could be assumed that the majority of the red team is composed of students who live on campus, making it easy for them to make sudden attacks into enemy territory.

Meanwhile, it can be assumed that both Blue and Yellow are composed of commuters, who have seemingly constant control of the gym near lot 18 and the gym near the SENG parking lot.

A strategy recently developed by the Yellow team is to put a notoriously strong and tanky Pokémon, known as Blissey, into the gyms to protect their territory.

Do not let its sweet and innocent looks deceive you! This is a cold-blooded killer of a Pokémon, and it will take you hours to clear it out of a gym.

Otherwise, every team leaves either their strongest Pokémon to defend the gyms or the coolest-looking ones.

As fighting rages on, each team waits in anticipation for any newcomers to the fight, as just one new member could spell the end for the other two teams.

It is still in speculation whether Arnie Corsair will join the fight, and if so, which team he would join. Many suspect that if he were to join, he would likely join a team that coincides with the school’s colors, either yellow or blue.

Despite it all, the campus still manages to come together on certain occasions.

Every now and then, Pokémon Go holds a community event where certain bosses will spawn all over the gyms. Effectively causing every team to put the war on pause and to work together to beat the bosses.

Furthermore, Team Go Rocket is an ever-present and pestilent team that has begun to show its face more often now, with leaders such as Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra.

It is through encounters like this and the various community days that the Pokémon Go community puts away their differences and comes together to catch their favorite Pokémon.

One can only hope that the war efforts are slowed and that maybe one day, we can put aside our differences as Pokémon Go players and work to live peacefully.

*This article was written as a parody for the Torchure.