If you see someone in Greenwood who is walking around — sometimes even seeming aimless — holding out a cellphone with his or her eyes glued to the screen, you’ve most likely just spotted a “Pokemon Go” player.
In a little more than a week since its debut, “Pokemon Go,” a free game app that can be downloaded to an Apple or Android smartphone, has turned into the nation’s hottest trend of the summer.
Greenwood has not been immune to the craze, as many locals are roaming around the city catching the animated monsters known as Pokemon, which were made famous about 20 years ago by cartoons, video games and trading cards.
“For me, I found most of my Pokemon around the baseball field and at Wal-Mart,” said John Austin Clardy, a 17-year-old Greenwood resident who downloaded the app.
The game gets the players to explore their cities and neighborhoods by getting them outside in a sort of scavenger hunt to find Pokemon to catch.
When players come across Pokemon, they can choose to turn on their phone’s camera, and the Pokemon will be displayed as if the monsters are right in front of the player. This aspect of the game is augmented reality, in which a live view of a physical, real-world environment is supplemented by computer-generated sensory input — in this case, a cartoon monster.
Players catch the creatures with Pokeballs to build their collections. They also try to make their Pokemon more powerful to eventually battle with those held by other players at places called gyms.
“The reason the game is so big is because it’s so much different from all the older Pokemon games,” said Clardy. “Google Maps is in the game, so you can see the roads and many big buildings and rivers. The game feels so much more real than the others.”
Pokestops, places where a player can collect more Pokeballs and other free items, and gyms are all over Greenwood.
Some Pokestops include Greater Restoration Revival Temple, East Percy Street Christian Church, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Leflore County Courthouse, Beard + Riser Art Gallery, the Historic Elks Lodge, Turnrow Books, Williams Landing, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Greenwood First Baptist Church and the marker for Greenwood’s first artesian well.
Some of the gyms in Greenwood include the Elks Hall, the post office on Yalobusha Street and First Methodist Church of Greenwood.
Aubrey O’Bryant, 11, has been playing “Pokemon Go” this past week with her mother and sisters.
She’s caught Pokemon in Greenwood near CVS, KFC and the Historic Elks Lodge. She’s also been traveling and has caught Pokemon in Georgia and Alabama.
“My cousin told me about it, and my mom had downloaded the app, and then I did,” she said. “It’s a really fun game.”
Aubrey has reached Level 8.
Up until Level 5, players are mostly just collecting Pokemon. When they reach Level 5, players are asked to join one of three teams — Team Instinct, Team Mystic or Team Valor. After choosing a team, players can battle in gyms. Aubrey choose Team Mystic.
The Pillow Academy student said that most of the Pokestops and gyms or usually historical landmarks. While traveling out of town, she found the location of a silo and learned that it was the oldest silo in the area.
“It’s fun getting to learn something new,” she said. “It’s like an adventure.”
Some of the locations of Pokestops and gyms across the country have been unusual — the Pentagon, the White House, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Arlington National Cemetery.
Both the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Arlington National Cemetery requested last week that smartphone users refrain from playing while visiting.
One interesting place a Pokemon was caught was in a delivery room in a Texas hospital.
Jonathan Theriot took a picture last week of the Pokemon he captured while he and his wife, Jessica, were waiting for her C-section to begin. The photo quickly went viral on Imgur, where it’s been viewed more than 3 million times.
“As soon as it popped up, I was like, oh my gosh, there’s a (Pokemon) sitting on your bed,” he told Buzzfeed.
The game has also prompted worries because of players walking on busy streets who are focused on their cellphones and unaware of their surroundings.
The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson reported that two people were robbed in Clinton a week ago as they were playing “Pokemon Go.”
When the game is first loading, a message is displayed that says, “Remember to be alert at all times. Stay aware of your surroundings.”
After playing “Pokemon Go” for the first time, Greenwood resident Ashley Davis, 19, said it was easy to see why the game is so popular.
“I thought it was fun. I actually get to walk around, and that’s different from other games,” she said. “I would definitely play this game again.”
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
