BOLTON was caught in a Pokémon Go frenzy today, as excited gamers took to the streets to try out the latest gaming craze.

The mobile phone and tablet application uses clever technology to allow players to ‘capture’ characters from popular Japanese cartoon, Pokemon.

If you saw someone absent-mindedly wandering about town, phone-in-hand, then the chances are they were playing Pokemon Go.

We hit the streets to test out the game and soon met other players getting involved.

We found that Bolton was well stocked with the Drowzee Pokemon character, but we also discovered a Charmander, Venonat and Gastly – among others

Some characters even appeared in our newsroom, including a Zubyat hovering over our deputy news editor, while a Pidgey was spotted in Greggs on Newport Street.

32-year-old David Walsh is head of development at a digital agency.

The Boltonian created the map (above) of all the known Pokestop locations so far on the Bolton Lib Dem's webpage.

He said: "The reason I created the map was its something that I saw people would like to see.

"I have been playing it and throughly enjoying it. The best aspect I feel is how it can bring people together socially, everyone's speaking about it, so it's conversation starters for both friends, family and strangers.

"A lot of gaming groups are popping up, and my partner holds real life gaming meetups and she's seeing a lot of interest from those who attend that.

"Another factor is around gaming and exercise... it's more entertaining to do a 5km walk with friends playing a game than be stuck on a treadmill not interacting with anything or anyone, so I think the added dynamic of the gamification of exercise is extremely beneficial." 


But just what is Pokemon Go? Here’s our handy explainer:-

  • Pokemon Go is a gaming application based on Japanese cartoon, Pokémon, which is available for tablets and mobile phones on the Android and Apple operating systems.
  • It uses augmented reality to superimpose cartoon characters from the cartoon series onto the real world when viewed through a mobile or tablet device.
  • Gamers are challenged with collecting Pokémon characters, swapping them with other players and training them to fight.
  • Real-world locations and landmarks act as Pokestops, where players can collect extra Poke Balls with which to throw and capture Pokemon.

Where are the Pokestops and Pokemon in Bolton?

  • Pokestops are often popular meeting points or historic locations – encouraging an interaction with the built environment.
  • Many of Bolton’s historic and notable buildings are Pokestops, including the Crown Court and interesting civic features such as the grave of the Chadwicks at Bolton Parish Church.
  • Other real world locations act as Pokegyms, where the characters you’ve collected can be trained to fight against Pokémon collected by other players.
  • Pokemon gyms in Bolton include the Fred Dibnah statue and Bolton Parish Church.

What’s all the fuss about?

  • The game was launched earlies this month in the USA and Australia. There have been documented cases of people walking absent-mindedly into oncoming traffic while ‘chasing’ the Pokemon they can see on their phone display.
  • One girl even discovered a dead body while searching for an elusive Pokemon.
  • The game also lets users drop ‘lures’ to bring in other Pokemon users. One reported case involved some youngsters who were lured to a remote location by armed robbers before being mugged.

But it gets gamers out the house, right?

  • Yes – many commentators have trumpeted the games ability to get people out and about, rather than playing computer games indoors.
  • The game also revolves around landmarks and interesting historical locations – encouraging gamers (often younger people) to interact with the built environment and perhaps learn something along the way.