A couple who met while playing Pokémon GO and later married say the mobile game didn’t just help them catch rare Pokémon – it helped them catch each other.
Rachael Bell Weix, 28, and her husband, Jesse Weix, 32, first crossed paths at a Pokémon GO meet-up.
Jesse had started the group to bring players together for meet-ups and events – and when Racheal joined, the two quickly hit it off.
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They began meeting up regularly to play, walking around parks for hours and chatting while catching Pokémon.
What started as a shared hobby quickly turned into friendship, and before long, the two realised there was something more between them.
Eight years later, they’ve tied the knot after turning their shared hobby into a full-time job.
“I love how Jesse led the group and interacted with people,” Rachael told What’s The Jam
“I also thought he was very cute.”
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Jesse added: “Rachael was absolutely adorable and had a great mindset about the world and her dedication to her work.”
When they first met in Orlando in 2017, Jesse was a college student while Racheal worked at the front desk of a Target store.
What started as friendly meet-ups soon turned into late-night calls, constant texts and endless adventures hunting for digital creatures – and before long, they realised they’d found something far rarer than a shiny Pikachu.
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Jesse said: “We would randomly see each other due to the community group, and that quickly turned into private messaging each other to go out together to play.
“As the game evolved more and more – so did our relationship.
“We texted and called each other almost every single day.
“We both felt the chemistry bubbling up with each other every time we hung out.
“When I found out Rachael had an interest in me romantically, we began to dive a little deeper into this.”
After a few years of dating, the couple moved in together and began to build a life around their shared passion.
In 2022, Jesse proposed, and two years later, they tied the knot on a beach on Florida’s west coast, surrounded by friends they’d met through the game.
Rachael said: “Since most of our mutual friends played the game with us, they were so encouraging and enthusiastic about our budding relationship.
“My parents immediately loved Jesse the moment they met him.
“I have a huge family, so it was very important to bring Jesse over to meet them quite early in the relationship.”
During the Covid lockdowns in 2020, their love of Pokémon GO became more than a hobby.
To stay connected with other players, they began streaming the game on Twitch and their fun, laid-back videos quickly took off.
Within months, they’d built a loyal online following and were invited to become official Twitch partners.
Racheal soon quit her job to focus on streaming full-time while Jesse took on editing and filming duties.
Since then, the couple have travelled across North America for Pokémon events – from Mexico to Canada – and built a global fanbase of fellow gamers.
One of their favourite memories is a spontaneous trip to Montreal in 2019, which turned into a romantic getaway they still talk about today.
Now living in Roanoke, Virginia, the pair describe themselves as “two nerds in love”.
When they’re not streaming, they enjoy quiet nights in watching Survivor and The Amazing Race with their cats.
Eight years after that first meet-up in Orlando, they say they still can’t believe how much the game changed their lives.
Rachael said: “What started out as just people in the same area who liked the same game quickly evolved into an inseparable relationship.
“We both knew in the back of our minds that this wasn’t some small fling – it was real.
“At the end of the day, we absolutely love playing the game together. Going on adventures together because Pokémon GO is a huge reason why our relationship is so strong.
“I think it’s also because we are just incredibly grateful the game brought us together.”
The couple say they are now looking forward to the future.
Rachael added: “Honestly, all we want is to be able to live long, happy, and healthy lives together.
“We are each other’s comfort for absolutely everything, and nothing beats that.
“We would have never imagined something like a game on our phones would end up literally bringing the two of us together in marriage, but not only that – we have now brought together an entire community over it.
“It feels monumental, something that feels impossible and so surreal, and yet it happened.”
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