By Wade Weaver
WABASH,IN Pokemon has made it’s way back into the lives of the Millennials.
This time it’s a game played on your smart phone. You may remember the Pokemon (short for Pocket Monster) craze in the late 90’s. Kids growing up back then played Pokemon video games on their Game Boys, watched Pokemon cartoons and movies, and battled it out with Pokemon cards during their lunch breaks at school. And…new generations of kids never really stopped doing that. (The last two Nintendo 3DS video games sold 25 million copies, combined.)
Now there is Pokemon Go!! Pokemon Go is nothing like the Gameboy game you remember — it’s a free mobile game that lets you see Pokemon through the window of your phone as if they existed in the real world. Then, you can catch them. (“Gotta catch ’em all!”) It’s also wildly popular: Pokemon Go was just released Tuesday and it’s already the No. 1 free app in the US iTunes App Store.
The premise of Pokemon Go is that these pocket monsters are hidden around our real world — literally. You need to go look for them; when they get close enough, they’ll appear on your in-game radar and then you can try to catch them.
A Venonat in front of the Charley Creek Inn
Friday night in downtown Wabash, there were 70-80 people trying to collect Pokemon, Pokeballs, Coins, Candy and more. Players are looking for PokeStops for power ups and other misc. items. This game is also getting people back into the gyms or in a gym for the first time ever. No exercise required — except walking there.
Pokegyms are where you can battle your Pokemon against other team’s Pokemon. Once you get to Level 5 you can join a team. (Red, Yellow, or Blue)
Two Pokemon Gyms at Paradise Spring Historical Park
Bill and Jeanettah Lyons
However, one Wabash resident Jeanettah Lyons said it is getting her husband Bill off the couch.
If you go to a gym that is a different color than your team (blue, yellow or red), you can battle the Pokemon there and cause the other team to lose their hold on the gym. At that point, you can drop a Pokemon on the gym and claim it for your own team. If your team already holds the gym, you can battle its Pokemon to raise the “prestige” of the gym. Once prestige is high enough, you can add a Pokemon to make it harder for the other team to capture.
Adam Samons
Adam Samons explains the premise of Pokemon Go.
Samons goes on to say there is competition among players in town.
He also posted on his Facebook page some pride in Team Yellow!
Bill Lyons chose the Blue team.
Now this game is not just for 25 year old nerdy guys, the ladies are even getting into it. Kelli Holley and Emmy Heagy were equally excited about catching the Pokemon.
This game has become so wildly popular, the internet servers hosting the game are having a LOT of trouble. It seems like the game’s developer, Niantic, didn’t anticipate this much demand. They’ve actually postponed the game’s launch in certain countries until they can fix it. And, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about it. If you launch the game and you get the error message, you’ll have to keep checking back.
The question this reporter has is “how long will this Pokemon Go be popular?” Another Wabash player and yellow team member, Matt Wilson, gives his prediction.
MiBash Radio News and YourNewsLocal will keep up with this latest craze. This reporter needs to get back to my game. I’ve got a few eggs to incubate, get to level 5 so I can pick a team and take over a few gyms. (For research purposes only of course!!!)