Pokemon is back and in a big way.

Limestone County residents have been swept up in the “Pokemania” taking the country by storm after “Pokemon Go” was recently released on mobile devices.

Adults, teens and children alike can be seen at local landmarks searching for a Squirtle or battling with a Bulbasaur. Big Spring Park in Athens is a popular place for gamers. Aside from people searching for a Pikachu or other Pokemon, gamers can visit the duck pond, also known as a Pokestop, to refresh their in-game supplies.

On a lazy summer Friday, that’s exactly what brothers Stephen and Michael Phraner and friend Jordan Thornton were doing. Michael and Jordan are home for the summer from college, but Stephen is counting down the days until his senior year at Athens High School starts. The boys met up at the park to see which Pokemon they could find.

“I’ve put in some time (playing) — I mean a few hours for sure,” Jordan Thornton said. It was Stephen’s first day playing and Michael played some, but his phone died at the park.

Each one said they were too young to remember the initial Pokemon craze in the late 1990s, but heard all the buzz and wanted to see what the fuss was about. Thornton said he was looking for a new game in the Apple App Store and noticed how many positive reviews the game had received.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this game must be good,’” he said. “It’s pretty fun.”

The object of the game is to physically walk around town and find Pokemon, battle other players and create “gyms” where tournaments can be held. It’s not hard to spot a player, because they must be looking at their phone to see the Pokemon through an augmented reality function built into the game, which makes it appear as if the cartoon animals are close by.

The game has made headlines for several reasons: its release and subsequent popularity caused a surge in Nintendo’s stock; players have stumbled human remains in public parks and a few have been robbed while playing the game; and property owners are also wary of random players trespassing onto their property.

For the Phraner brothers and Thronton, the point is just to get out of the house and have a bit of fun.

“I always thought it was a cool concept to be made into a game,” Stephen Phraner said. “It’s cool to reconnect with people you haven’t seen in a while.”

Cindy Thomas and her daughter Stacey Isham were also at the duck pond. They don’t fit the typical stereotype for Pokemon Go players — Thomas is a grandmother and Isham was chasing her young daughter while pushing around her toddler son in a stroller. The Birmingham family was visiting Big Spring Memorial Park after a quick campus tour of Athens State University.

“It’s really family-oriented,” Isham said about the game, adding she lets her daughter help catch and name Pokemon.

Thomas heard about the game from some kids at her church and downloaded it. While in Athens, she had captured at least five. For her daughter, the game was good motivation to get out of the house and spend time with her kids while her husband, who is a big Pokemon fan, is deployed to Guantanamo Bay.

“It actually made me want to get out of the house,” she said, adding her husband told her of soldiers at Guantanamo huddling in the only places they get cell service to play the game.

Both women had not visited Athens before and said they thought the town was great with the help of “Pokemon Go” as a tour guide.

No one knows for sure how long this incarnation of Pokemon will last, but Michael Phraner said he’s willing to bet it’ll be popular until the next big smartphone game comes along.

 

Officers’ take

Law enforcement agencies across the nation have reported numerous crimes and injuries since the smartphone game was unveiled. In California, two men fell off an ocean bluff while playing. Elsewhere in California, a player was stabbed by a group of men while playing the game in a park.

As of Friday, neither the Athens Police Department nor the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office had received any reports or complaints about zombie-like Pokemon Go users ambling around staring at smartphones. But because the trend is young, Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said there could be issues with gamers on private property at some point.

Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson admitted he knew very little about the new game. He said Friday his department had not yet received any complaints about gamers.

“I have heard of several issues in other communities around the country, but I haven’t heard of anything locally,” the chief said. “I did hear a parent the other day talking about their child using up the family (cellphone) data plan in just a few days.”

Authorities nationwide are warning players to be mindful of their surroundings, including not driving vehicles or walking into roadways while playing.