Wanna be the very best?

Like no one ever was?

It’s no wonder the original Pokémon theme song, from the anime that debuted in in the late 1990s (before I was even 10 years old) has been stuck in my head lately. With the release of Pokémon Go on July 7, hordes of trainers have selected their starter pocket monsters and set out on their own journey to become Pokémon masters.

“Nostalgia” is the reason local Pokémon trainer Timothy Jackson gave for why he started playing.

“I was looking forward to this game for a while,” he said. “Socializing is kind of a cool part of it, and just geeking out and walking around getting exercise.”

Josh Russell, a Seattle resident, had an entirely different reason for playing the game, perhaps showcasing the broad appeal.

“I was never a Pokémon fan growing up,” Russell said. “I was a video game guy, but never a Pokémon guy. My sister kind of got me into it.”

A beer salesman, Russell said the game helps break up the monotony of the days where he’s in his car driving around a lot. He said the game “gets me out of the car to walk around and check stuff out.”

Josh Russell plays Pokémon Go at the Bremerton marina. Photo by Michelle Beahm

Katie Weatherwax is the opposite.

“I’m a total nerd, and I used to play Pokémon all the time as a kid,” she said. So it was a nostalgia factor for her, too.

And it’s definitely changed her life in some ways.

“We’ve been out every night since it came out, till like 2 a.m.,” Weatherwax said, gesturing to her hunting partner Allen Hewey. “I usually go to bed at 10 p.m. That’s crazy, for me.

“We don’t really stay in and watch TV and stuff (anymore),” she said. “We’re usually out and about.”

Hewey added, “We should be finishing ‘Orange is the New Black’ right now, but we’re out here instead.”

I am unabashedly one of those numerous, aspiring Pokémon masters, though despite being a lifelong Pokémon fan (Why yes, I do still have my trading cards from my childhood) I didn’t download it right away. At the time of this writing, I’m only a level 17 trainer with Team Valor. But don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you if you’re Mystic or Instinct.

To those uninitiated few, let me explain: The Pokémon Go app that has swept the nation, and any other countries in which the game has been released, splits participants into three teams, chosen by the trainer at level five: Team Valor (red), Team Mystic (blue) and Team Instinct (yellow). Trainers then travel to Pokémon gyms, of which there are many in Kitsap County alone, to control for their team. If the gym is already controlled by another team, trainers can battle the Pokémon defending it and, if they win, can leave their own Pokémon there to claim it in the name of their team.

The stronger your Pokémon, the better your chances of claiming and keeping a gym. The higher level you are as a trainer, the stronger your Pokémon can be.

A Scyther, a bug and flying type Pokémon, defends a Valor gym. After defeating the Pokémon defending a gym, trainers can leave their own Pokémon to defend it on behalf of their team. Photo by Michelle Beahm

This adds to the social aspect of the game: you can join the same team as your friends, and work together to take over and keep gyms for your team. Or you can be on different teams and compete with each other. It’s also fun to compare which Pokémon you’ve caught, or help each other find new ones. Once while hunting for Pokémon, I witnessed people constantly telling other nearby hunters, whom they didn’t even know, about nearby Pokémon. “There’s a Wartortle!” “There’s a Scyther!” “Do you know where that nearby Onix is?” That sort of thing.

“I’ve found a couple other of my beer buddies, they’re playing as well,” Russell said. “It’s another level of camaraderie … we can exchange stories on not just what beers we sold that day, but also what Pokémon we got.”

From the outside looking in, it can sound kind of silly. But as a game, it’s kind of unique. In order to be successful in this game, you can’t just open the app on your phone while sitting on your couch. You have to get outside, walk around. Different Pokémon can be found in different locations and at different times of the day.

Most people aren’t lucky enough to live within range of a gym — and the range is less than a city block, I’d guess — so you’ve got to travel to take them over.

And, of course, the eggs a trainer can collect along the way only hatch into surprise Pokémon if you walk far enough. The distance you need to travel is 2 kilometers, 5 km or 10 km. The farther you have to walk, the rarer the Pokémon that will hatch. And you can’t just open the app in your phone and drive around, either — go too fast, and it won’t count for your eggs.

This probably helps the safety factor, which is a big concern for local law enforcement, according to Bremerton Police Chief Steven Strachan, though because the app requires trainers to walk around, Stachan said they’re more concerned about pedestrians walking into a crosswalk without looking.

Jackson has been witness to this. He said while he doesn’t have any crazy Pokémon Go stories, he’s witnessed the carelessness some people can have.

“I see people walk across Seattle all the time (without looking),” he said.

Timothy Jackson plays Pokémon Go at the Bremerton marina. Photo by Michelle Beahm

Strachan said, “There’s just a lack of self-awareness. We have a lot of uncontrolled crosswalks, where the motorists just need to watch out and make sure they stop for people. My concern is just that people don’t go striding into a crosswalk without looking first.”

But Strachan said they haven’t had any issues thus far with that sort of thing. In fact, Strachan is wholly supportive of the game.

“It reminds me a little of Harry Potter,” he said, “when you had kids at midnight waiting to buy the next Harry Potter book. I like the fact that people are reading books. I like the fact that people are out socializing, walking around.

“I think these are good, healthy things, by and large. As long as people are being cognizant of not trespassing.”

Trespassing has been a small issue, Strachan said. Trainers can occasionally wander into private property in an effort to hunt down more and different Pokémon, or stay at a park after closing hours. Just as trainers need to be self-aware enough not to walk into traffic, they need to remember to keep to public property and not violate operating hours of city parks and other public areas that may close at nighttime.

Another thing to be aware of: Some Pokémon gyms exist at or near police stations, including the Bremerton Police Station on Burwell Street in downtown Bremerton.

“Early on, when this first started, there were people out there (playing),” Strachan said. “Someone explained what it was, and (the station) was a gym. Once they let our officers know, everyone was aware of it, it didn’t create any problems.”

But that has something to do with location. Strachan said that due to the back of their police station being secure, and being located where they are, they don’t have much concern.

“Most of the problems are a lack of knowledge or understanding,” Strachan said. “Because this became such a trend so quickly … (we know) if we see people wandering around in front of our building with their cell phones out, this is what it is.”

But Strachan mentioned another nearby station with the back of their building facing a wooded area, causing the staff to have concerns about people wandering around the woods at all hours of the day, approaching the back of the police station while on their cell phones.

Drowzee is one of the most common Pokémon in downtown Bremerton. Pokémon Go uses an augmented reality, making it appear as if Pokémon are actually standing in front of you. Photo by Michelle Beahm

So word of warning: Pokémon trainers, be cautious about where you are and how it might appear to people who may not know what’s going on. Be safe, and don’t do anything to make anyone else feel like they may not be safe, too.

“Also, the comment (around the Bremerton Police station) was that people are amazed by the wide age range of players,” Strachan said, “older people, teenagers, Navy sailors and families.”

As a Pokémon trainer myself, I’ve seen kids at least as young as 8 years old (and I know a 5-year-old boy who likes to help his parents Pokémon hunt) playing the game, and people who can easily be grandparents playing as well. And yes, you can usually tell when people are playing Pokémon Go. As Strachan put it, “It’s a pretty distinctive look that players have.”

“It’s fun, and it’s good for the kids,” Russell said. “It’s getting them out of the house.

“I’m usually a sit-on-the-couch-playing-video-games kind of guy, so this is getting me out, walking around, so that’s pretty cool.”