Nitendo’s incredibly popular smartphone based game Pokemon Go has got people across the world scouring the streets for rats, snakes, dragons, birds, eggs and a variety of other Pokemon monsters. While many in the West are seemingly having a great time playing the game, one particular chap in India did not have it so good.
Delhi resident Pintu Singh, who had downloaded an APK of the game on his Android phone and tweaked the settings to make it work in India, fell into an open manhole within ten minutes of walking on a Delhi street while staring at his phone looking for an imaginary monster. By the time rescuers reached the scene and pulled him out of the hole, Pintu looked and smelt like a Pokemon monster.
“In hindsight, I should have stuck to Candy Crush Saga,” he said dully, as paramedics wheeled him into a waiting vehicle for a precautionary check-up.
Fortunately for Pintu, he escaped with a few scratches and a mild headache. “He is fine,” said Dr. Trehan, the attending physician, “He’s lucky he’s in Delhi. What if it was Mumbai and you-know-who was taking his car out for a spin with his driver?”
Later, our correspondent caught up with John Hanke, the man behind Pokemon Go, while he was on a visit to India to determine a suitable date for the game’s release in India. “I feel bad for Pintu, but this only goes to show that the game is already popular here in India well before the international release!” said John.
“Wow! Look at that!” he exulted, pointing at a bunch of cyclists, motorists, cars and pedestrians moving about in random directions at an intersection, “so many are already playing Pokemon Go!”
Our correspondent sighed and said wearily, “That’s just traffic, man.”
In other news, PM Narendra Modi has become the first man to catch all the Pokemon Monsters in the world. Hours after returning from his African tour, Modi spotted Pokemon Go trending on Twitter and quickly downloaded the app on his phone. Excited by what he saw, he dragged a groggy looking Air India One pilot out of his home and embarked on a quick world tour to capture all the monsters, returning just before the day ended. Awestruck, the game’s creators decided to honour the PM for the achievement and accordingly bestowed him with an award, only for it to be declared null and void by the Supreme Court two hours later.