Monster Hunt Roils the Palisades

By ERIKA MARTIN | Reporter

It is going to be a summer of monsters in the Palisades as flashmobs of phone-wielding teenagers—and some adults who might be expected to know better— pursue invisible Japanese beasties hiding in plain sight across the town including at the Riviera Country Club and Palisades Recreation Center.

They have been swept up in latest mobile game, a reinvention of the 1990s favorite Pokémon, in which players hunt down cute and scary targets that can only be seen through cell phone screens.

The bad news is that, since Pokémon Go was released to instant world obsession last week, there have been numerous cases of critter-hunters dashing blindly into traffic, being lured into robbery traps and, worst still, becoming extremely boring to the uninitiated.

The good news is that, unlike other video games, the Nintendo game is getting Palisadians out of the house.

Earlier this week, Ali Zafar-Khan and Ryan Breitman were discovering their hometown like explorers as they hunted an array of animated creatures that, thanks to augmented reality technology, appear to “appear” on streets as viewed on their phone.

The furry, winged or horned beasts are then captured with an expertly aimed Poké Ball.

The hunt has taken these Palisades Charter High School students to some unexpected places including Temescal Canyon, which is apparently rich in Poké-activity.

Although he’s lived in the area his whole life, Breitman didn’t know about the Temescal trail until he started playing the game.

Both boys agreed it is a great way to hang out with friends while exploring the outdoors.

The day before, Zafar-Khan had explored the golf course at the Riviera Country Club, which he said was a great place for Poké-hunting.

The Village also has good pickings, they said.

Beware: There are 151 different types of Pokémon loose in the Palisades, with clusters around public spaces such as the Palisades Recreation Center where there is a “gym” where players can battle captive creatures for more rewards.

The only limit, apart from spending up to $99 for extras on the free-to-download game, is the notorious Palisadian mobile reception.

“It’s really fun,” Riviera resident Zafar-Khan said, “but in some places you go you don’t get [cell] service, so you can’t really catch anything or use the PokéStops.”

And what is a PokéStop?

Right now ask any teenager, a group that have made week-old game as busy as Twitter, but prepared to lose their attention when a beast materializes right behind you.