10 Things Austinites Have Learned From Our Pokémon Go Obsession

Pokémon Go has only been in Apple and Android stores for five days, and it’s already basically turned the world upside down (or at least the parts of the world where it’s been released). It’s led users to find a dead body, enterprising criminals to use it to lure in robbery victims, and has been used to troll Westboro Baptist Church. Pokémon Go is currently used more than Tinder and is set to become more popular than Twitter, all while having only launched in the U.S. and Australia, according to CNN. Of course, Austin being the tech-driven, nostalgia-loving version of Neverland that it is, people have been going nuts for the app since the moment it hit the market. 

Since Austinites have started playing it, the app has helped us learn a few things about ourselves…

10.) That we are geeky and proud of it.

9.) That maybe crime does pay, after all.

8.) That there is really no better way to make new friends.

Made some buddies tonight. Lol #pokemongoaustin #pokemongo

A post shared by Jarod [Juh-RAWd] (@yogi_jarod) on

7.) And that we basically have zero need for Tinder anymore.

6.) We’ve learned that it’s a great way to connect to some of our favorite Austin locales.

5.) And we’re finding Austin gems that we didn’t even know existed.

4.) Though we may have also learned that we need to pay a bit more attention to our surroundings.

3.) We’re learning what it’s really like to work at some of Austin’s most millennial-filled companies (i.e. they all really love playing Pokémon Go, and probably during work hours).

2.) We’re learning the importance of keeping Pokémon happy while they’re here, but not toooo happy — we can’t have these guys wanting to move here and drive up the cost of living even more.

#pidgey at #Chuys this morning… #pokemon #pokemongo #pokemongoatx #pokemongoaustin #pokemongotexas

A post shared by a rose by any other name (@mskittenk) on

1.) And we’ve learned that even when we’re trying not to play, we just can’t help ourselves.

https://twitter.com/jasonjermaine/status/752258513422815232

If you haven’t yet jumped on this trend and burned a few calories in the Texas heat or made a new lifelong friend to wear hats and backpacks with, here are a few local resources to get you started:

PokemonGo Austin Twitter

PokemonGo Austin Reddit

Local bars that are Pokéstops/gyms

PokémonGo Texas Facebook group

There are also plenty of Pokémon Go events set up for the weekend, like this Go Crawl and this Pokémon Lure Party on Friday.

Now go, catch them all and whatnot!