Pokémania hitting N. Idaho
Photo illustration by JAKE PARRISH/Press When a user stumbles across a Pokemon while walking, a live-view screen using the mobile device’s camera pops up as the users throw “Pokeballs” at Pokemon in an attempt to catch them.
JAKE PARRISH/Press Jillian Smith, left, and Kiahna Soura, both 10, laugh as they try to catch Pokemon in the hit mobile-phone game Pokemon Go on Monday with Chuck Holt, right, on the corner of Fifth Street and Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene.
JAKE PARRISH/Press Jillian Smith, at left, 10, and Dallas Dolence, 7, play Pokemon Go on Monday on the corner of Fifth Street and Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene.
JAKE PARRISH/Press Ben East of Coeur d’Alene talks about the nostalgia he feels while playing Pokemon Go. “I used to play Pokemon as a kid,” he says. “It’s bringing me back to that time.”
COEUR d'ALENE — Fictional creatures called Pokemon have invaded North Idaho and residents armed with only their smartphones are doing their best to catch them all.
They’re playing Pokemon GO, an augmented reality game that layers gameplay onto the physical world. Just released in the U.S. on July 6, Pokeman GO quickly became the top-grossing app in the iPhone app store.
The game's popularity is apparent everywhere you look, as residents of all ages are keeping their eyes glued to their phones in search of Pokemon.
"It keeps the kids active instead of sitting at home playing a video game and it's a fun family activity," said Sandy Dolence, who got together with neighbors to bring their kids downtown for a Pokemon adventure. "They're so into it and it's so cute."
Another of the parents, Chuck Holt, was joining in on the fun too, and told The Press it's helping him feel young at heart.
"I like going out to find them (Pokemon) because you get out and get exercise," said Jillian Smith, a 10-year-old who was with the group of neighbors.
"I was even trying to catch Pokemon in the car," Kiahna Soura, 10, added.
To play, you fire up the game and then start trekking to prominent local landmarks — represented in the game as "Pokestops" — where you gather supplies such as Pokeballs, which are what you fling at online pocket monsters, or Pokemon, to capture them for training.
At other locations called gyms within the game, Pokemon battle each other for supremacy. The game uses your smartphone’s GPS and clock to detect where you are and when and where Pokemon will appear to you.
The game was created by Niantic Inc., a San Francisco spinoff of Google parent Alphabet Inc. that previously became known for a similar augmented-reality game called "Ingress."
According to SimilarWeb, a global firm that provides analytics on websites and apps, Pokemon GO was installed on 5 percent of all Android devices in the United States two days after it was released. To put that into perspective, the company said the game has already been installed on more Android phones than the popular dating application Tinder.
Information from SimilarWeb also states the game is on pace to have more daily users than Twitter, and was already running neck-and-neck with the social media giant when data was compiled.
The application has had a substantial impact on markets as well. Shares of Nintendo in Tokyo leapt 25 percent Monday which, according to The Wall Street Journal, added approximately $9 billion of market value to the company.
"It's ridiculous, " Ben East, of Coeur d'Alene, said while playing the game at City Park Monday. "Like right there, that guy's probably playing right now too."
East, 27, said he remembers being 9 years old and earning money working at his grandma's house to save up for the original Game Boy game. Once he finally earned the cash and got the game, East said it didn't take too long before he was hooked.
"This game is like everything you wanted to do as a kid," East added. "It's incredible."
A return to childhood for some, Pokemon Go has led others into hazardous situations.
Across the nation and abroad there have been multiple reports of individuals injuring themselves because they lost focus on the world around them in their quest to "catch 'em all." Police in Missouri also reported recently that four teens used Pokemon Go to lure victims to a location and rob them, and a woman in Wyoming found a man's body in a river while playing the smartphone game.
But, in Coeur d'Alene, the positive side of the game was on full display Monday. John Trayford, of Post Falls, and Alyssa West, of Coeur d'Alene, were walking around City Park on the hunt for Pokemon and told The Press the game has led to them meeting a lot of new people.
"You're actually a trainer now and meeting other people who are also actually Pokemon trainers," West, 21, said. "We've had a 'Pokemob' with like 30 plus people walking around downtown Coeur d'Alene playing."
Trayford, 20, said the game is a fun way to get exercise.
"I've walked like 32 miles in the last four days," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.