GENTRY -- A Pokemon tournament has been scheduled in Gentry on Saturday, July 30, to take advantage of the new Pokemon craze and to give players a chance to get plenty of exercise and to see the offerings of the park and the city for computer game nerds. The tournament will begin at the city park, with tee off at 9 a.m. on the first tee of the disk golf course.
"We scheduled the tournament at the last minute to take advantage of the new "Pokemon Go" app which was recently released," said Clyde Seller, director of Gentry's business bureau. "We wanted to have the event as soon as possible," he said, "before the craze wears off and before the pocket monsters hiding in our park and community are all caught and prepared for battle in another stage of the game."
And it appears there is no shortage of the Pokemon creatures in the park or hiding in Main Street businesses.
"I haven't actually seen any of them myself," said Susan Miler, a regular jogger in the park, "but I've seen plenty of people following them on their phones and catching them," she said. "It's strange how they can hide right out in the open and normal people can't see them, but folks with that paranormal app on their smart phones can find them and capture them. It's kind of like 'Ghost Busters' where they capture ghosts in these little traps," she said.
Even though most folks can't see them, several business owners are claiming the little monsters are in their stores. Some have also invaded the public library and are reportedly hiding among the stacks of books there.
"I went to the library and was looking for a romance novel to check out and read in my spare time; but when I looked down at my phone, there, on the corner of the row of books was a Pokemon monster," said Lisa Harding, mother of three, one of which downloaded the Pokemon Go app to her phone. "I let out a scream," Lisa said, "but then felt foolish since nobody else could see the little monster just sitting there."
In cooperation with the Gentry Business Bureau, the police department will be patrolling the park and business district on July 30 in an effort to protect the tournament players who might be wandering around in circles and oblivious to their surroundings.
A department release suggested that all those participating in the tournament wear yellow, reflective safety vests so that no one mistakes them for an intoxicated individual wandering aimlessly on the streets or in the park area. The vests, too, are to warn drivers to slow down and be alert in the event a Pokemon hunter steps out into the street or onto the highway.
Though the tournament officially ends Saturday at 5 p.m. and trophies will be presented by the mayor, outside city hall, to the Pokemon players with the most captures, some Gentry churches are claiming to have Pokemon monsters hiding in their sanctuaries too. They are inviting Pokemon hunters to come and visit during their regular service times and promise to give the game players the chance to hunt and trap the pocket monsters during an extended meet-and-greet session after the sermon.
S.A. Tired covers fictitious news from an unrealistic perspective for the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. News and views in Spinning the News are claimed by no one else but the author.
General News on 07/20/2016