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—By Sameer Desai and Lievanta MillarPokemon are everywhere — in your office, below that flyover, next to your boyfriend, inside your house even. And Mumbai's Poke-heads are lapping them up like a kitten has discovered milk.Cynics might claim it is a flashback from German director Wolf Rilla's science-fiction classic Village of the Damned. Fans might dismiss them as Luddites who need to move on with the programme. Regardless, you know a fad is at a manic boil when a Pokemon Walk is to be held in your city (and that it's not the first).Tany Joseph, 23, who has organised a PokeWalk, on 23 July at Churchgate, claims that over 4,000 people have marked themselves as 'going' and over 13,000 have marked themselves as 'interested' on his Facebook event link. "If we are expecting such a huge crowd, I need to seek permission from the cops. A few sponsors have approached me too. They have offered to distribute some freebies at the event. I am in talks with them too. I have planned to ask those coming for the walk to dress in their team colours - red, blue and yellow. I am really looking forward to this," he chimes. But pray, what is Pokemon Go Developed by Niantic, which was formerly part of Google , Pokemon Go is a ground-breaking concept of virtual games that play out in the real world. It has also been a Phoenix-like comeback for beleaguered Japanese console gaming giant Nintendo (of Donkey Kong fame, for those of yore). Where most video games play out within virtual worlds, Pokemon Go uses a combination of Google maps, GPS and augmented reality powered by your smartphone's camera to turn the real world around you into the game. A big part of playing Pokemon Go involves heading outdoors and walking to various landmarks, which are marked in blue in the game as Pokestops. Parks, places of worship, popular buildings, flyovers, the tuck shop at the lip of your street, even the Mumbai Mirror office are Pokestops, which allow hungry players to collect various items, including Pokeballs.Mumbai's insatiable appetite for Pokeballs has indeed led to an epidemic of happy listlessness and blissed oblivion. "I recently asked a girl out, asking her if she wanted to grab some drinks. She said, 'Why don't you take me to Marine Drive where we can catch some Pokemon instead?' I find myself on the dance floor at several gigs with my phone in my hand, constantly on the lookout for Pokemon . One of the event managers recently captured a picture of me doing this and posted it on their social media platforms," laughs Parth Tak, a 23-year-old Kemps Corner resident.Gaurav Jhetwani and Rahul Jain are two 17-year-olds from Chembur, who have begun re-navigating their journey home from college to glean the digital species. "We come from our college in Sion to Diamond Garden by either a bus or rickshaw. We catch a few Pokemon on our way here and then take a few rounds around Diamond Garden as there are many Pokemon there too. We then walk back home," Jhetwani says. Pokemon Go isn't a new concept. The game is, in fact, quite similar to Niantic's previous game, Ingress, but its recordbreaking success is testament to the power of the Pokemon brand that continues to remain relevant even 20 years after its trading cards and video games first captivated Japanese audiences. "Pokemon Go is enabling the '90s kid to relive his/her childhood dream of being a Pokemon trainer in reality... well, virtual reality," says Clinton Tixeira, a 23-year-old software engineer, when describing the craze.Durgesh Thakare, a social media strategist from Charni Road, says, "I remember watching the show around a decade ago. Since then, the cartoon has evolved in so many ways. I am glad that the younger generation has started playing the game and walking around the city too."The fact that the game requires gamers to converge at fixed locations is leading to some fascinating outcomes. It's not uncommon to visit popular spots like Shivaji Park and Marine Drive — where a cluster of Pokestops are located - and find several Pokemon Go players checking into various stops, hunting Pokemon and deploying lure modules - special items that attract Pokemon to a particular location for a limited time.Thakare adds, "The monsoon is generally a time when you see fewer people on Chowpatty beach. However, that has not been the case here since the game has been launched. The other day, someone installed a lure module on one of the Pokestops in Girgaum Chowpatty. You could see at least 10 people standing near the Pokestop as a lure module brings more Pokemon to the spot."Some are taking their obsession to the next level, literally. PokeDrives are not uncommon these days, in which Pokeheads get together for a== spin around the city in their hunt for the toy soldiers. One such driver, 23-year-old businessman Krish Kapadia, confesses that he often uses the gaming app while driving too. "I know the risks that are involved if I use my phone while driving. I thus use it in traffic jams. Also, the app generally does not show you Pokemon on major roads or while you are moving at a high speed, which is a very good thing," he says. That said, while standing outside Siddhivinayak Temple at Dadar and scanning random nooks with his smartphone, he did get into trouble with the cops for "suspicious activities". "The cops approached me the other day and asked me why I come here and stand here so often. I told them I was playing a game but they did not believe me. I had to then show them the game to convince them," he adds.Varan Sehgal, Brinda Mehta and Priyanka Kulkarni are a trio who often go Pokemon -hunting after office. "One of us drives to a spot the three of us have agreed on. We try our luck while on our way to office too. We are out for several hours at times as the rare Pokemon takes time to appear on the screen. But all in all, we really enjoy our time together," Sehgal says. The trio was spotted at Worli Seaface on Friday.That it is a social connector is a given; the secret to Pokemon Go's astounding success is clearly its ability to seamlessly adapt an innovative technology to a pop-culture brand that's popular enough to make people get their feet wet with it. People of all ages — gamers or not — are banding together in the hunt for Pokemon.Eleven days since it launched, the game has managed to become a social phenomenon without having to use social media in any way — something that is a rarity in our times. But whether it is a utopian We are the World, We are the Children fantasy or a Ballardian nightmare, we do not know yet. What we do know is that, for now, Mumbai, a metropolis that has historically embraced the new, can't get enough of what Pokemon Go has to offer. It brings people together — literally — like no virtual game before it. All you need to plug into the madness is a smartphone, an internet connection and your walking shoes.FREAKY FACTS ABOUT THE POKEMON CRAZETeen discovered a dead bodyOn July 8, 29-year-old Shayla Wiggins found a dead body in a river while exploring for water Pokemon in Wyoming, USA.Robbers made use of the appThe Missouri police had recently released a statement claiming that armed robbers were using the app to attract victims to isolated spots. Four teenagers had allegedly robbed several players while holding them at gun point.Pokemon go driver rams into treeA few days ago, a 28-year-old driver was injured in Alabama, USA after crashing into a tree while playing Pokemon Go on the wheel.Two men fall off a cliffIn San Diego, California, two men were grievously injured after they fell off a cliff after they jumped the fence to pursue Pokemon, authorities told media persons. While one ended up about 90 feet down, the other fell around 50 feet.Teenager hit by vehicle after app takes her to the highwayA teenage girl in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was injured after she was hit by a vehicle on a highway. The girl, who was engrossed in her Pokemon quest, found herself in the middle of a highway during rush hour and attempted to cross without looking around.