Patero, a political theory and constitutional democracy and accounting junior, has been playing "Pokemon Go" for about two months now, she said.

“I liked 'Pokemon' when I was a child, so it’s like bringing back memories, and it’s also really convenient because it’s on my phone so if I’m ever bored, and especially at MSU because there’s so many PokeStops or gyms, I can just take out my phone and play," Patero said. "Catch a few Pokemon, catch a few PokeStops. It’s always there for me but it’s not something I have to always keep up with. I think it’s like that childhood sentiment.”

Nandyala, a human biology and biomedical laboratory sciences junior, does not have "Pokemon Go," but was brought to the event by Patero, she said. Nandyala said it was her lack of interest in games in general that prevented her from getting "Pokemon Go." 

“I just watched the show when I was a kid, that was it," she said. "I’m just not interested in games. I’m usually not good at anything, like games-wise, I’m just not good at them and I lose focus and interest in two days so that’s why I usually don’t play any games.”

Robert Stonik, an advertising junior and event director for the evening, said he knew not everyone would have "Pokemon Go," but he wanted to make sure the UAB Poke Pizza Party would still be fun for everyone. 

When he started the planning the event back in August, he said the game was very trendy. Now, however, it has become less popular, which is why it was important to make the event enjoyable to those with and without the app, he said.

“I’m glad we made this event inclusive knowing that the app was dying out because I feel like it also attracted people who just love 'Pokemon' as a franchise and feel that nostalgia from their childhood,” Stonik said.

The event, which went from 8 p.m. to midnight, had a variety of activities, Stonik said.

Events that everyone could enjoy included free food giveaways, such as pizza from the Union Pizzeria and Poké Ball cookies Stonik designed and ordered through the MSU Bakery. Stonik also designed buttons with popular Pokemon and the different "Pokemon Go" team symbols on them to be handed out. A projector played the first "Pokemon" movie and there was a Nintendo 64 game room set up as well, he said.

For the "Pokemon Go" players, there was a "Capture the Gym" event where everyone with the app would go outside of the International Center from 11 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. People would battle with the app to take control of the gym and the top three spots received prizes, Stonik said. 

Patero and Nandyala both agreed that one of the best events was the photo booth, which was outsourced from Big Lyle’s Party and Event Entertainment. Running the photo booth was graphic artist Christian Webster, who proposed the idea of "Pokemon" designs for the photo booth. He was excited when someone picked up the idea, as he had been very into "Pokemon" when he was younger. Webster said when he first got "Pokemon Go" on his phone, it became his life for about two weeks, but hasn’t been able to play it as much lately.

“I have played less than I used to," Webster said. "That’s maybe just me. I feel like I haven’t had a lot of time to do non-driving transit lately. It’s really good on a bike, it’s really good on walking, but I haven’t had much time for either. It makes a big difference.”

Patero said she has also seen the game’s popularity die down a bit, partly because it gets harder for players to level up their Pokemon the longer they play.

“If I first started 'Pokemon Go' at MSU, I’d be at 10 hours a day, so I’d be up every single day playing that game," she said. "But nowadays it’s so hard for me to level up, I only play once or twice or one or two hours a day. I kind of think it lost its appeal. I know a lot of my friends stopped playing it when they came to MSU too, so it might be the homework, but also might be they found it hard to level up and hard to get new Pokemon. Especially if you don’t travel outside.”

Even with "Pokemon Go" not being quite as popular, Stonik said he still felt pretty good about the turnout for the event. He said he was expecting between 200 and 300 people and that 261 people had already come by 8:50 p.m.

“I think we are exceeding expectations," he said. "We have an awesome audience tonight. We have people who are very passionate about 'Pokemon' and I think a lot of times the event goers make the event and the atmosphere here is really awesome right now.”

All in all, most people seemed pleased with the UAB team efforts. Patero said that she was glad to see UAB taking into consideration trends and making events out of them and Webster said that they did a good job having a variety of things for people to do.

“I’m impressed with the UAB staff so far," Webster said. "There’s a lot of volunteers and they seem to be pretty on the ball. I like that they have as many outlets and opportunities for people to get involved with the event as possible.”