ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Too busy for Pokemon? If you pay; they’ll play

NEW YORK

Too busy with your real life to play the hit augmented reality game “Pokemon GO”? For a price, some entrepreneurs will play the game for you.

New ads are popping up on Craigslist nearly every day from people who say they will log on to your “Pokemon GO” account and effectively run up your score while you are stuck at work or sitting in class.

On a recent July afternoon, two 24-year-old Pokemon “trainers,” Lewis Gutierrez and Jordan Clark, walked through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with their eyes glued to their phones, tapping and swiping away to catch virtual Pokemon for clients paying about $20 per hour for the service.

Gutierrez, who described himself as a welder and writer, said he began by helping relatives with the game after it was released in the U.S. in early July. Then he put a post on Craigslist advertising his services professionally.

He said he was immediately inundated with requests from potential customers and had to recruit Clark, a part-time wine purveyor, to help.

“I couldn’t even do it by myself,” Gutierrez said. “I had two phones. I was doing, like, 10-hour days and I got my friend Jordan to come along with me. And now it looks like we are going to have to hire another person. So, it’s just been booming.”

The two college friends liken the service to dog walking and call themselves Pokewalkers.

And they aren’t the only ones getting in the game. One trainer in London offers to boost your Pokemon account up to Level 20, which is very high, for a price of $185. Others offer Uber-like driving services with the promise of taking a player to some of the hottest Pokemon hunting grounds around the city.

Played on smartphones, “Pokemon GO” has been a phenomenon since its release. The game involves going to real-world locations to chase virtual characters from the classic Nintendo game.

Associated Press