In Search of Charmander at CA

Though not a heavy trafficked local landmark where you’d expect Nintendo monsters to be lurking, yes, young augmented reality gamers are hunting Pokémon characters on the Colorado Academy campus. Trekking behind three adept players of the just weeks-old game via their phone apps, these two CA staff members got a fast and furious lesson in “leveling up,” “defending the gym,” and what to down when Pokémons “spawn.”

 

The wildly popular Pokémon GO game layers gameplay onto the physical world by using a GPS map. Anyone can play by downloading the app onto a smartphone. When they are close enough, the Pokémon characters appear as augmented reality on your screen, and your job is to catch them.

 

It has taken the world, yes the world, by storm. News updates in just the past three days on game creator’s website, Niantic, Inc. (a spinoff of Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google) say: “Pokémon GO is now available in Canada, ““Pokémon GO Available in 26 New Countries,” and “Trainers in Italy, Spain, and Portugal Can Download from the Play or App Store.” The game is now available in 200 countries worldwide.

 

 Proponents like the idea that the app most often encourages movement outdoors, (though the monsters appear inside as well) forcing players to travel on foot in pursuit of the likes of Charmander, Squirtle and Pikachu. You can even hatch at Pokémon eggs by accumulating mileage on foot (it takes 2-5 kilometers of walking to get an egg to hatch). That said, there are numerous media reports of people running into trees, walking off cliffs, falling off skateboards while being overly occupied with Pokémon hunting.

 

The three Middle Schools boys explained the ingenuity of the app, far more attractive than the Pokémon trading cards they remember collecting in second grade. “It is actually a really simple concept,” they say, and predict that the developers and programmers will keep improving and innovating with the game.

 

These students love the outdoor aspect. After the trip around campus, they were jumping onto their bikes to head to the closest Pokémon Stop, which they had already determined was just down the street on the Hampden Frontage Road.  Pokémon Stops are places where you collect Pokémon balls that can be used to “capture” characters.

 

As summer hits the halfway point, we asked these students about what would happen when classes resume. “What will you do if you are sitting in class and you get a notification that a Pokémon is near by?”  “Probably get an infraction,” said one student, anticipating his inability to refrain from looking at his smartphone.  “I won’t be looking at my phone while I am in class,” said another. “My phone will be in my backpack in my locker.” Good answer, lad. In fact, that is what the CA Student Handbook says. No doubt, students will be getting plenty of reminders about that come back-to-school time.