Blog: our reporter joins a massive Pokemon hunt

By Bob Cruwys

I've been out hunting Pokemon today, with a group in Bristol. I'm quite new to the game - I've had it on my phone for a week - but it's definitely quite addictive.

I haven't got to grips with battling Pokemon against each other at gyms yet but I've been picking up plenty of monsters and evolving them.

The aim of the group meet-up today was to get lots of players together and pick up as many Pokemon characters as possible, walking from location to location and stopping for about 30 minutes at each one.

The stops on the route were carefully chosen as they each have three Pokestops nearby. These are the hotspots where players can pick up free items in the game and set lures to attract wild Pokemon. You can get other bonuses by walking - the further you walk the more you can advance in the game.

We started on the Downs and more than 200 people joined the party.

Players then walked to Clifton Down Shopping Centre, then College Green and finished up at Castle Park. The route was specifically chosen to give you the best chance of finding some rare Pokémon.

Organisers of today's event say that's the best thing about this game. Plenty of youngsters dragged themselves out of bed early at the start of the school holidays to walk around their city, perhaps visiting places of interest they might never have know about.

One 16 year old I spoke to says he's made a lot of new friends since he started playing the game and they even arranged a barbecue, all centred around playing Pokemon Go together.

It's good fun - you just have to make sure you keep your wits about you when you're walking and don't wander around looking down at your phone, especially when you're near a road, which is most of the time. We heard several drivers beeping their car horns at players who weren't paying attention today.