If you’re a living, breathing human being on Earth at this very moment, you've probably heard about Pokemon Go, the newest hype in the gaming world—and if you’re not already crazy addicted like the rest of America, you probably know at least someone who is. Since its release, the new augmented reality game has taken the world by storm, dominating the App Store's "Top Grossing" and "Free" charts, boosting Nintendo's stock prices to new heights and giving rise to giant crowds of people roaming around in the streets and neighborhoods, eyes glued to their phone screens in the hopes of catching the rare Mewtwo or the elusive Snorlax. And if you consider yourself one of these people—well, you'll understand everything in the following list: 12 things that are only relatable if you're a fellow Pokemon trainer.
1. The extreme lengths you’ll go just to catch rare Pokemon.
Gotta catch 'em all—even if they're in a stranger's living room or the middle of a giant lake.
2. The struggles of your neighborhood being over-infested with Ratattas when all you want is a damn Pikachu.
I have enough Zubats and Pidgeys already, dammit.
3. The dramatic decrease in sleep you've gotten since you've started playing.
As if you didn't get enough sleep already, you now have the additional task of catching virtual creatures on your phone at 4 in the morning.
3. The very strange places in which you’ll find pokestops and gyms.
From graveyards to weird statues to the Westboro Baptist Church—you start wondering how they choose all these locations...
4. But you'll risk anything just to get to these pokestops and gyms anyway.
Private property, patrolled bases—nothing can really stop you from the chance to get more pokeballs and eggs or take over a nearby gym.
5. The creative ways you'll come up with to hatch your eggs.
Sorry, but walking 3 miles to hatch an egg? No thank you, I'd rather strap my phone to my dog while I stay on the couch.
6. ...And then utter pain you feel when this happens.
"I did all that....for....a... Weedle?"
7. The stress and frustration that comes with the annoying server issues.
Never have 9 words made us want to scream more: "Our servers are experiencing issues. Please come back later."
8. The weird feeling of actually exercising every day... for once.
If we're being completely honest, we lazy couch potatoes have never spent this much time walking long distances for several days in a row.
9. The fact that every trip you take suddenly takes twice as long...
...Because you keep straying from your path looking for rare Pokemon. Who knew detours could actually be useful and productive?
10. And sometimes, looking up from your phone to realize that you're totally lost and have no idea where you've ended up.
Sometimes you're just so preoccupied with finding that nearby Squirtle, you don't even realize where you're going...
11. Why this story is so sadly, unfortunately relatable.
(Admit it, you'd do the exact same thing.)
12. When all you can think about all day, every day is just catching Pokemon, that you literally don't care about anything else.
What do you mean, people actually go places for other things besides catching Pokemon?
