Does this article need an introduction? The title alone should awaken in you fond thoughts of trespassing, operating your phone while driving, and foregoing sleep and social obligations. Perhaps it invokes recollections of outings with friends and family, recapturing a nostalgic feeling, or having fun just killing time and forgetting about this crazy world? Since this game's inception and even into its release, I have been contemplating what the world would become. I received my first Pokémon game on my fifth birthday. I have been a franchise supporter for 16 years. I knew this game would be huge, but I could not predict what change the game would bring to the entire world.
You have seen the news reports of stupid idiots getting hit by cars and falling off of cliffs whilst questing for the illusory beasts called Pokémon. Realize that this game is the perfect metaphor of the real world. There is always going to be that one dingus out of a hundred that can't responsibly handle a good thing. Laws exist for that 1% that just absolutely sucks and ruins it for the rest of us. The disclaimer about "situational awareness" at the opening of the "Pokémon Go" game exists for those who won't read it or follow it anyways.
I dare you to ponder one thing though. What if this game is one giant experiment? This game plumbs the depths of human communication and has touched many facets of this broad, complex system. I have witnessed it myself and, quite honestly, would do an academic paper on the parallels this game has in common with the overworld it is based in; because this game, so far, has manifested everything good AND bad about human communication.
As a loyal acolyte of Lord Zapdos, I support Team Instinct and, as a rule, think Team Valor is the biggest collective of poop noses around. Isn't that terrible? I think Team Mystic is a conglomerate of shit sippers, too. In the world of "Pokémon Go," it is like a little terrarium in which you can peer in and see every form of human interaction possible. I have fostered new friendships and strengthened existing ones. I have bonded with a truck driver just passing through town over this simple little game. However, I have seen people weigh risk vs. reward and choose danger and potential harm over safety and common sense. I have seen the divisiveness of this game's team classification. Elitism, prejudice, and hate, it exists in this simple mobile game.
As depressing as that is, I maintain hope. For every bad trait, I see the world uniting under a common interest: everyone should be able to catch something other than Ratata, Pidgey, or Weedle. It gives me hope that as a human race we could be that unified. Thank you, Pokémon, for proving that it can be done.
