What is Pokémon GO ?

Ok, so Sunday afternoon, the family is sitting around the pool and my middle son came and told me that he and his brothers were going to ride up the road to the park and “claim a gym”.

What???

“Yeah, we have to walk around the park and get these Pokémon on our phone.”

Oh ok, that helped…NOT!!

“Mom, we have to hurry there’s a gym and I can claim it but I need to go now!”

A gym…at the park… that you have to claim… and Pokémon are gonna get on your phone??  I’m so confused at this point, I just told them to go.   When they came back, apparently, he was the proud owner of the gym that someone else almost beat him to????

Yesterday I drove into our little town and saw people walking around, looking at their phones then up and down…more than usual.  Several of them were teenagers but some adults were doing it too.  It was obvious that they were not texting or talking…no my friend, they were playing Pokémon GO.

I. WAS. SHOCKED.  My kids started spouting off all the places within feet of us… that Pokémon were located.  Then when we got home, my youngest son said he was going for a WALK to catch Pokémon.  WHAT ON EARTH!!???

I then began to ask more questions and started learning a little bit more about this new phenomenon that is of great interest to my kiddos and many more!

So, here are 10 things I’ve learned about Pokémon GO since Sunday:

1. Pokémon GO is a phone app available to download and play for free.
2. The app uses your phone’s GPS to make a map of your location where Pokémon show up here and there.
3. As you walk to the location where the Pokémon is, it shows up on your phone
4. There are places called Pokéstops (usually interesting places in your community)…if you go to a Pokéstop, you are awarded Pokéballs and or eggs (not real eggs).  In order to hatch the “eggs”, you have to walk a certain distance.
5. The Pokéballs can then be used to catch Pokémon.  You fling a Pokéball at the Pokémon (which is visible on your phone) to catch it, some are easier than others to catch.
6. There are experience levels to the game and once you reach level 5, you can join a team…Red, Blue or Yellow.
7. Pokémon GO has encouraged my kids to get outside and walk around more.  As a matter of fact, two of them are in town now…walking around!!!
8. Pokémon GO is being played by kids as well as adults.  An adult couple that I know visited the same park that my middle son went to on Sunday looking to claim the gym that my son got earlier in the day.  Then today, a friend of my sons was telling them about how much his mom has gotten into it already!!
9. The strategy of the game is to walk around, trying to cover as much ground as possible, visiting Pokéstops and encountering and obtaining as many Pokémon as you can.
10. There have been scary reports of some crazy people doing violent and repulsive things when kids come to catch Pokémon.  Respect needs to be given to private property and caution must be taken to avoid the crazies that live in our world today.  Also, driving while playing Pokémon GO should be forbidden!!

So, that’s the information I have on this new game, maybe you have more that would benefit other readers.  You’re welcome to share your information in the comments.   Just as a disclaimer…I am not an advocate of this game…it just swept through my house in the past few days and thought it may have done the the same in yours.

Enjoy!

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