Pokemon Go takes Mandurah by storm

Pokemon Go is the new interactive smart phone app that enables users (well... trainers, I guess) to walk the streets and search the “real world” in their quest to catch them all. It’s an instant success.

But despite the game’s popularity among adolescents re-living their childhood, it has also received a high amount of negative response.

In the US it has been reported thieves were using the game to lure players to locations they would then rob them at, while in the Northern Territory police have urged users not to interrupt police business after a number of trainers entered a police station to find a Sandshrew.

My mission: to get in on the action.

I’m determined to find out just what makes this game so great – in some peoples’ opinions, greater than the original gameboy versions.

I downloaded the game on Thursday night, but neglected to begin playing it until Sunday morning, when a slightly hungover version of myself managed to capture a Zubat from the comfort of my friend’s couch.

I was a little perplexed by the game at first – no battling, simply catching. It seemed a far cry from the original blue version with the epic sticker of Blastoise emblazoned on the back. 

So I locked it in my schedule to spend Monday night after work walking around my Erskine neighbourhood so I could make a fair judgement on the game.

I set out from home, walking across a roundabout and getting about 50 metres down the road without spotting any form of Pokemon. Not even a Rattata.

But all of a sudden, as I begin to wonder how stupid I must look, my phone vibrates, indicating there is a Magnemite right ahead of me.

Six-year-old me buzzing with excitement and all thoughts of self-loathing out the window, I make my way towards it and engage. About 10 Pokeballs later, the electric magnet Pokemon was mine.

On I walked, realising about 250 metres down the road that wearing a black hooded jumper and dark pants in the dead of night might come across a touch suspicious.

But running into minimal trouble, I captured five more Pokemon, with a Pidgeotto now my prized possession.

But I still couldn’t help feeling a little irked by the experience. Dressed in my dark attire, I couldn’t help feeling like I was either about to be robbed, or about to rob someone myself.

Maybe I just needed to catch cooler Pokemon, so I sought the advice of a Pokemon Go expert.

Rhiannon Tomlinson runs a number of Pokemon Go fan pages on social media, some focused directly on the Mandurah area.

She told me I needed to search around the foreshore and Seashells areas, where she saw a number of water-based Pokemon like Squirtle and Horsea.

But she also alerted me to the social aspect of the game.

“People will be down the foreshore catching Pokemon and will notice someone doing the same, and that sort of strikes up a conversation,” she told me.

“It’s actually quite a social app, and it’s getting everybody active.”

I can’t help but agree with Rhiannon, even if the only life form I bumped into on my walk was a dog that looked more than ready to attack me.

While the game has the potential to advantage criminals, if it’s done safely, you can’t argue with the social and physical benefits of being active.

If you’re trying to catch them all in the Mandurah area, we want to know. Send us a screenshot and the area you caught your Pokemon in an email to justin.rake@fairfaxmedia.com.au