REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
Friday, July 29, 2016 | Vol. 91, No. 31 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
INSIDE: Oh so classy, A16
The Pokémon Master Bainbridge man takes summer’s hottest new game to the next level BY ELLA MEYERS
Bainbridge Island Review
H
e wishes he could ride back and forth on the ferry all day. Instead, you can find him taking walks around Winslow, gathering items for the hunt. You might have even noticed him in your yard in the dead of night. Nathaniel Moss has been a Pokémon fan for the majority of his life. Now, in his spare time, he plays Pokémon Go. But he’s more than just your average Pokémon trainer. “My boss at work has started calling me Pokémon Master instead of my name. I’m OK with it,” said Moss, a 34-yearold islander who works in tech support at Avalara. He’s already hacked the Application Programming Interface of the mobile game so he can find Pokémon more easily and helped create a Pokémon scanner on Reddit. “It’s not just about an energetic electric mouse; that mouse has hidden stats and traits that make it special and unique,” Moss said. Getting to his level of mastery is no easy feat. Walking around the island leisurely with friends may be the go-to method for other trainers, but Moss says there’s barely time to put on his shoes. “I’m level 24,” he said referring to his progress in the
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review file
The historic tugboat “Chickamauga” sits in its slip at Eagle Harbor Marina after having been raised by a marine salvage company following its sinking early in October 2013.
“Playing Pokémon Go as an adult either means I’m immature or a child abductor. I’m neither.”
Boat owner may do jail time over sinking of historic tugboat
Nathaniel Moss Pokémon trainer
Catch them all The Pokémon craze has hit Bainbridge; learn more about the game on A27. game, “so leveling takes a ton of individual time to find the Pokémon you need to keep up the level grind. It is lonely at the top.” He also unites with his coworkers to keep the Winslow Pokémon gyms on their side all day long. The gyms can switch ownership between the three teams quickly if they aren’t reclaimed with friends. Even as a huge fan, there are still some things Moss dislikes about the phenomenon of Pokémon Go. “Playing Pokémon as an adult either means I’m immature or a child abductor. I’m neither,” Moss joked. “I’m an avid gamer who just wants to catch ‘em all. I’m also not a fan of hearing other players trespassing or destroying property to get a Pokémon. Not cool.” Moss knows that there are
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Bainbridge Island Review
Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Moss
Nathaniel Moss, a level 24 Pokémon trainer on Bainbridge Island, poses, decked out in game gear. A comprehensive resource for those playing Pokémon Go on the island, Moss likes to help other trainers optimize their gameplay. ways to be smart about playing the game. He even has a name for those who don’t stay alert: Pokézombies. “They’re the teens/adults who stare down at their screen standing in the middle of a Walmart parking lot, oblivious to the traffic around them,” Moss said. “Or will just stop
in the middle of foot traffic because something spawned. “I pulled a guy out of the street last week because he was standing in the middle of Winslow Way trying to get two PokéStops, and there were cars coming, and his game was TURN TO MASTER | A27
The former owner of the historic tugboat “Chickamauga” may serve 20 days in jail after admitting he let the 100-year tugboat fall into disrepair and sink in Eagle Harbor in late 2013. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office announced Monday that Anthony R. Smith, the owner of the Chickamauga, entered a guilty plea on charges of allowing the tugboat to become derelict, and polluting state waters. The 100-year-old tugboat Chickamauga sank in Eagle Harbor in October 2013 and leaked approximately 200 to 300 gallons of diesel fuel into Puget Sound. Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced charges against Smith — for causing a vessel to become abandoned or derelict, as well as polluting state waters and first-degree theft — in January 2014. Smith was working in Alaska as a fisherman at the time, and he was released on personal recognizance after charges were filed. His trial originally had been set for June 2014, but a $10,000 arrest warrant was issued when he did not appear for a status TURN TO TUGBOAT | A27
lucky enough to live on an island ….You are lucky enough.