I am one of the last people who would ever play Pok\u00e9mon Go. I haven\u2019t played a video game since the original Nintendo, I don\u2019t know what Pok\u00e9mon is and I tend to easily ignore pop culture.<\/p>\n
But my editor assigned me to write about the augmented reality craze going on all over the world, including Juneau. (Augmented reality is when the gaming world interacts with the real world.) So, I resigned myself to downloading the free video game app (for iOS or Android) and met up on Tuesday afternoon with two Juneau players \u2014 Jennifer Miller, 18, and her boyfriend Gavin Blood, 22. They were my gateway into the world of Pok\u00e9mon Go.<\/p>\n
Miller and Blood had just been in the Mendenhall Valley playing but decided to go downtown where \u201cthere are Pok\u00e9Stops all over,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
They walked me through the setup process and introduced me to the basic elements of the game \u00ad\u2014 choosing your avatar, how to acquire Pok\u00e9 balls and how to catch Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon are creatures that can be found \u201cin every corner of the earth,\u201d according to the game. The goal is to find and collect Pok\u00e9mon. You catch them by throwing Pok\u00e9 balls at them. Once you get one, it goes into your Pok\u00e9dex.<\/p>\n
Warning: Pok\u00e9mon players can, understandably, be easily distracted. In the midst of explaining things, Miller exclaimed, \u201cAh! I found a Pok\u00e9mon.\u201d<\/p>\n
In between living their lives, like going to work and running errands, Miller and Blood have been playing Pok\u00e9mon Go every day since the game was released last week.<\/p>\n
On Monday night, the pair were downtown \u201cand there was a lure at the State Museum and, like, 40 people showed up because they\u2019re all attracted to it,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s a lure?<\/p>\n
\u201cA lure attracts Pok\u00e9mon to a Pok\u00e9Stop so there will be a ton of people there trying to catch them and the more people that show up, the more rare Pok\u00e9mon show up, too,\u201d Blood explained.<\/p>\n
Businesses around town have been regularly dropping lures. (The Juneau Empire, which is a Pok\u00e9Stop, drops lures at 2 p.m. daily.)<\/p>\n
The way to play the game is just by walking. As we walked down Franklin Street, Miller pointed out two young women who were likely also playing. They were walking, concentrating on their phones and tapping the screens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of fun because you see people and they\u2019re playing all over the place and you can join up with people, say, \u2018Hey, do you want to play together?\u2019\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
When you get within range of a Pok\u00e9Stop, you can click on it and you\u2019ll be able to spin it for stuff like balls or eggs, and it gets added to your inventory. The game also often has an informative description of the stop.<\/p>\n
Miller and Blood said a unique thing about playing Pok\u00e9mon Go in Juneau is the incorporation of trails.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe longboarded Brotherhood Bridge trail and we caught (Pok\u00e9mon) along the way,\u201d Blood said.<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon Go relies on GPS so most of the major trails are listed, though not all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe glacier also has a lot of stops,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the West Glacier Trail is mapped on it so you can go to the ice caves and catch them,\u201d Blood added.<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon Go encourages people to exercise, like walking, biking or, as Miller and Blood were doing the other day, longboarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you have to walk a couple miles before you even see any Pok\u00e9mon,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Despite all the time spent playing, they said it\u2019s not taking over their lives. Wandering around Juneau and exploring is something the couple would be doing anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already hike trails. We like to hike trails around Juneau and then we follow animal paths off the trails,\u201d Blood said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like gaming, but I like gaming outside, so this is awesome. This is perfect,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon Go can also lead you to places you maybe have never been before. Pok\u00e9Stops include shops, parks, museums, churches, historical landmarks and tourist locations. Any business or site that doesn\u2019t want to be a Pok\u00e9Stop can go through a process to be removed.<\/p>\n
And while you may see a Pok\u00e9mon in someone\u2019s backyard, Blood said you don\u2019t have to trespass on private property to catch it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can click on it from the street,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Juneau resident and Pok\u00e9mon Go player Russadell Buzard, 24, is holding an informational meeting about Pok\u00e9mon Go at 6:45 p.m. July 20 at the Valley Library.<\/p>\n
Buzard wants the meeting to serve as a forum for people to voice concerns and get some answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Pok\u00e9mon Go community, we need to make sure the community of Juneau knows what\u2019s going on so when they see groups of people showing up at their church or their business, swiping at their phones and talking about this, that and the other thing, they know they\u2019re playing a game,\u201d he told me by phone Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
At the time, Buzard was at the Alaska State Museum with 13 other people playing Pok\u00e9mon Go. Their ages ranged from 5 to 50.<\/p>\n
He also wants the meeting to educate parents who may not be well versed in Pok\u00e9mon Go.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis game is not going away,\u201d Buzard said.<\/p>\n
I tried playing Pok\u00e9mon Go on my own, without the aid of Miller or Blood.<\/p>\n
The game cautions, \u201cRemember to be alert at all times. Stay aware of your surroundings.\u201d I found this to be a pretty good reminder. Walking around downtown Juneau on a sunny day surrounded by tourists, vehicles and pedicabs, while concentrating on my smartphone (and holding an audio recorder) was a bit challenging.<\/p>\n
I have to admit, the game was kind of fun. Within a small area, I learned and observed new things about the town I live in. For instance, I\u2019ve never noticed the wooden key hanging outside the Ben Franklin Store or knew who C.L. \u201cDoc\u201d Polley was. The game allowed me to walk around downtown Juneau and view it in a brand new way, a place where Caterpie, Pidgey and Jigglypuff hang out.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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