Pokémon

Okay, you caught me red-handed. This is definitely a PHOTOSHOPPED IRL.

But hey, Pokemon! Everybody loves Pokemon, right?!

If you'd like to adopt Eevee, click here.

What even is this planet that we live on anymore though?

Pokémon GO's taken the planet by storm. Lives have been made, ruined, and everything in between by this kickass augmented reality game. We're talking staged robberies like this:



And relationship-ruining NSFW-ish 'gotta catch 'em all' moments like this:



Looks like Google could've predicted much of the madness that's ensued thus far...

Alexander Steinberg, an 18-year-old aspiring filmmaker managed to put together a video that encourages us all as an audience to take a minute, and ask ourselves, 'why does Pokémon GO! matter?'

Does it really? Or is there something more meaningful, impactful 'afoot? Is it the game's ability to unite strangers that'd otherwise never cross paths? One quote captured in the video sticks out in particular:

“You know my favorite part about this? Number one my brother and I used to play this as kids. He ends up passing away,” CrobinMaxxis said, pointing up. “He’s up there still, still, having a better fuckin’ collection than I do. But all the violence in the world, brutality, all this fucking racism. Look around here. You see this?” he said, gesturing to the crowd. “Not a single one is the same. Everyone is having a good time. This is what the world needs now.”

I remember those days fondly. We would sit by at the beach after a long night of talking and laughing, trading stories about our Pokemon journeys long into the night. We would recount our victories, our failures, our missed chances at catching shiny Pokemon. The sound of lonesome waves lapping the shore in a natural syncopation. And in the morning, we'd see a beautiful Pikachu sunrise.