Sharing a great raid experience

I live in the Montrose area of Houston, which is fortunate to have a very vibrant PoGo community. That said, I have always played solo, and I never met anyone else playing. I am level 36 Valor, and I was just finding time to play my first raid this morning.

Just down the road, a level 4 boss hatched in to a Tyranitar -- I was thrilled. I grabbed my rain jacket and headed that way. Upon arriving, I unsuccessfully battled twice, in a party of 3 trainers. After the second failed attempt, I figured I would wait a few minutes to see if anyone else showed up.

2 minutes later, 3 Tahoe's rolled up and an older Asian man (think Ken Jeong from The Hangover) jumped out, pointed at me, and enthusiastically asked "are you battling?". I replied yes, and he said "Let's do this!!!".

13 people demolished the Tyranitar in a stunning display of Machamps. For me, this was a completely new PoGo experience. I have played since the beginning, and I was content with solo play. However, this group interaction never would have happened in the old system. At the next raid I attended, I met 2 other Valor trainers (for the 1st time) that have dominated the local gym scene for months.

I get it, there are bugs and there are aspects not to like about the new system. But for me, these things do not come close to the fantastic experience I had this morning.