The new virtual reality game from Nintendo only launched earlier this week in select countries, but it’s already making news around the world.
The app, which uses augmented reality, has users leave their homes and use their phone cameras to view digital creatures in real space.
Only currently available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, stories are already popping up of weird or dangerous encounters while playing the game. There’s no word yet on when the app will be available in Canada.
The most amazing story comes from Wyoming, where a teenage girl stumbled across a dead body while trying to “catch ‘em all.”
Shayla Wiggins, 19, said she found a dead body floating in a river in Riverton, Wyoming, when she was “trying to get a Pokemon from a natural water resource,” KTVQ reports.
Wiggins reportedly jumped a fence to head to the river.
“I was walking towards the bridge along the shore when I saw something in the water,” Wiggins said. “I had to take a second look and I realized it was a body.”
She called 911 immediately and police quickly responded, saying they believed the body had been there for less than 24 hours.
In a press release to The Verge, The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said that the death appeared accidental in nature and possibly that of a drowning. There is no evidence at this time that would indicate foul play.”
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Others players are reporting injuries while playing the game.
Mike Schultz, a 21-year-old communications graduate on Long Island, New York, took a spill on his skateboard as he stared at his phone while cruising for critters early Thursday, the Associated Press reports. He cut his hand on the sidewalk after hitting a big crack, and blames himself for going too slowly.
“I just wanted to be able to stop quickly if there were any Pokemons nearby to catch,” he says.
Twitter user Kyrie Tompkins says she rolled her ankle due to the game.
“It vibrated to let me know there was something nearby and I looked up and just fell in a hole,” she said. Her parents had to drive her and her fiance home.
https://twitter.com/kyrietompkins/status/751230000167354368
In Washington State, the department of transportation told people “No Pokemoning from behind the wheel” on Twitter.
These reports just seem to be the start of something more.
One user on Reddit said he met a prospective partner while playing the game.
“I was about to start walking back home then some girl asked, ‘hey, are you playing Pokemon Go too?'” he wrote.
“The important thing is that I am meeting her again tomorrow! I asked her out on a date and she said yes! Thank you Pokemon Go!”
Another man posted a picture of him catching a Pidgey while he and his wife were waiting to get a C-section.
Jonathan Theriot told BuzzFeed News he immediately showed his wife, who “just kind of laughed at it.”
“It was primarily an eyeroll once she realized what I was doing.”
Oh and they also had a warning about walking and playing.
“It’s also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street. That Sandshrew isn’t going anywhere fast,” officials wrote.
*With files from the Associated Press
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