Pokemon What?

Earlier this week, I started noticing a bunch of Facebook posts about something called "Pokémon Go".  At first, I had no idea what it was.  I had some vague recollection of the Teenager having a rather extensive Pokémon card collection when she was younger, but it had long left the premises of our abode. 

I asked the Teenager about it, and after a brief discussion of how, due to the particular limitations of her available technology, she could only use her iPad and she could only go Pokémon hunting where there was WiFi, I discerned these nuggets of information:

A Pokémon is a little digital monster. Apparently they are all around us, like in an alternate universe somehow blended with our own.  You can only see these Pokémon with a mobile device.  You walk around and attempt to locate them while trying to avoid real life hazards like cars, falling off cliffs and becoming envenomated by copperhead snakes.  You also have to find something called a Pokestop, which is apparently like a grocery store for Pokémon, and you look for gyms, which is evidently where they fight for supremacy over other Pokémon at the direction of their human trainers.

And there you have it.  That is the extent of my Pokémon understanding.  Oh, and one other thing- one of them is named Pikachu.  That's it.  That's what I know.

Here is where I admit that certain people who claim that I am slowly turning into the Grandpa of No, who can be somewhat cranky and who enjoys comparing the perpetual bliss of the good old days to the never-ending chaos of the early 21st century, might have a point.  My first reaction was something along the lines of "When I was a youngster, we didn't need cell phones to go outside, and we certainly weren't allowed to use all our data on looking for some virtual monster.  In fact, we didn't even know what data was, because it was the 1970s."  I will also own up to some middle-aged mom eye rolling.

Then I found out that not only were people going outside, they were doing it with other people, like their friends and even their siblings and their parents!  As in, a group activity!  Maybe it's not all bad, I thought.  Anything that can pry an adolescent on summer vacation off the sofa and into the great outdoors must have some redeeming value to it.

I'm actually getting a bit of a laugh out of it now, because I've been participating in a program called iNaturalist for about two years now, which is similar to Pokémon Go in the sense that iNatters, as we call ourselves, go outside looking for things.  However, we are looking for real living things like plants and critters and fungi and not digital Pokemon.  Then we upload the findings to iNaturalist, which is somewhat like Facebook but for nature nerds, and other people then verify the findings.  So all these Pokémon Go players are like, "hey! Look! Something new!" and I'm like, "Ha! I've been out wandering around in the outdoors for years looking for wild creatures!".

<Cue the SNL Church Lady superior dance>

I bet you had no idea the Mom of No is so cool, right? Actually, I'm hot.  It's broiling hot outside.  So as a mom, and as someone who spends a lot of time outdoors seeking out nature observations, I have some safety suggestions for the intrepid Pokémon hunters:  Wear closed toe shoes, not flip flops.  Stay hydrated while you are walking around looking for Pikachu or a Pokestop.  Bring a hat.  Use sunscreen. Watch out for and respect the wildlife. Stay out of the poison ivy.  Tell someone where you are going.  Be aware of the terrain.

Have fun with it.  I still don't really understand this Pokémon Go, but I'm not going to roll my eyes at it, especially if it gets people outside and talking to other people.  Just don't use all your data at the Pokémon gym, and look around at your surroundings every now and then- the outdoors can be pretty cool even without Pokémon Go.