The Pokémon Company released its much-anticipated smartphone game Pokémon Go yesterday, transforming social media into a truly bizarre blend of people outraged about police violence against black people in America, and folks wandering around their neighborhoods, snapping pictures of the Blastoise they found at their local Starbucks. Now, the link between legitimately awful human tragedies and the GPS-enabled game has tightened even further, with a Wyoming teen reportedly finding a dead body while hunting for monsters in the game.
Originally reported on by community news site County 10, the story says a 19-year-old woman was walking the banks of the Big Wind River—“trying to get a Pokémon from a natural water resource”—when she came across the body. And while this sounds like something from the plot of Pokémon Blue (Velvet)—or maybe Stand By Meowth—police have since ruled that the man died of natural causes, possibly drowning.
Pokémon Go requires that players explore their surrounding environments, which it overlays with colorful creatures to catch and collectible items to snag. Its loading screen also requests that players “be alert at all times” while playing, and “Stay aware of your surroundings”—requests that have now led to some measure of trauma and confusion for the teen who found the man.