Pokemon Go App

What Is Pokemon Go?

Pokemon Go is the newest trend in Augmented Reality gaming. Ultimately, you use your device to catch Pokemon and live out your childhood fantasies of being a Pokemon Trainer like Ash, Brock, and Misty. You create your avatar and proceed with real time GPS to move within' the map of the game to attract and catch the game's 150 Pokemon. You begin with either Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander or the beloved Pokemon Pikachu. As you catch the Pokemon within' the game, it adds them to the Pokedex. The Pokedex is a journal of the various 150 Pokemon that you can catch. You can also go to the various buildings that are dubbed Gyms or Poke-Stops. Poke-Stops are where every five minutes you can get free items. and Gyms you are allowed to go to once you reach level five in the game. At level five you pick your team, Red (Valor) Blue (Mystic) or Yellow (Instinct) They all have different views on the training and upbringing of Pokemon. You get XP for utilizing Poke-Stops and for catching Pokemon. Within the game you obtain "Candies" when you catch a Pokemon and you can evolve it. It's a very fun game for all ages.

I have been apart of the Pokemon Go pandemic since the week after it came out. I find this game very entertaining but at the same time can be very dangerous for the people playing. I've heard so many stories about people getting mugged for their phones, or getting into accidents for not using common sense and watching where they're going while playing the game. I however have a little more sense. I don't look at my phone until I am on the sidewalk. I do not stop in the middle of intersections or the road while crossing the street to catch a Pokemon or utilize a Poke-Stop. I didn't think it was rocket science considering it reminds you to be aware of your surroundings on the game's loading page.

This game does however fulfill  my childhood dreams of becoming a trainer and I love being able to catch Pokemon. I also like that it keeps you active and moving. My foster brothers and my nephew also play this game and always want to go on Poke-Walks to catch Pokemon and usually are gone for up to an hour or more at a time. The bad part of it is my neighborhood has a curfew for minors and they think it's smart to go on Poke-Walks at 2 in the morning. My mother is dreading the day she gets called by the neighborhood officers to pick them up at the local station. I am on level 7 mainly because I only play to and from work and utilize a handful of Poke-Stops. I should make an effort to let this game make me more active, heaven knows I need to lose the weight and the exercise. The fact that this game doesn't target a specific age group is also very nice. I know people as young as 9 to as old as their 60's who play this game and use it for different reasons whether it be the "fulfilling dreams" game like me or just to make their morning walks more motivated and interactive. It's definitely worth checking out though just be careful, be alert, and be aware of the real world while you play. After all it is not real, it's altered reality.