July 6, 2016 is the day that I had been waiting for my entire life. Finally, I would be able to lose myself in my cellphone completely and catch Pokémon that appeared around me in the real world! I had been dreaming of the day that I could live alongside my favorite childhood monsters and grow alliances with as many fictional characters as physically possible. My friends and I have waited in lines and pre-ordered every single Pokémon game since I was old enough to beg my parents for the one thing that has always brought me happiness. In my life, I have watched and re-watched over nine hundred episodes of the Pokémon series, traded thousands of cards, and put countless sleepless nights into completing every Pokedex that Nintendo handed me. I am a Pokémon CHAMPION in every region! The release of Pokémon GO was far more than just another app for me—it was the day that my life changed.
I arrived at my boyfriend’s house in Athens, Ohio on the night of July 6 after work at around eleven. My plush Chimchar and Piplup in hand and totally dressed head to toe like a Pokémon trainer, I dropped my overnight bag on his floor and began my journey. After catching a Charmander on his front porch, I waved him goodbye, “I’m fiiiiiine”, and wandered into the cemetery next to his home. I spent about an hour wandering aimlessly as I threw virtual Pokémon at the virtual monsters in the pitch black graveyard. I continued through to the end of the tombstones and climbed up a mountain into the dark woods. Weedle and Weedle popped its head out at me, and I even was able to catch a few Eevees! I read that the more of one type of Pokémon you catch, the more you can level up! So I caught everything that dared to cross my screen.
It was around three in the morning that I was brought back to a screaming reality when my cell phone died and I realized that I was completely lost in a dark woods that was behind a cemetery. I had wondered around, completely unaware of my surroundings, for almost four hours. The panic set in.
I’ll save you the long and drawn out terror of my situation and fast forward to when I was finally able to get to the bottom of the mountain and follow street signs until I was safe and back in bed with two plush Pokémon and my loving boyfriend.
I am not the only person for whom this game has damaged almost irreparably. Take Ms. Terra Dactel for example. Terra describes herself as someone who has played Pokémon for the last sixty five million years. She shared with me her horror story about June 7, the day after Pokemon GO Came out:
So, yeah, basically, I was on my lunch break at work—I work at a museum, and I downloaded the app, and instead of eating lunch I just played the game. I played the game during my entire thirty-minute lunch break, and then when my boss asked me to get off my phone I actually told him “hold on, there’s a Clefary on your shoe”. He fired me on the spot, but I still haven’t put the game down. I’ve caught over 100 Pokémon in the last 24 hours. I haven’t eaten since before the game came out.
Another person whose life has been abruptly harmed since the release of Pokémon GO Is Dylan Pickles. Dyl works at a fast food restaurant in downtown Columbus, and lives about 30 minutes away by bus. I found him walking around downtown Columbus on June seventh and asked him to share his story with us:
While I was waiting for the bus to come, I downloaded Pokémon GO It was a lot of fun, and I just couldn’t put it down! Well, I ended up missing the bus and had to wait another thirty minutes for another bus. But I started walking around the city and visiting all of these gyms and Pokémon locations and collecting free things and Pokémon and...I just...Well that was yesterday afternoon and I haven’t been home yet.
So, there you have it! Pokémon GO is slowly taking over the lives of hundreds of people, from the ages of twenty to forty, causing people to lose jobs, sleep, and even food to walk all day and night long in the quest of becoming the Pokémon Master that we all wanted to be when we were kids. Is the game more harmful than fun? I’ll let you decide! My phone is finally charged and I need to go on another walk…
***This article is a work of fiction. The people and events mentioned are fictional. I did not get lost in a cemetary at night.
