# Pokemon Go
> Pokemon Go is a 2016 multi-format meme from Niantic's AR game, where players hunting digital creatures outdoors sparked viral content about inappropriate trespassing, safety incidents, and the surreal sight of masses obsessed with phones.
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic that launched in July 2016 and immediately spawned a massive wave of internet memes about its real-world gameplay, team rivalries, safety incidents, and the absurdity of millions of people wandering around staring at their phones to catch digital creatures[5]. The game's requirement that players physically explore their surroundings led to countless viral moments, from people finding dead bodies while hunting Pokemon to the U.S. Holocaust Museum begging visitors to stop catching Pikachu on its grounds[13]. Pokemon Go memes peaked during the summer of 2016 but the game's ongoing updates and events kept generating new meme content for years afterward.
## Origin
Pokemon Go's meme life actually started before the game launched. After the game was announced, people began creating hypothetical dialogues about players breaking into restricted areas to catch Pokemon[2]. These predictions turned out to be remarkably accurate, and the fact that the jokes came true became its own meme.
The game's roots trace back to a 2014 April Fools' Day collaboration between Google and The Pokemon Company, where Google Maps added a "Pokemon Challenge" that let users find and catch Pokemon on the map[25]. John Hanke, who had led Google's Geo division and founded Niantic Labs as an internal startup, spun Niantic out of Google in 2015[6]. The company raised $30 million from Google, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company to develop Pokemon Go[6].
When the game launched on July 6, 2016, it became one of the most downloaded mobile apps ever released[4]. Within its first week, Pokemon Go was the top-grossing app on both Android and iPhone[13]. The game pulled in $75 million in revenue in its first few weeks alone[22].
- **Platform:** Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr (viral meme spread), Niantic (game)
- **Creator:** John Hanke (Niantic CEO / game creator), community-created memes
- **Date:** 2016
## Overview
Pokemon Go memes cover the entire spectrum of internet humor formats. Image macros joke about rural players seeing empty maps, screenshots show Pokemon spawning in inappropriate locations like bathrooms and funerals, and reaction images mock the team rivalry between Valor, Mystic, and Instinct[2]. The game's unique blend of augmented reality and real-world exploration created situations no other mobile game could produce, giving meme creators endless material. A Diglett appearing on someone's crotch, a Magikarp flopping on a kitchen counter, players walking into traffic because a rare spawn appeared across the street. All of it became meme fuel[1].
The meme ecosystem around Pokemon Go is unusually broad. It includes in-game screenshots, real-world photos of players in ridiculous situations, news headlines about Pokemon Go-related crimes and accidents, team loyalty propaganda, and jokes about Niantic's update priorities[2]. Few games have produced memes that crossed so thoroughly into mainstream awareness.
## How It Spread
The meme explosion was immediate and overwhelming. Within days of launch, Twitter's #PokemonGO hashtag was producing content faster than anyone could scroll through it[1]. Memes spread across every major platform. Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Vine all hosted massive volumes of Pokemon Go content during July 2016[1].
Several distinct meme categories emerged in the first two weeks:
**Location memes** were among the first to go viral. Players in rural areas posted screenshots of empty maps with captions like "The Authentic Pokemon GO Experience in [location]"[2]. Meanwhile, city dwellers bragged about living on top of PokeStops. The game's location database, adapted from Niantic's earlier game Ingress, placed gyms and PokeStops at real-world landmarks, including some deeply inappropriate ones[5].
**Team rivalry memes** exploded after players had to choose between Team Valor (red), Team Mystic (blue), and Team Instinct (yellow). Instinct quickly became the butt of every joke[2]. When team leaders were revealed on July 24, 2016, the internet latched onto Spark (Instinct's leader) as an adorable idiot while depicting Candela (Valor) as the hot one and Blanche (Mystic) as the cool, commanding one[11]. The Verge reported the consensus was that "Mystic and Valor are run by badasses, while Instinct is run by a total dweeb"[11]. Fan-created personality quirks spread rapidly on Twitter and Tumblr, with Spark depicted as a dabbing meme lord who eats chips for dinner[23].
**Professor Willow thirst posts** started on day one. The Verge ran an article titled "Who is Pokémon Go's Professor Willow and why is he such a daddy?" describing him as "a prematurely graying man with an exquisitely chiseled jaw attached to a toned body that just wouldn't quit"[10]. Tumblr fan art followed immediately.
**News headline memes** came from the avalanche of real incidents. Players fell off cliffs, got robbed, walked into restricted areas, and discovered dead bodies, all while hunting Pokemon[19][17]. These headlines became memes themselves, shared with incredulous commentary.
The game also crossed language and cultural barriers rapidly. Canadian fans made memes about being excluded from "North America" launches[2]. Russian memes followed the arrest of blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky, who filmed himself playing Pokemon Go inside an Orthodox cathedral in Yekaterinburg and received a suspended sentence of three and a half years[21].
By May 2018, Pokemon Go had over 147 million monthly active users, with player numbers reaching their highest point since the 2016 launch[9]. The game generated over $104 million that month alone, up 174% year-on-year[9].
## How to Use
Pokemon Go memes do not follow a single template. They draw from the game's augmented reality features, team rivalries, and the absurd real-world situations the game creates.
1. For AR screenshots: capture a Pokemon appearing in an awkward or funny real-world location using the game's AR camera mode, then post with a caption pointing out the absurdity
2. For team loyalty posts: pick your team (Valor, Mystic, or Instinct) and either praise it or trash the others — Instinct is the usual punching bag
3. For news reactions: find a real headline about a Pokemon Go incident (trespassing, accidents) and share with commentary
4. For rural vs. urban comparisons: show the difference between playing in a city (PokeStops everywhere) versus a small town (empty map)
5. For patch note jokes: reference Niantic's infamous 'minor text fixes' whenever something major goes wrong
## Cultural Impact
Pokemon Go's impact on mainstream culture in 2016 was staggering. The game was covered by every major news outlet from NPR to Rolling Stone to the BBC[13][20][21]. Law enforcement agencies across the country issued official warnings and safety tips for players[15]. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department published a list of dos and don'ts for app users[15].
The game raised real questions about augmented reality in public spaces. Sacred sites like Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Museum had to develop policies specifically about Pokemon Go[13]. In Russia, Ruslan Sokolovsky's arrest for playing the game in a cathedral sparked international debate about blasphemy laws and digital behavior in religious spaces. He was found guilty of "offending the feelings of religious believers" and received a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence in May 2017[21][12].
Pokemon Go's commercial success reshaped the mobile gaming industry. SuperData Research noted that "high-profile launches like this generally come at the expense of major competitors," suggesting the game was pulling revenue from rival apps[22]. The game's influence extended to Nintendo's own strategy. The success prompted The Pokemon Company and Game Freak to develop Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon Let's Go, Eevee! for the Nintendo Switch, attempting to capture Pokemon Go's audience on a traditional gaming platform[9].
Marie Claire credited the game with getting people to exercise, helping children with autism bond with peers, and assisting people with depression in leaving the house[8]. These positive social effects were widely reported alongside the crime and accident stories.
## Fun Facts
- A man in Florida shot at two teens playing Pokemon Go at 1:30 a.m. because he heard one say "did you get anything?" and thought they were burglars. They were actually asking about catching a Marowak[16].
- Nintendo's stock dropped 17% in one day after the company had to publicly clarify that it doesn't make Pokemon Go[18].
- The game's location database was originally built from Niantic's earlier game Ingress, which crowdsourced points of interest from players. This is why some PokeStops ended up at locations like the Korean Demilitarized Zone and an abandoned Afghan air base[5].
- Toronto players nicknamed their city "Drowzee City" because the Pokemon spawned there more frequently than anywhere else[2].
- Niantic once responded to a player's complaint email with just the letter "r," which quickly became a community in-joke[2].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic that lets players catch, train, and battle Pokemon in real-world locations using their smartphone's GPS and camera[5]. It launched in July 2016 and generated a massive wave of internet memes.
### Where did Pokemon Go memes come from?
Pokemon Go memes emerged across Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and other platforms within days of the game's July 6, 2016 launch[1]. The game's real-world gameplay created countless absurd situations that became instant meme material.
### What does Pokemon Go mean as a meme?
As a meme subject, Pokemon Go represents the chaos of millions of people suddenly wandering around the real world staring at their phones[3]. The memes cover everything from team rivalries and AR screenshots to news stories about players getting robbed or falling off cliffs[2].
### How do you use Pokemon Go memes?
The most common approach is sharing screenshots of Pokemon in funny AR locations, making team loyalty jokes (usually at Team Instinct's expense), or reacting to absurd Pokemon Go-related news headlines[2][11].
### Is Pokemon Go still popular?
The game generated over $6 billion in revenue by 2020 and was acquired by Scopely for $3.5 billion in 2025[5][6]. While the meme output has slowed considerably from the 2016 peak, the game maintains a large active player base.
### What are the three teams in Pokemon Go?
Team Valor (red), Team Mystic (blue), and Team Instinct (yellow). Mystic and Valor were the most popular from the start, while Instinct became the internet's punching bag[2][11].
### Who is Professor Willow?
Professor Willow is the in-game professor who guides new players. He became an immediate thirst meme on launch day, with The Verge describing him as having "an exquisitely chiseled jaw attached to a toned body that just wouldn't quit"[10].
### Did someone really get arrested for playing Pokemon Go in a church?
Yes. Russian blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky filmed himself playing Pokemon Go in an Orthodox cathedral in Yekaterinburg in August 2016 and was found guilty of "offending the feelings of religious believers," receiving a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence[21].
### What crimes were connected to Pokemon Go?
Numerous incidents were reported in the game's first weeks, including armed robberies in Missouri and California, phone thefts in Virginia and San Francisco, a stabbing in Anaheim, and a shooting in Florida[15][14][19][16]. Some widely shared crime stories turned out to be fake, originating from satirical news sites[20].
### Why did the Holocaust Museum ask people to stop playing Pokemon Go?
The museum was designated as a PokeStop in the game, attracting players. Communications director Andrew Hollinger called playing the game there "extremely inappropriate" and attempted to have the museum removed from the game[13].
### What happened to Nintendo's stock because of Pokemon Go?
Nintendo's stock more than doubled after the game launched, then crashed 17% in one day on July 25, 2016, after the company issued a statement clarifying that it doesn't actually make or own Pokemon Go[18].
### What is the "I Play Pokemon Go Every Day" song?
A viral song by a young Czech boy nicknamed "Misha" that became a meme through SiIvaGunner's music channel. Its earnest, broken-English enthusiasm made it both endearing and widely parodied[2].
## References
1. [100+ of the Best Pokemon GO Memes and Parodies]()
2. [Memes / Pokémon GO - TV Tropes]()
3. [10 Pokémon Go Memes That Perfectly Sum Up The Game]()
4. [Pokemon Go - Know Your Meme]()
5. [Pokémon Go - Wikipedia]()
6. [John Hanke - Wikipedia]()
7. [Pokemon Go developer Niantic roasts “stale bedroom air” gamers with meme - Dexerto]()
8. [Pokemon Go memes that will make your day | Marie Claire UK]()
9. [Pokémon GO Active Player Number Is The Highest Since 2016 | Nintendo Insider]()
10. [Pokemon Go - IGN]()
11. [Who is Pokémon Go’s Professor Willow and why is he such a daddy? | The Verge]()
12. [Pokemon GO Reviews - Metacritic]()
13. [Everyone’s making fun of Pokémon Go’s Team Instinct leader | The Verge]()
14. [Russian Pokemon Go Blogger Escapes Jail After Guilty Verdict]()
15. [Holocaust Museum, Arlington National Cemetery Plead: No Pokémon : The Two-Way : NPR]()
16. [Pokemon GO crime: Teens take Richmond woman’s phone]()
17. [Two men reportedly robbed and carjacked while playing 'Pokemon Go' at Northern California park - Los Angeles Times]()
18. [Deputies: Man shot at teens playing ‘Pokemon Go’ – Orlando Sentinel]()
19. [Sheriff: No foul play suspected in this morning's river death]()
20. [Nintendo shares plummet after it points out it doesn't make Pokémon Go | Pokémon Go | The Guardian]()
21. [2 California men fall off edge of ocean bluff while playing 'Pokemon Go' - Los Angeles Times]()
22. [Is 'Pokemon Go' Really Driving a Crime Wave?]()
23. [Pokemon Go: Russian blogger sentenced - BBC News]()
24. [Gaming – UPROXX]()
25. [‘Pokémon Go’ May Leave Rivals Hunting for Gamers’ Attention - WSJ]()
26. [The Internet Reacts To Pokémon Go's Team Leaders - Kotaku]()
27. [Michigan Pokemon Go player finds unconscious woman behind the wheel]()
28. [Become a Pokémon Master with Google Maps]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/pokemon-go
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