INUVIK
Inuvik residents young and old are out walking around town with their eyes focused on their phones, hunting Pokemon and swiping up on the screens, throwing Poke Balls to catch them.

Pokemon Go trainer Fitzgerald Stewart standing in front of the John Diefenbaker statue at Jim Koe Park, also known as the Pokemon Gym, after winning a battle and taking over the gym as a member of Team Mystic Aug. 1. - Kaila Jefferd-Moore/NNSl photo

Pokemon Go allows players to relive the glory days of being a Pokemon trainer, this time on a Smartphone app instead of a Game Boy.

"The fact that you can go out and do what you wanted to do as a kid, it's living a childhood dream," said Deklen Crocker, who has collected about 46 of 150 Pokemon in the game.

Pokemon Go was released July 17 in Canada, just over a week after its initial release in the U.S.

It's a "throwback" for Dez Loreen, a casual Pokemon Go player who used to play the original.

"The point is to join a team, and help advance your team," he said. "It's this global thing, people all over the world are playing this game."

The augmented reality game is GPS based. When looking at their screens and walking around, players can see the map changing as their location changes.

"From the very beginning it's about wanting people to get together with friends across the globe and getting active," said Loreen. "And I think they've cracked it."

In order to catch Pokemon, players need to walk around the map to find them. To hatch Pokemon eggs, players need to walk a certain distance at a certain pace. Driving won't work, the game only counts the distance when the player moves at a walking pace.

RCMP have put out a statement cautioning people to be safe and cautious when using the app, reminding players to be aware of their surroundings at all times, taking caution to stay out of streets and to respect other people's property. They stressed that playing the game while riding a bike or skateboarding could be potentially dangerous, and driving while playing is distracted driving, which is not only illegal, it is dangerous and potentially fatal.

Crocker said his training tip is using the Pokemon spell incense to attract Pokemon to the trainer, and running.

"I read that if you run 7.5 kilometres an hour you can catch 30 Pokemon in 30 minutes," he said.

"It brings people together," said Crocker, who said it's easy to tell who is playing Pokemon and that it acts as an icebreaker.

The Pokemon trainers in Inuvik can be found hanging out around the Diefenbaker statue in Jim Koe Park, otherwise known as the "the Gym" in town. Trainers go to the statue to battle their Pokemon to take over the gym for their team.

"I'm really surprised by the amount of people that have latched onto this. Not just young people, but even 30-year-old people are playing it," said Loreen.

The statue is only one of a few Pokemon hotspots in Inuvik. There are four other locations in Inuvik, called "PokeStops," located at the Jim Koe Park sign, Our Lady of Victory Church -- better known as the Igloo Church -- Alexander Peace Park trailhead, and Jak Park. Trainers can go there to collect more Poke Balls and different spells to help them catch more Pokemon.

Loreen said the developers have "done a really great job" with the app but that it's still bare bones for now. There is a lot of potential with what the developers can continue to do with the game.

"Trading Pokemon would really help out others. To get people actually talking to each other rather than standing 10 feet from each other battling because they're at the same spot," said Loreen.

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