{"id":8430,"date":"2016-08-01T16:48:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T16:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/?p=8430"},"modified":"2016-08-01T16:48:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T16:48:01","slug":"the-valley-is-crazy-for-pokemon-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/01\/the-valley-is-crazy-for-pokemon-go\/","title":{"rendered":"The Valley is crazy for Pok\u00e9mon GO"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MARIA PREKEGES<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Toby
Toby Molter rides his bike around the Wood River Valley playing Pok\u00e9mon GO. Courtesy photo by Carey Molter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you haven\u2019t heard about the Pok\u00e9mon GO craze, then perhaps you might literally be living under a rock, as the craze has been all over the news and social media. Pok\u00e9mon is short for \u2018Pocket Monsters,\u2019 which was the original Japanese name.<\/p>\n

Since it debuted in early July, Pok\u00e9mon GO shot to the top of Apple\u2019s free apps, with a record-setting 75 million downloads. The \u201cPok\u00e9-effect\u201d carries over into associated downloads. The third most download-free app is Pok\u00e9 Radar, which helps GO users find nearby Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n

A type of geocaching game<\/span>, <\/span>Pok\u00e9mon GO uses real locations to encourage players to search in the real world to discover Pok\u00e9mon characters. Pok\u00e9mon GO allows you to find and catch more than a hundred species of Pok\u00e9mon as you explore your surroundings.<\/p>\n

Sun Valley resident Ethan Hunt, 13, explained how the game is played.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou start out as a character in the digital world of Pok\u00e9mon. The game is powered by Google Maps. When you walk around, a Pok\u00e9mon can spawn randomly on your map based on the time of day and the type of terrain you are on. If you tap on the Pok\u00e9mon, you can try to catch it. Every time you catch a Pok\u00e9mon, the game rewards you. When you earn a certain number of points, you move up a level. Once you reach level five, you choose between three teams: red, blue, and yellow. After you choose your team, you can go to places scattered across the map and enter what are called gyms. In gyms, you battle against other Pok\u00e9mon to win the title of gym leader and to determine which team leads the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a person is playing, they might come near a piece of art registered to the Google Maps database, Hunt explained. At that point\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cPok\u00e9 STOP icons pop up. When you click on a Poke Stop, it will reveal various game features, such as Pok\u00e9 balls to catch Pok\u00e9mon, potions to lure Pok\u00e9mon to you, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard about Pok\u00e9mon GO months before its official U.S. release,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cI decided to play about two days after the release because a ton of my friends were playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PokemonScreenShot\"Harley Pullen, 11, started playing Pok\u00e9mon GO in the Valley the day it was released.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game takes us all over town, like Atkinsons\u2019, Irving\u2019s, Despo\u2019s, the movie theater, Sun Valley and more,\u201d Pullen said. \u201cIt\u2019s really fun to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brothers Toby, 15, and Leo Molter, 11, of Ketchum, were also bit by the craze.<\/p>\n

They explained that they play on different teams so they can battle each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to Sun Valley, where we don\u2019t go very often, and we also rode our bikes all over playing it,\u201d Toby said. \u201cIt gets you moving around and you get to interact with new people. It’s really fun and it keeps you active.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their mother, Carey Molter, said that despite safety concerns, she likes the game for her boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at their ages it’s a fun new way to get them out and about,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re riding their bikes more than they have all summer. I do have a rule that they have to stop and get off their bike before using the game, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon GO is available on the iTunes Store and Google Play. For more information on the game, visit www.pokemongo.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By MARIA PREKEGES If you haven\u2019t heard about the Pok\u00e9mon GO craze, then perhaps you might literally be living under a rock, as the craze has been all over the news and social media. Pok\u00e9mon is short for \u2018Pocket Monsters,\u2019 which was the original Japanese name. Since it debuted in early July, Pok\u00e9mon GO shot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,18,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-news","9":"category-slider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}