The mobile game Pokémon Go stationed collectible creatures all over the world.

Some of these creatures were to be found on Canadian military bases.

Canadian military officials could not understand why civilians were suddenly showing up on their bases, staring at their phones.

Shortly after the introduction of Pokémon Go, Canada’s armed forces noticed a peculiar trend. Canadian civilians claiming to be chasing pocket monsters were showing up inside the country’s military bases, memorials, museums, and even cemeteries. Officials responded to the influx of civilians with a mixture of alarm and bemusement while struggling to understand the game and its fans.

Pokémon Go was released three years ago for iOS and Android. The game, based on the Japanese Pokémon anime franchise, used augmented reality to encourage fans to chase down Pokémon monsters and locate Pokéstop and Pokégym locations around the world. The imaginary creatures and places were superimposed over actual places worldwide, leading players on wild chases—often to places they’d never been to before. Distracted players were also the victims or cause of accidents, and even deaths due to the game were reported.

"It has been discovered that several locations within DND/CAF establishments are host to game landmarks and its mythical digital creatures."

The Canadian armed forces, blissfully unaware of Pokémon Go launch or even the lore of the game began to notice a spike in civilian visits to military bases. A car was noticed driving suspiciously on one base, while the children of a Pokémon Go player were found playing on a Canadian Army tank. According to the New York Times , the Canadian Forces’ National Investigation Service sent a criminal intelligence advisory to all military police officers: “It has been discovered that several locations within DND/CAF establishments are host to game landmarks and its mythical digital creatures.”

The Canadian military struggled to comprehend not only the Pokémon pop culture phenomenon but also why it would send game fans scrambling across Canadian armed forces bases.

To its credit the Canadian Forces didn’t overreact, and some actually welcomed an opportunity to teach civilians about the Canadian military. Military police officers at three separate bases wandered around with the game, cataloging where civilians would be lead to find Pokémon creatures and places. The military still had difficulty understanding the appeal of the game, with one security expert at a military base writing in an email, “We should almost hire a 12-year-old to help us out with this.”

Source: The New York Times.

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