Courtlin is 100% Addicted to Pokémon GO

I'm doing this for my inner 9-year-old child.

When Pokémon GO was released last week, I didn't think much of it. It sounded interesting, and a bunch of my friends downloaded the app, so I figured, ehhh why not? I wasn't prepared for the addiction.

In case you don't know what Pokémon Go is, it's a new app that you can download to your phone that allows you to catch Pokémon in "real life." Basically, the app is connected to your GPS, and it requires you to walk around to real life locations to capture Pokémon, visit Poké Stops, and hatch eggs. The app is free, but you will not be once you download it.

Over the course of the last four days, I have captured hundreds of Pokémon and walked about 12 miles. I planned my days and nights around where I could go to catch the most Pokémon and hit the most Poké Stops. I LEFT THE BAR on Saturday night so I could walk over to Greene Square Park and hangout with all of the other Pokémon nerds. And there were a LOT of them. That's the cool part, though. I made actual friends this weekend simply by visiting a Poké Stop and hanging out for a little bit. Everybody was so friendly and enthusiastic, and it was so refreshing. After a week of death and destruction in America, it was such a relief to see something so simple bringing together people of all ages. Not to mention, it's forcing people to exercise. You want to hatch that rare egg? You have to walk 10k. Better get going. Here are a few of my favorites I caught this weekend in Cedar Rapids:

So, you might think it's stupid or immature for so many adults to be playing Pokémon, and that's ok, but the fact that it's bringing so many strangers together for GOOD reasons is simply wonderful to me. I'd rather see 10,000 posts about Pokémon in my newsfeed than 100,000 posts about horrible things happening in the news. It's a nice little break from the awfulness in the world.

There are some people who want to ruin the fun, though. There's a news article from the weekend about people getting robbed from using the app, because criminals wait at Poké Stops KNOWING people will stop by. As long as you're careful about where you're going and at what times of day, I don't think this is something you should be too worried about. Also, don't use the app while you're driving, and don't go onto private property unless you have permission. These are all pretty common sense, but I guess they still need to be said. As long as you're careful, this app can be really enjoyable.