What appeared to be one of Long Beach’s largest Pokémon Go-initiated stampedes took place Sunday night, when a wild Lapras appeared off the coast near Shoreline Marina at approximately 10:45PM.
The hundreds of Pokémon Go players known to habitually congregate in Shoreline Aquatic Park near Long Beach’s iconic lighthouse were spotted running as a herd toward the marina to catch the rare water-type creature.
“It’s a Pokémon thing,” shouted a player in response to why he was running, his feet slapping the pavement as he sprinted down the bike path toward the location of the sighting.
It looks like a series of rare sightings took place starting Friday when players attempted to capture a Dragonite, a dragon-type Pokémon capable of circling the globe in a mere 16 hours, and on Saturday, when hundreds of the game’s users crowded Shoreline Aquatic Park in search of a Wartortle, a rough-and-tumble water-type.
According to the Pokémon official Pokédex, Lapras has been driven to the point of extinction, and sings to seek what few others of its kind still remain. However, not one Pokémon Go player seemed to mind snatching up the poor thing for points and bragging rights.
“What if we saw one in real life, dad,” asked a child, whose father largely ignored her imaginative query because he was busy catching his own fictitious critters.
A Blastoise was also seen spawning around Rainbow Harbor on Saturday, inciting excitement among the city’s Pokémon players.
Lapras wasn’t the only rare Pokémon sighting over the weekend along Long Beach’s coastline, as Pokémon GO enthusiasts aplenty congregated on Saturday under the unforgiving sun, in an attempt to add Blastoise to their Pokédex. Read more: http://lbpo.st/2adDd1w Video by Cindy Allen.
Posted by Long Beach Post on Monday, August 1, 2016
With nearly 4.5 million views and counting, this video captured of one of the most notable stampedes last month in New York City’s Central Park that showed what looked like hundreds, maybe thousands of Pokémon trainers chasing down a Vaporeon, another highly sought after Pokémon.
Closer to home, a sizeable group of players were also seen congregating at the Santa Monica Pier to catch a Dragonite.
It was only a matter of time before the hype reached stampede-like levels in Long Beach for the smartphone game-turned-cultural phenomenon.
Image courtesy of Pokémon.
A rare, wild Lapras appeared off the coast near Shoreline Marina in Long Beach Sunday night, followed by a herd of fervent local Pokémon trainers. Read more about what appeared to be one of the city’s largest Pokémon GO-initiated stampedes: http://lbpo.st/2aq7FB0
Posted by Long Beach Post on Monday, August 1, 2016