You can catch Pokémon on Google Maps for April Fools’ Day

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Games By James Plafke Mar. 31, 2014 3:01 pm
Since certain parts of the world are time travelers living in the future while the rest of us are still stuck in the past, driving non-flying cars and unable to ride public teleportation commuter pods to work, some people are already living in April 1, 2014. The internet reaches across the globe, so perhaps as an effort to reach space-time parity with other markets, Google has already launched one of its April Fools’ Day jokes, and it’s awesome. You can catch Pokémon in Google Maps, and fill out your Pokédex.
The April Fools’ joke is accompanied by a video that envisions an augmented reality future where Pokémon trainers can traipse around the world, point their phones at AR Pokémon hiding in various environments, and capture them.
In (non-augmented) reality,*you can pan around the map, zoom in, and catch Pokémon on the iOS and Android versions of Google Maps. Once you find a pocket monster hiding on the map, tapping on it will invoke a prompt — complete with a Poké Ball — that will allow you to capture the critter and fill out your Pokédex. Interestingly, the Pokédex only has 150 available entries (as opposed to the original 151), but the available Pokémon appear to be from various generations, so once you’re not adhering to the original cast, you likely don’t need to adhere to the original number anymore.
As you can imagine, the internet has taken to Google’s “prank” rather quickly, and is already compiling a list of where each Pokémon can be found.*There are two popular lists at the moment, which can be found here and here. *We’re not entirely sure what happens if you catch ‘em all yet, but considering there’s a Pokédex that can be filled out, we wouldn’t be surprised if something neat transpired upon completion.
Last year, Google joked that it would be bringing its much-desired Google Fiber outside the home and into the streets, allowing users to plug into utility poles to access the speedy service. The Google Maps team also once recreated its map entirely in the aesthetic of an old-school 8-bit RPG, so it’s nice to see Google keeping with its preferred theme of video game hilarity.



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