Pokémon Go: how the Canadian army was overwhelmed by the phenomenon in 2016

The release of Pokémon Go in 2016 took the Canadian military by surprise, internal documents obtained by Canadian public television reveal. Within weeks, millions of followers around the world went hunting for Pikachu and other imaginary creatures in real life through Pokémon Go, sometimes venturing into strictly forbidden places.

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More than three years later, documents obtained by the CBC under the access to information law show how surprised the Canadian military was by the increase in the number of suspects intercepted in a short time on military bases across Canada following the release of the popular app.

Major Jeff Monaghan, of the Kingston base in Ontario, writes in an email: “Please advise the marshals that Fort Frontenac has apparently become a PokéGym and a PokéStop” for catching Pokémon. “To be completely honest with you, I have no idea what it is,” he added according to the CBC, which got its hands on nearly 500 pages of documents.

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At least three military police officers, in different bases across the country, have even been given a unique mission: to explore these facilities, phones and notebooks in hand, in search of virtual Pokémon infrastructures. “We should almost hire a 12-year-old to help us out,” wrote a security expert from CFB Borden, north of Toronto.

At the entrance to this base, a woman was caught playing Pokémon Go with her three children, who had climbed on tanks. On the same basis, when a man was pulled over, he explained to a manager that he was playing Pokémon Go and was simply looking to rack up more points “to win against his kids.”

Shortly after the release of the application, the armed forces even had to publicly warn fans of the game not to venture on military bases in search of Pokémon. More enthusiastic, a base manager in Petawawa, Ontario, a favorite spot for Pokémon hunters, said in an email she hoped “maybe more people will visit the museum!”