Pokemania has taken over Canberra.
Hundreds of Pokemon Go fans descended on the city on Sunday in one of the ACT's biggest gatherings of players.
Players walked through the city to catch characters, visiting Canberra landmarks such as the Legislative Assembly, Glebe Park and Garema Place in a sign the ACT has not been immune from the Pokemon Go craze sweeping Australian and the rest of the world.
Mitchell McInnes, who runs a popular Pokemon Go Canberra facebook page, estimated more than 400 people turned out for Sunday's gathering.
He said it attracted a diverse group of people, from young families to players in their 30s and even older.
"You've got people who grew up in the 1990s with Pokemon and they're now in their 20s and 30s and this is now a more accessible means to access the game with [smartphones]. It's every 12-year-old's dream to be playing this," he said.
There are hundreds of people catching Pokemon outside the Legislative Assembly right now pic.twitter.com/5tnAaUjMZn— Katie Burgess (@katie_b_burgess) July 17, 2016
Surely it's a hazard with so many people walking around Canberra with their heads down! @canberratimes pic.twitter.com/YNUbzaLwh1— Katie Burgess (@katie_b_burgess) July 17, 2016
"When I heard about the game, I thought it would be alright and be around for a week, but looking at how many people are playing and how big it has got, it's just phenomenal."
They just keep coming! That's a whole conga line of Pokemon Go players snaking through Canberra's Glebe Park pic.twitter.com/BqytEDKWXL— Katie Burgess (@katie_b_burgess) July 17, 2016
The app, which now has more daily active users than Twitter, shot to the top of the charts for Apple's free apps and has cracked 5 million downloads on Google's Play store – and it's clear it's taken off in Canberra too.
Mr McInnes predicted Canberra's obsession with Pokemon Go isn't about to disappear any time soon, with a number of other events on the cards, including a singles night called Pokeo and Juliemon at Reload Bar for over-18s on Friday night.
The Pokemania has prompted a number of warnings from authorities in Canberra, with Pokemon trainers being warned to stay away from school playgrounds with students returning to the classroom this week. Even ACT Policing weighed in.
