LTRP Note: The following article will be available in booklet form in the near future with an appendix by Berit Kjos.
bigstockphoto.com | Young people playing Pokemon Go.
By Lois Putnam
For Pokémon Go gamers, their “Gotta Mantra” is “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!”–Pokémon that is. However a Christian’s motto must be: “Gotta Know, Gotta Learn, Gotta Discern, Gotta Go!” And just what it is that we as born again believers gotta know, gotta learn, gotta discern, and gotta go will be the theme of this post.
Our world is just one month into the Pokémon Go Mania that’s taking the country, and a number of other countries by storm. It was on July 6, 2016, via one’s smartphone, that players could download a free app and get set up to head outdoors to begin to catch Pokémon Pocket Monsters. Soon befuddled folks were bumping into gamers congregating at designated PokeStops be it at a church, a parking lot, a body of water, a library, a museum, a park, or the mall to name a few.
TV hosts, You Tube video makers, newspaper reporters, and online authors alike were scrambling to describe exactly how these frenzied gamers were zipping Pokémon balls on their phones to catch Pokémon seemingly popping up all over the place. Meantime, all kinds of safety issues were cropping up–kids in the middle of streets, folks walking into objects, a pair walking off a cliff, and even unsavory characters luring kids into unsafe places. All of this madness was taking place over one hundred and fifty-one little characters of which some seemed to be cute and clever, while others really are violent, ugly, and frightening. So with this in mind, what is it that we gotta know?
Gotta Know
At the outset we gotta know some basic Pokémon info– such as the game of Pokémon, designed by Satoshi Tajiri in 1990s, is managed by the Pokémon Company which, according to Wikipedia, is a Japanese consortium between Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Tajiri designed these Pokémon characters so gamers known as “Pokémon Trainers could catch, and train to battle each other for sport.”
Officially introduced in 1996 Pokémon now is celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2016. So the new phenomena Pokémon GO is an augmented reality game currently using the original Generation I Pokémon beginning with Bulbasaur to Mew. However, it’s also important to know that now there are 722 Pokémon which means in the last twenty years 571 more have been designed influencing youth and adults via video games, trading card games, comic books, TV shows, movies, and toys. For more “gotta know” info read “Pokémon” from Wikipedia article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon
Pokémon site Pokémon.com is filled with info you gotta know in order to be able to interact with Pokémon Goers! It includes a Pokedex, TV Programs, Trading Card Games, Video Games, A Shop, Attend Events, Pokémon GO and more! It even has a Trading Card Game Tutorial where one can learn to play the card game. Two sections: “The Pokedex,” and “Pokémon GO” are explained further below. http://www.pokemon.com/us. Click here to continue reading.
Also by Lois Putnam:
BOOKLET TRACT – Mandala Color Books: Relaxing Fun or a Tool for New Age Meditation?
Disney Kids’ Pixar Short: ‘Sanjay’s Super Team’ Shocks with Hindu Story!
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