April Fool’s Day: Google Maps Is Taken Over By Pokemon [VIDEO]

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone! Here at The Inquisitr, we hope to be your #1 source for all the trending jokes happening today! However, April Fool’s Day jokes actually started yesterday, and Google Maps was the first to hit us!

According to the Huffington Post, Google released a video in which they are looking for the most exceptional Pokemon master in the world. In order to find this exceptional Pokemon master, participants have to participate in a challenge known as “the most rigorous test known to man”. This includes exploring numerous kinds of terrain to find all kinds of Pokemon. Why do they want to find the best Pokemon master? Because Google has a new job opening, which the title so happens to be: Pokemon master.

Google went all-out with their Pokemon challenge, which includes adding hidden Pokemon throughout their latest version of Google Maps, and to complete the challenge, people have to “catch them all”.

STEP #1: Have the latest version of Google Maps and open the app. Next to the search icon, there is a button with a Pokeball next to the words “Press Start”.

STEP #2: After pressing the button, a map will open up with Pokemon, and even Pokemon-style houses, embedded throughout the screen.

STEP #3: Catch Them All! Simply tap the Pokemon on screen to catch them. It may seem boring but there are 150 to catch, and it is best to catch all of them too because…

According to The Washington Post, potential Pokemon masters need to be fast in capturing all 150 of the Pokemon throughout Google Maps. They have until tomorrow, April 2nd at 2 p.m., to complete the task. People who find all 150 Pokemon by the deadline will be invited to the Googleplex to participate in the final round of hiring. The winner will supposedly start his or her career as a Pokemon Master on September 1, 2014.

The entire thing may be a joke, but knowing how the Japanese take their gaming seriously, the above may be true – to an extent – if the majority of those who catch all 150 Pokemon are from Japan. Historically, Pokemon was created in Japan, back in the 80s through a comic strip. It later was turned into a popular 90s anime. Soon, it would be dubbed in other languages and released outside of Japan, especially here in the United States. Now Pokemon is a worldwide phenomenon. With plenty of shows, games, and products selling extravagantly well across the globe, why not utilize the trend on April Fool’s Day?

Either this is an April’s Fools Day joke or legit fan service to Pokemon fanatics is questionable. However, it gives people something to do on April Fool’s Day…besides fooling other people.

[Images via Bing]