Several PokeStops are located in downtown Magnolia.[/caption]

Since the release of Pokemon Go in mid-July, Tomball and Magnolia officials said they have noticed an increased number of young people staring at their phones and walking around the community.

“It’s been interesting to see them [cutting across open lots, chasing these things],”said Mike Baxter, Tomball Director of Marketing and Tourism.

Pokemon Go players compete to catch as many digital Pokemon characters as possible by following GPS prompts on their smart phones. Poke Balls and other items can be found at PokeStops, which are often located at historical markers, churches, retailers and parks.

Magnolia City Hall is home to a gym—a location at which Pokemon Go players can battle each other to take control of the gym.

“We have city employees who play for fun on their own time and enjoy the game as a stress-buster,” Magnolia Economic Development Coordinator Tana Ross said. “[Magnolia police] officers on both day shift and night shift have reported an increased number of youth walking The Stroll and [Unity] Park playing the popular game.”

Ross said Chicken Express and Papa John’s in Magnolia have both reported increased traffic in the evening hours from Pokemon Go players stopping by the restaurants, and several PokeStops are located in downtown Magnolia.

Baxter said although the city of Tomball has not planned any group Pokemon Go activities for area residents, the Tomball Historic Depot Plaza and the Tomball Community Center have seen additional activity the past few weeks.

“The first week when things were really getting started, we had people walking all over the downtown area with their phones in hand,” he said. “It being summertime, the downtown Tomball area is pretty busy anyway.”

Lone Star College-Tomball Community Library is also getting in on the fun. The library invites local residents to “catch ‘em all at Tomball,” said Lynne Ring, co-director for LSC-Tomball Community Library. However, she said she encourages players to stop by the LSC-Tomball campus in the daytime for safety reasons.

The library includes a PokeStop and a PokeGym, which is located outside the library’s back door on the campus of LSC-Tomball. As the library is shared between Harris County and the college, Ring said the library has seen a lot of activity from youth, college students and adults playing Pokemon Go. Other Harris County Public Library locations also feature PokeStops or PokeGyms.

Ring said the library offers prizes for those players who claim the PokeGym or catch all the Pokemon at the library. The library’s Pokemon Wall allows visitors to share what they caught at the library.

Ring said it is hard to tell if the traditional library services are being used more due to Pokemon Go, as summer is usually a busy month for the library. However, she said some of the individuals accompanying players to the library are using the library’s services for the first-time.

“Any exposure to the library is really good,” Ring said. “It’s a Pokemon extravaganza kind of place."