by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Well, the phenomenon that is Pokémon Go that has invaded the world, has not eluded Wellington either. But Wellington has always been kind of a search-and-find kind of town, anyway.

Pikachu was recently seen on the Wellington downtown sidewalks. He was quickly destroyed by a flickering hand on the cell phone!

Fresh off the Wheat Festival Medallion Hunt where people searched through town (and the outer city limits) looking for the elusive Medallion to make themselves $1,000 richer, here comes the Pokémon Go craze where you find virtual animals throughout town or in your home or wherever.

Basically, for all of us other people not knowing what the heck is going on, the concept is this according to the VOX website:

Pokémon Go uses your phone’s GPS and clock to detect where and when you are in the game and make Pokémon “appear” around you (on your phone screen) so you can go and catch them. As you move around, different and more types of Pokémon will appear depending on where you are and what time it is. The idea is to encourage you to travel around the real world to catch Pokémon in the game.

So that is why you are seeing a pack-load of youngsters and those young at heart, running around everywhere with their phones looking for the virtual characters.

Shirtless 8 year-old Eli Eldridge was one of those people this morning taking to the streets with his family.

“We have found Pokémon ‘balls’ near all the museums, the parks, the churches and around banks,” said his mother Nicole Eldridge. “You can say we are hooked. We have been everywhere.”

The hordes of Wellington youngsters started searching in earnest Sunday and the craze has yet to subside on Tuesday (ask us again in a week). 

One youngster, who wished not to be identified, said that Memorial Auditorium is a great place to find several Pokémon features.

CNN has provided a great website to bring you up to speed: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/health/pokemon-go-guide-trnd/

Pokémon is a pocket monster created in the 1990s. Those of us born before 1970 might have missed it. Nintendo created a phone app that was released Thursday in which a cartoony map marks where you are walking. These characters then show up on your phone. You then take this Pokéballs and throw it at them.

While Facebook has been filled with posts from local residents both promoting and mocking the phenomena, there is one thing that seems to ring true:

Kids are off the couch and are actually exercising while finding these critters!

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