The augmented-reality game has not officially launched in Pakistan, and hunting Pokemon in Karachi’s streets is risky given the high number of muggings, kidnappings and murders.
Nevertheless, Pakistani millennials — who feel underrepresented in this conservative-religious society — have found a way to download the game and are playing it on a specially organized bus tour dubbed the “Super Poke Express.”
“It’s amazing,” said 21-year-old dental student Maryam Qazi during one of the tour’s recent outings around the sprawling metropolis. “A young woman on top of a bus in a city that people consider violent, playing Pokemon — and I haven’t been mugged yet! It does shatter the norm.”
The tour is organized by the city’s Super Savari Express operator. It was launched as a way for people to see the city and hunt Pokemon out of harm’s way.
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