VIDEO: Pokemon Craze Hits North Mississippi

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — The Pokemon Go mobile app is officially in the United States.  Players of all ages are constantly on the hunt to catch their very own virtual Pokemon.

The craze has hit North Mississippi as well, with players from all over coming to Columbus to “catch them all”.

New Hope residents and relatives Nathan Whitaker, Andrew Whitaker, and Johnathan Whitaker spent their day hanging out around the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center meeting other players and building a stronger Pokemon roster.

“It’s basically the closest thing you can do to actually catching Pokemon…”, said Andrew, “…at night, certain Pokemon will come out…and that’s the only time you can get them. During the day, say you want a Pokemon that’s a water type, you can go to Lake Lowndes, you can go to the Lock and Dam…”

“You have to walk around, go to Pokestops, which are basically…where you get items from, and you go and fight “gyms” with your teams”, Nathan said.

The Whitaker family said Main Street in Columbus is a major hot spot for Pokemon Go players.

“…that was our thing. Every Saturday morning, that’s the first thing we woke up to, we’d watch Pokemon”, said Andrew.

Downloading the app has also allowed players to escape back to their childhood. Sydney Martin said, “It’s like reliving my childhood…I’m 22 years old, so I grew up with it…”

Players get to choose between three teams, Team Mystic (Blue), Team Instinct (Yellow), and Team Valor (Red).  Teams can compete against each other to take control of “gyms”, for example the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center.

Johnathan Whitaker said one of his favorite part of playing is that, “you’re not sitting down anymore like these other games.”

Andrew also agreed by saying, “they made it to where you couldn’t sit on the couch and play…you actually had to get out, walk around, sweat…you couldn’t catch them unless you were out there…”

Law enforcement agencies across the country are encouraging players to not play the game while they drive, and to be aware of your surroundings while playing.