"Poké

mon GO" is the latest app that's taking the world by storm. It allows people to become real-life Poké

mon trainers by going outside and capturing and battling Poké

mon in the "real world" using the augmented-reality technology. For many, this app comes as a major source of wish fulfillment. Finally, we can capture Pikachus, Charmanders and Squirtles in our backyards! (Though, if you live near where I do in suburban Northern Virginia, you're more likely to get a never-ending supply of Pidgeys, Rattatas, and Zubats.)

Traveling to Poké

Stops that correspond to real landmarks allows players to pick up Poké

Balls and other goodies they need to be successful in the game. Such items are available for Poké

Coins in the Shop, but frequently Poké

Coins must be purchased using real money. It's definitely better to get things for free at the Poké

Stops whenever possible.

Despite the fact that this game has only been available for nearly two weeks, there have already been a plethora of problems: servers are constantly shutting down; people who want to find virtual Pokemon find real dead bodies; Koffing shows up at the National Holocaust Museum. (The photos could've been photoshopped, but still. That joke is in really poor taste.)

Most notably, people seem to be getting hurt while playing the app. This seems to go without saying, but when you're trying to "catch 'em all," don't drive while doing so and look both ways before crossing the street. I'm serious. Get a designated driver and look up when you're about to cross a busy road. That Drowzee will still be there when you're on the other side, I promise.

Even with all the general stupidity that has inevitably occurred because of it, the app has gotten a lot of praise for getting people up and interacting with their outside environment. Of course, the idea that you need to alter reality to enjoy being outdoors has been bemoaned. (Most likely by older people who begin sentences with "Back in my day...") For many people with mental illnesses, going outside is an excruciating task or, at best, a chore. Playing the game gives people with depression, anxiety, etc. a reason to leave their house and it is providing motivation that is often hard to find.

So what if you only leave to catch virtual critters instead of enjoying the beauty of trees? As someone who suffers from both anxiety and depression (and someone who thinks nature is completely boring), I can honestly say "Poké

mon GO" has kept me outside for longer than anything else ever has. As a result, my mood has improved significantly, even with my summer math class causing me a lot of stress.

But what if the problem isn't that you don't want to leave but that you physically can't leave your house, or have a difficult time doing so? Such is the case for some people with physical disabilities who want to play but cannot because of their physical limitations. People in (manual) wheelchairs can have a difficult time navigating their neighborhood due to cracks in the sidewalk or street. (This might be less of an issue for people in heavy-duty power chairs, like me.)

If there aren't any Poké

Stops nearby, they might have a difficult time finding transportation to a more urban area where they could stock up on supplies. I myself can't drive, but thankfully I have a mother who's willing to indulge my newfound Poké

-obsession by driving me around to capture new creatures and get more equipment. (Thanks, mom!)

Even if a person with a disability is ambulatory, walking far distances can take a lot of time and energy. Going on a four-mile jog per day to catch Poké

mon isn't an option if you tire easily. Hatching eggs, which require a person walk a certain number of kilometers, would be nearly impossible to do as well. Plus, catching the Poké

mon themselves can be difficult, even for an able-bodied person.

Catching a Poké

mon requires the player to flick a Poké

Ball high enough to get it inside the circle surrounding its face. Depending on how big the Poké

mon is, how difficult it is to catch (i.e. remain in the Poké

Ball once captured), and whether it can fly or jump, this seemingly easy task can become much harder. For people with fine-motor-skill issues, even catching the smallest Pidgey could be a challenge.

Since "Poké

mon GO" was clearly made, like most everything, with an able-bodied person in mind, the easiest solution would be to play with an able-bodied friend who could help drive and catch Poké

mon with/for you as necessary. However, the fun of the game comes from doing these things yourself, so handing your phone to someone to do everything for you could be very depressing. Disability activists have suggested that Niantic (the company who made the app) create a disability mode that makes throwing Poké

Balls and catching Poké

mon easier. They've also suggested that the app become linked to Google Street View, thus allowing people to take a "walk" virtually to collect items at Poké

Stops, hatch eggs, and so forth.

However, there's no way to guarantee that the people who would use these services are actually disabled. Many of them could be able-bodied people who are lazy and don't want to leave their house. (Case in point: There are already complicated hacks that allow people to move in the game without moving in the real world. As far as I can tell, the people who use these hacks aren't disabled; they just don't want to be bothered moving around.)

Now, before I get a lot of backlash from (presumably able-bodied) people saying, "It's just a game; what does it matter?" let me explain. I'm relatively new to the Poké

mon craze. I never played the trading card game, the video games, or watched the TV series when I was younger because I thought Poké

mon was only for boys. (Feminist side note: TV shows, games, and toys don't have genders. They are gendered based on societal expectations for boys and girls. Children should be allowed to play with whatever they like, as long as it won't harm them.) I downloaded the app because all of my (girl) friends seemed so hype about it. I was somewhat surprised that this franchise was popular with women, but I was bored, so I figured "What the hell?" and got the game. Afterward, I started watching the TV show so I could learn about the different types of creatures, what their powers were, and so on.

However, unlike me, there are many people who have loved Poké

mon for years and have eagerly anticipated the release of this app. For someone who's loved the franchise so long, it seems really unfair that they can't partake in this cultural phenomenon due to physical limitations. People with disabilities are already limited as to where we can go, eat, shop, etc. If our sources of entertainment become more limited, too, that would be hard to take.