Pokémon Go developer Niantic made a special variant of Pikachu available that weekend, but otherwise, it was a fairly ordinary event. But Merrick had staked his career and reputation on keeping his website, Serebii.net, updated with timely, in-depth coverage of all things Pokémon, and Pokémon Go was one of the site’s pillars. The bachelor party shenanigans would, sadly, have to wait. Merrick pulled his phone out and sat in the corner for as long as it took to write and publish his coverage.

