here in america pokemon is a cartoon character. each "pokemon" character has a different name and shape and what it does for human owner. (think like having a cat or dog ).

now take it a step further. each pokemon character has fights (called battles) with other pokemon characters for their owners entertainment and pleasure, and to get out of sticky situations. (think like a wrestling tv show where wrestlers fight each other in a ring and each wrestler wants that famous wrestling belt that says they are the best)

in this case the reward for winning a battle is a human owning the other humans pokemon character. the goal is to own as many pokemon characters that you can aquire in battles.

in pokemon a person has poke balls that they use to fight and capture the pokemon characters and the human can lure a pokemon to their location for battle and capture.

now bring this concept into pokemon go .....pokemon go incorporates google maps into the game. when a person turns on the app. they see the game imposed on a map of their location. As they are out around their town and location a pokemon character will pop up. the human throws a pokeball at it and if hit the character goes into the pokeball and becomes owned by that human. there are spots (in the game these spots are called poke stops) around the map where the person can go to recharge\buy\ acquire more poke balls and exercise\train their aquired pokemon characters and battle each others pokemon characters.

though it is a fun game many are finding this real time game playing has its problems and dangers like criminal activity of people setting out their "lures" and then waiting for someone to come to battle \capture the pokemon. when they get there the criminal mugs, stabs or otherwise harms the person that shows up thinking the "lure" is a pokemon that needs to be captured. the google maps and google gps system that the game uses is mis informing game players that private homes are public places where they can battle\capture\train\ and recharge pokemon characters and poke balls. its also becoming a hazard in some cities because public service locations (police and fire stations) are finding it hard to do their jobs with people blocking entrances, sneaking around in the shadows and using their buildings as places to capture\battle and train recharge.