PokéWalk, the Pokémon Go Walking Service, Can’t Possibly Be Real

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  • Source: twitter.com / Via: twitter.com

  • Pokémon Go has become a massive overnight success — despite all the armed robbery and probably staged murder. It’s become so popular that at least one company has started up trying to profit off of it… or has it?

    PokéWalk claims to be a service that borrows Pokémon Go players’ phones and takes them out for walks. In case their site gets taken down by Nintendo (which it might — Pokémon Go’s terms of service expressly forbid “performing services in the App in exchange for payment outside the App”), here’s a screenshot:

  • Pkgo pokewalk 1
  • But is PokéWalk for real? I’m not so sure. Though Inverse reported the story as factual, it smells a little fishy to me. Though I may well be proved wrong, PokéWalk seems like it might be a joke.

    Here’s the evidence:

    1. “If your requested distance isn’t reached we’ll run around the block as fast as we can AND refund your money.” Does that sound like something a professional company that’s raised $4 million would include on their front page?

    2. Their user interface is copy-pasted from Lyft, something they’ve even acknowledged on Twitter. Would a real company go public without hiring a graphic designer first?

    3. PokéWalk’s website includes this:

  • Pkgo pokewalk 2
  • That’s gotta be a joke, right? Where would they even get a figure like that?

    4. Finally, there’s this:

  • Pkgo pokewalk 3
  • Their first three social links are to Peach, MySpace, and Ello — three services that nobody uses. They’re at least joking, if not a joke themselves.

    What do you think? Is PokéWalk for real, or will this be unmasked as a hoax? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter!

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