A simultaneously new and old phenomenon recently struck WSU, as hundreds of Pokemon lovers, young and old, have brought the game’s newest iteration to prominence at the university and around Pullman.

“Pokemon Go,” an augmented-reality game in which players capture the animated creatures while traveling through the real world, has become the craze on campus. Packs of student can often be seen roaming downtown and around campus, all staring intently at their phone screens.

Since the game launched on July 6, it has been installed on more phones than Tinder and as of Sunday it had nearly more daily users than Twitter, according to Forbes.

A map of Pokestops and gyms in the Pullman area gathered by opinion editor Alysen Boston. 

A local “Pokemon Go” Facebook page has already grown to nearly 600 members, and groups congregated on top of the library both Sunday and Monday night to play together.

“It’s getting bigger every day,” said Andre Dillard, a junior offensive lineman on the football team.

Dillard and several of his fellow linemen spent their break in between workouts on Monday capturing Pokemon outside the CUB, but the game is not reserved for college students and football players. Middle and high school students from around the state visited WSU on Monday and took advantage of the plentiful Pokemon across campus. Sam Cummins, 13, had joined the football players.

“That’s the coolest thing about it,” senior lineman Ed Middleton said. “Everyone of all ages is just kind of playing it.”

Cummins, of Vancouver, said since arriving at WSU he had noticed a greater number of certain Pokemon. Among them, he said, were Pidgey, a bird-like creature; Caterpie, which resembles a green caterpillar; and Nidoran, a purple Pokemon similar to a rodent.

Though these Pokemon abound, Middleton said they are not necessarily what everyone is after.

“The cool thing is seeing the rare ones,” he said. “Every now and then you’ll see one and catch it and feel pretty pimp.”

The games popularity aside, it has had unusual and sometimes negative effects across the country, from being used in crime to starting battles over ideology.

One user noticed that the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its opposition to the LGBTQ community, was a Pokemon gym. The user claimed it with a Clefairy nicknamed “LoveIsLove.”

The church tweeted: “We recruited Jigglypuff to deal with the sodomite loveislove Clefairy for us.”

Police in O’Fallon, Missouri, reported that three men have been charged with first-degree robbery after using “Pokemon Go” to find people in the real world and robbing them at gunpoint.

But the game has also led to unique and entertaining stories and friendships for many. Dillard related the night he went out walking in search of Pokemon and came across a fellow player. They introduced themselves and, together, captured a Pokemon gym. Soon after, however, the site was under siege.

“This dude pulls up on a moped, stares right at me, takes over the gym and drives off,” Dillard said, to laughter from his friends.

“After I take it back a squad of like three girls pop up,” he added, “and they drop … all their Pokemon into the gym and so we’re like all holding it down.”

It seems no victory goes long unchallenged in “Pokemon Go.”

He told of another time when he saw a young boy in a parking lot with his mother playing the game. The boy looked excitedly at Dillard.

“He held his phone up to me with a big smile,” Dillard said, “and he’s like ‘I caught an Onix!’ I’m like ‘That’s awesome man!’”