Alexander Alusheff

Lansing State Journal

LANSING – You might notice a few more people walking around town with their heads buried in their phones.

They’re likely playing the game Pokémon Go, a free smartphone application that allows people to capture and battle the creatures from a popular video game launched in 1996. The app uses the phone’s camera to superimpose the characters on the screen, as if they were there in real life. It also uses a GPS map to lead players to catch Pokémon, collect items or visit "gyms" to battle other people’s Pokémon.

I took some time on Monday to play the game and see where people were hanging out in the Lansing area.

Downtown Lansing

I didn’t have to walk too far out of our office in the Knapp’s Centre before I met some fellow players, or Pokémon Trainers, as they are called.

I was attempting to catch a Pokémon on Washington Square outside Summit Comics and Games when I saw Mike Nolen, of Perry, doing the same thing, awkwardly positioning his phone so he could see a crab-like creature and flick his screen to capture it.

“I missed the boat on Pokémon when it first came out,” said Nolen, 35, who was in high school when Pokemon first launched in the U.S. in 1996 via the GameBoy. “My kids got me into it. I started poking at it, and it is kind of fun. I get the family to go on walks.”

Using the game’s map mode, you can find gyms to battle Pokémon or interesting stops along the way. The Knapp’s Centre is a battle gym guarded by a large flying Pokémon called Pigeotto. There are three factions in the game that fight for control of the gyms – the blue, red and gold teams. You can choose which faction you are in.

The blue team controls the gym at the Knapp’s Centre and the Capitol. The gold team controls the gym at the fountain in Reutter Park, where Nolen said he sees a lot of people play the game since he works across the street at the Ingham County Circuit Court. Other gyms in the area include the Emil’s mural on Michigan Avenue and the “Inspiration” sculpture at the City Market.

Nathan and Makenna Cox, of Lansing, stopped at the sculpture to battle the Pokemon at the gym.

“Our dreams as children have finally come true,” said Makenna Cox, 26, who was 5 years old when she first played a Pokemon game. “We came out here because all the iconic buildings downtown are stops. It’s getting us to walk around and see stuff.”

East Lansing

There are a bunch of gyms scattered throughout Michigan State University and downtown East Lansing. The Sparty statue is one of them, of course. I walked up to see a handful of students gathered near the statue, playing the game and then scampering off down the street.

Another hot spot is the Rock and Morrill Plaza, the former site of Morrill Hall near the university parking garage on Grand River Avenue. It seems that the students play the game more, because the gyms are guarded by stronger and rarer Pokémon. Other gym locations include University Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center near downtown East Lansing.

Old Town

I finished my Pokémon adventure in Old Town. I scouted out the gym locations at Old Town General Store and Fish Ladder Tattoo Co. before I found Jack Christiansen looking for creatures to catch by the river.

“When I was 12, I got the game, and it was supposed to be like this and bring people together,” said Christiansen, 28, of Jackson. “You could have 30 people in one location.”

Since he downloaded the game last week, Christiansen said he’s talked to people he normally never would have.

“The social impact of this game has been astounding,” he said. “And its great nostalgia.”

Pokémon Go can be downloaded on iPhones and Android devices.

Alexander Alusheff is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at (517) 388-5973 or aalusheff@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexalusheff.