MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Finally this hour, you didn't really think you were going to avoid a Pokemon Go story, did you?
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: If you're running into gaggles of people roaming the streets staring at their phones looking for a Poke Stop or a Pikachu, you didn't need us to tell you Pokemon is everywhere. In just the U.S., people are downloading the augmented reality game an estimated 4 to 5 million times a day.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: And while players are out catching three-headed Dodrios and little blue Poliwags, businesses are trying to catch players. Restaurants and bars are offering players free Wi-Fi, phone charging and, of course, Pokemon drink specials.
CASEY CALLISTER: It's a Pokemongarita for six bucks. It's a special recipe that we, the bartenders, came up with the other night.
MARTIN: Casey Callister is co-owner of Duffy's Irish bar here in Washington, D.C. In addition to being the home of the Pokemongarita, Duffy's is an official Poke Stop. That's a place where gamers can rack up Pokeballs to catch Pokemons and other treasures. And it's not just restaurants and bars.
Karen Davis is a public relations specialist at the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, Tenn., another Poke Stop. Davis, who is in a local Pokemon league, is encouraging players through social media to come on in and catch some Pokemon.
KAREN DAVIS: You're welcome to come into the museum, enjoy the AC, you know, but also that we have some really great exhibitions happening this summer.
MARTIN: And thanks to the Pokemon craze, the museum might get some repeat business.
DAVIS: So it was a mom and a younger daughter and then, like, maybe, like, a teenage daughter, and they were like, oh, we'd never been here. But we saw that you guys had Pokemon here, and so we wanted to come. And then the mom was like, well, I'm telling her to look at art, too, while we're here.
MARTIN: So far, Davis says, careless players have not knocked over priceless works of art yet.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
