Pokémon Go Fever Hits Fayette Co.

By ANDY BEHLEN Notice all the kids outside lately? Pokémon Go, a new mobile game craze, is pushing young folks out of their bedrooms and basements and into the streets. In the game, players walk around an “augmented reality” world with their cell phones in search of Pokémon, creatures that can be captured and trained to battle each other. 

Caleb Parks, a young man working at the La Grange Main Street office for the summer, said he has noticed many new faces around the square since the game came out on July 6. He explained that the mural on the restrooms at the Old Jail serves as a “Pokestop,” where players can acquire items used in the game. The Old Jail and Fayette County Courthouse are both “Gyms” in the Pokémon Go world, where players can train their creatures or pit them against each other in battle. 

Parks said he has heard a few stories of gamers paying a bit too much attention to the augmented reality of the game. 

“My dad said some kids were in Subway yesterday, looking down at their phones, and started wandering into the back,” Parks said. “The manager told them, ‘There’s no Pokémon back there, get out!’”

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