Updated, 4:45 p.m. July 11
By now you’ve heard about Pokémon GO — the augmented-reality app for iPhone and Android that’s encouraging people young and old to get outside and explore.
Here are the basics: You download the app and head outside. Then you walk around an area looking for Pokémon — tiny virtual creatures with names like Bulbasaur, Pikachu and Rattata. When you find one, you “catch it” using a digital Poké Ball and add it to your collection, called a Pokédex.
Still with me?
There also are places called PokéStops, which are “interesting places like museums, art installations, historical markets and monuments,” according to the app description. Find one of those, and you can stock up on Poké Balls and potions to catch even more Pokémon or upgrade the ones you have.
It’s actually quite fun. When I got to the office today, I checked out the new app to see whether any PokéStops were nearby.
Good news! The statue of a Boy Scout outside the Boy Scouts of America’s national headquarters in Irving, Texas, is a PokéStop! And the excellent National Scouting Museum next door is a Gym, where you can battle your Pokémon against other Pokémon.
That got me wondering: What other Scouting-related PokéStops (and Gyms) are out there?
Send in your Scouting-related Pokémon GO screenshots
Is your local council headquarters or Scout camp a PokéStop or Gym? Did your Scouts find any Pokémon while on a recent Scouting adventure? I want to know about it!
Get out there and find Pokémon and PokéStops, and send screenshots to me at onscouting@scouting.org. Use the subject line “Pokémon GO.”
Be safe out there
No Pokémon is worth your life — something Eagle Scout William Bauman wanted everyone to remember.
William, whose campaign against texting and driving made headlines last year, emailed me the photo seen here along with this message:
“I really believe that having an article about the safety of Pokémon GO can save a Scout’s life. Nobody should die because of playing a videogame.”
Good point, William. Have fun, but be safe.
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