Hunting Pokemon, Frenchman breaks into Indonesian military compound

Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

The Pokemon Go craze hit Indonesia, hard. To the point where it’s getting people detained.

Yesterday, a French citizen was taken into police custody because he trespassed into a military compound, in search of one of the cute digital creatures. Luckily, the mishap ended well for him.

“[The trespasser] was released a few hours later because it became apparent he unintentionally entered the complex as he was hunting Pokemon while jogging,” the police spokesman, Col. Yusri Yunus, said Tuesday, AP reports.

Like in most Asian countries, the augmented reality game hasn’t even officially launched in the archipelago. Yet crafty users have found ways around that dilemma with simple hacks.

Pokemon players crowd in front of Indonesia’s largest sports stadium in Jakarta. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

Thank Ingress players

Indonesia’s advantage over some neighboring countries is that it has a lot of locations where Pokemon characters can be found and trained, and that’s largely because the country already has a thriving community of Ingress players.

Ingress, also developed by Niantic Labs, is a predecessor of Pokemon Go. The older augmented reality game was released in 2012. Most of the Pokemon locations are based on map data generated by Ingress players.

Crafty fans are selling self-made Pokemon merch to other players. Pokemon players crowd in front of Indonesia’s largest sports satdium in Jakarta. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

Despite incidents like the trespassing Frenchman, Indonesia has largely welcomed the game.

Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama even encouraged people to come and catch Pokemon at City Hall. Museums hopped into the bandwagon, inviting people to play the game while visiting exhibitions.