The unbelievably bizarre goings-on of Pokémon Go

With the recent release of Pokémon Go, things have gotten a little bizarre and dangerous as the real-world track-and-capture game has left its players hospitalised, the victims of armed robbery and someone even discovered a dead body.

Pokémon are back, and it’s weirder than ever. With the release of the interactive hunting game Pokémon Go, players are finding themselves in all sorts of weird and hazardous situations.

The game sees players install the Pokémon Go smartphone app which makes various Pokémon “appear” in the real world in public locations near the player using the GPS signal from the phone. The player simply has to go to that location where they can see the Pokémon superimposed on the camera on their phone. See the image below.

It’s sort of like a novel version of geocaching, only the treasure isn’t real, it’s digital. Once a player captures a Pokémon, they can use it to fight against other characters. The idea is to capture all of the 170-odd characters, which is likely to take some time.

However, since players have to physically go to the locations the Pokémon appear in the real world, some pretty odd happenings have taken place. For example, many players have been reportedly hospitalised, like this commentator on Reddit who apparently slipped down a ditch when embarking on his digital treasure hunt and fractured his fifth metatarsal bone in his foot.

Even worse, one player managed to stumble upon a deceased human body when trying to track down a Pokémon, that was apparently lying face down in shallow water in a field. The police don’t suspect homicide in that case.

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But perhaps most worryingly of all, a team of armed robbers in Missouri have been using the popular app to locate victims as they stumble through potentially secluded locations.

The robbers apparently laid in wait in known Pokémon Go hotspots where characters would appear, waiting for players to arrive. Upon seeing players arrive they would rob them at gunpoint. The app even allows people to place beacons in specific locations to lure even more players.

Police in Missouri warned…

If you use this app (or other similar type apps) or have children that do we ask you to please use caution when alerting strangers of your future location

So remember that if you’re using the app to hunt down mythical cartoon characters, be careful out there. Watch where you’re going, be prepared for some surprises and be aware of secluded locations, especially when it’s dark outside.