Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

Noah Esquivel has a great attitude, considering he just had brain surgery the summer before sixth grade.

It’s not his first time in Phoenix Children’s Hospital. At 10 years old, he had surgery to remove the lesion that had caused seizures since he was born.

Sitting in his eighth-floor room on Tuesday, wearing a Batman shirt borrowed from his mom and an Arizona Cardinals hat to cover up his scar, he explained how this stay is different from the others.

“The first time I was here, that was one of the most scariest times of my life and so I felt like, ‘Is this how I’m gonna be forever?’ ” he said. “I was just feeling like I was doing nothing and I was being so boring and I was afraid I couldn’t do anything.

“But now this time, with the Pokemon Go, it’s actually kind of helped me learn to be myself again,” said Noah, who had the surgery July 13.

Pokemon Go is a mobile app that uses augmented reality to let players digitally catch and train Pokemon in real life. The game became an international phenomenon overnight after its release two weeks ago, earning both acclaim and criticism.

But for many at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Pokemon Go has been a blessing, helping kids cope with the pain, fear and struggle of a hospital stay.

“It feels like I’m more alive than I was other” hospital stays, Noah said. “I used to be get-up-and-go Noah, and here I can feel like I’m doing that again.”

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'He gets to be a little boy'

The best part about Pokemon Go, Noah said, is getting to go on nighttime walks with his mom and dad. Sometimes he walks and sometimes he uses a walker or wheelchair, but regardless, “the best part about it is the bonding."

“We can be out and about, we don’t have to be cooped up and just like a chicken coop,” he said.

It’s been hard on Noah to be stuck in a room all day, and getting to find Pokemon in his room or even on his leg has boosted his mood, said his mother, Stephanie Esquivel.

“I see a light in his eyes that sometimes is not there with all of the pressure and stress of sickness and everything else, and he gets to be a little boy instead of being scared,” she said.

Decked out in Pokemon pants and an “Adventure Time” shirt, Esquivel is all about playing Pokemon with Noah.

“It’s so much fun for him when there is a lure because he doesn’t have to go as far,” Stephanie said.

A “lure” is among the jargon parents and staff have learned in order to talk with and help kids play the game.

How lures helps PCH patients play

The hospital is home to five Pokestops, which are actual locations such as benches or statues where players can collect free items in the game.

Game designers used a pre-existing database of notable locations around the world to determine where to place Pokestops.

Pokestops are the only place where players can plug in “lures,” a kind of love potion that benefits all nearby players by attracting Pokemon to the Pokestop. Players can catch them there instead of having to walk around to find them.

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The catch: Lures are hard to come by, and the easiest way to get them to is to pay real money.

Each lure lasts half an hour and costs between 59 and 99 cents, depending on how many you buy at once. Buying lures for one stop for 16 hours per day would cost between $18.75 and $31.68.

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Luckily for the kids, lures have been appearing regularly out of nowhere.

Pokemon Go players around the world have used social media to suggest others place lures at children’s hospitals to help kids who want to play but can’t leave the hospital.

A handful of hospitals have asked people not to place lures on them, such as the Royal Children's Hospital in Australia, which released a statement that lures can create “unrealistic expectations” for patients.

PCH spokeswoman Lia Steinberg said hospital officials have not seen any negative activity associated with the game and that players should be able to stop by the hospital to place lures, barring any excessive traffic.

Anyone looking to visit the hospital just to place a lure is not allowed inside, Steinberg said, but four of the five Pokestops around the hospital are accessible while driving by.

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A tool for hospital staff

“Pokemon Go has been a really nice addition to our tool kit,” said Julie Rhein, whose job at PCH is to help kids cope with being in the hospital.

The game is another way to get kids to meet their medical goals. For example, a short trip to a Pokestop is a way to encourage kids to walk after surgery.

“I have heard nothing negative from any of our medical staff,” she said. Even children in isolation can play and benefit, such as one child she’s working with who recently underwent a painful ultrasound.

“During that procedure, he taught me how to play and talked me through all the different things, and he was so distracted at the end he goes, ‘Julie, that’s the best ultrasound I’ve ever had,’ ” Rhein said.

“We normally do distraction and conversation and all those things, but there’s this kind of team camaraderie around Pokemon Go that’s just been really beautiful to see."

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