GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Ready, set, Pokemon Go! Downtown Grand Rapids played host to thousands of gamers Friday Night taking advantage of Nintendo's new mobile phone hit.
Almost everywhere people are walking around while staring down at their phones playing Pokemon Go. On Friday, thousands of people met up for a mass hunting party, where everyone had one thing in common.
"I'm a huge Pokemon fan," confessed Nellie Bailey.
"I love Pokemon," said Devon Frocia. "A lot of people love Pokemon."
The game is taking over people's phones of all ages.
"You go out and see the Pokemon and you catch them on your phone," explained Carol Tichelaar. "It's like an adventure. It's kind of like a treasure hunt."
Large crowds gathered at Rosa Park Circle as this modernized game brought back lots of familiar memories.
"Yeah it brings you back to your childhood," said her daughter, Asia Gill. "That's why I play it," agreed Tichelaar. "It brings back my childhood and I get to play it with her. It's really exciting. You go out there and said 'There's one! There's one!' We just get super stoked."
At Friday night's event, thousands of people represented their teams by wearing their team colors and logos; all of them ready to search for their favorite characters.
"I'm on Team Mystic because I always like water types," said Garrett Forcia.
But phone chargers and power seemed to be a reoccurring problem with this group.
'I got to go charge my phone," said Bailey.
“If we’re going to be walking around for hours this is a good way to keep my phone from not dying," said Brett Groth, who had two portable chargers hanging below his phone.
But one thing is for sure: it's bringing people together.
"You can tell when somebody is playing because they're walking around looking down at their phone," said Tichelaar. "We just all holler at each other and wave. It's a really fun community to be a part of."
