It’s been just over two weeks since Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm and already the national obesity rate in America has dropped 27%! Ok, just kidding, but since the launch on July 6th over 40 million people have downloaded and played the popular smartphone app worldwide.
With Pokémon Go changing the way most Americans go about their day, there have been plenty of conflicting opinions as to the positives and negatives of the highly addictive app. For one, it is encouraging those who live on their couches to get up and go walking (or driving really slow) but, in the same token, it has given everyone yet another reason to stay glued to their phone.
Regardless of what you think about Pokémon Go, there is no denying that some pretty strange, weird and sometimes straight up ridiculous things happen when playing. We have compiled a list of just SOME of the weird shenanigans that have occurred during this first couple weeks of life with Pokémon Go.
Pokémon Go leads users to find dead bodies
You would think that Pokémon Go would have teamed up with the FBI or something, as finding dead bodies while playing the popular app is not a one-time thing. In more than one occurrence Pokémon Go players have stumbled on more than just a Pikachu. For Shayla Wiggins, a 19-year old Wyoming teen, and three other women in San Diego, finding dead bodies is just one of the surprises of playing.
“I woke up this morning, and I wanted to go get a water Pokémon,” Wiggins told County 10 News. “I just got up and went for my little walk, a walk to catch Pokémon.” That little walk led her to finding the dead body of an unidentified male floating in the water.
Pokémon Go users lured by armed robbers
Another occurrence that has happened more than once since the app was released happens to be armed robbery. There has been numerous cases, including one in Missouri, where armed robbers have lured unsuspecting victims through Pokémon Go. In the case in Missouri, 4 suspects between the ages of 16 and 18 have been arrested after robbing up to 11 players by using the app to lure them in. This is not the only case like this and, unfortunately, probably not the last. Be safe players!
Pokémon Go leads man with a warrant to the police station
If you are playing Pokémon Go and have a warrant for your arrest, you probably should stay far away from police stations. For one Michigan man this is something he probably wished he had read. In the town of Milford, Michigan, Pokémon Go player William Wilcox wondered over to the police department’s flagpole. The reason he was there? The police department happened to be a gym in his town and he was dead bent on battling.
“He was coming here because he knew that Milford police building is a gym in the game of Pokémon Go,” Milford Police Chief Tom Lindberg told ABC 13.
In a game where the goal is to catch them all, this Pokémon Go player had the tables reversed on him as a Milford police officer noticed the known criminal at their flagpole and arrested him. I wonder if the officer had his app open at the time of arrest.
Pokémon Go player wrecks into police car
It comes as no surprise that, for a game that requires walking/moving around, some players will take the easier route and drive around to catch them all. For a player in Baltimore, this route included crashing into a police car.
At around 3:30am a driver, playing Pokémon Go, accidentally drove his RAV4 into the side of a Baltimore police officers parked car. Lucky for the officers, who recorded the incident on their body cameras, were outside of the police car as the crash happened. Upon stepping out of his vehicle, the driver lifted up his phone and said “That is what I get for playing this dumbass game.” It’s kind of obvious that playing Pokémon Go while driving is a bad idea and this is yet another example of that.
Pokémon Go user walks into pond while live streaming the game
When loading the app, Pokémon Go warns users to be aware of their surroundings. For one YouTuber, who goes by the username Gragas The Rabble Rouser, he should have taken this warning more seriously.
While playing Pokémon Go in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the YouTuber accidentally walked right into a pond. He managed to soak both himself and his phone but, lucky for all of us, he was live streaming the event on his phone and shared his misery on YouTube. Watch the clip below:
Pokémon Go players fall of cliff while trying to catch them all
Similar to the last story, two Pokémon Go players in near San Diego learned the hard way that they should really pay attention to their surroundings while playing.
While looking for some rare Pokémon, two players reportedly climbed a fence, with warning signs of course, to try to get closer to catching some Pokémon. Of course, they weren’t paying attention, and they accidentally walked off the side of a small cliff. The two victims, whose names have not been releases to protect their families of embarrassment, only suffered minor injuries and should be up and playing in no time.
Conclusion:
While the jury might still be out on whether Pokémon Go is a good or bad thing, we are fans of it, please PLEASE pay attention to your surroundings, watch out for robbers, stay away from polcie stations if you have a warrant and DON’T PLAY AND DRIVE. Have a great day and may you catch more that a stupid Rattata…