Latest craze is bringing people together and into town centres, say traders

Pokemon Go was made available for mobile phones in the UK earlier this month – and has soared to the top of the download charts for both iPhones and Android devices.

It is the latest iteration of the Pokemon franchise, launched by Japanese games giant Nintendo 20 years ago. Players search for “wild" Pokemon – tiny creatures which roam the streets and battle each other at local landmarks dubbed “gyms".

In 2000, at the height of the original Pokemon craze, a Fraserburgh primary school had to plead with parents to stop letting their children bring collectibles to the playground. At the time, senior staff at South Park Primary described the game as causing “chaos" amid a spate of arguments about characters’ rarity or toys going missing.

Meanwhile, town-centre traders are reaping the benefit of the new craze. Ian Dyga, whose family has been selling Pokemon goods for two decades from their newsagent in Fraserburgh’s Broad Street, said the game had been bringing more people into the town centre and into brick-andmortar shops.

He said: “A lot more kids have been interested in the collectible card game again, which I started selling 20 years ago. And there’s been more people down the road in general – in any town or city I’m sure you’ll see that.

“You can wander the streets and you’ll see young and old people playing the game, getting on and chatting. It’s bringing a lot of folk together who wouldn’t have normally spoken.”