When he is not studying, Class XII student Shekhar Bharadwaj of Jamshedpur is hunting for Pokemons. Suniti Sinha, mother of a seven-year-old in Ranchi, is worried about her son's new addiction to what he excitedly calls "monsters". Ninth grader Amit Chaudhury of Jamshedpur sets an early alarm so that he can halt at Pokestops on his way to school.

Move over Candy Crush, FarmVille, TwoDots, Color Switch and Subway Surfers, Pokemon GO is here. The mobile game is geared to bring to life the world of fantasy inhabited by anyone who grew up on a staple of the hugely successful anime series Pokemon.

Played on iOS and Android devices, the game allows players to track virtual Pokemons or pocket monsters around a city, capture and even battle others using them. The game has not been launched officially in India yet, but can be downloaded from apkpure.com.

With GPS on the phone turned on, the game not only tracks the player's movement on a map, but also indicates when a Pokestop, where freebies can be collected, or Gyms, where they can engage in battle, are nearby.

For diehard gamers, playing Pokemon GO is a way of reliving a childhood passion of owning the pocket monsters and training them for battles.

What is more, there are fringe benefits to hunting for Pokemons. Many have discovered parts of their cities they had never visited before, couch potatoes have walked kilometres, and friends and siblings have learnt to share high-speed mobile data!

"This is a game in real time, much better than watching the series on TV," beams student of Baldwin English School, Kadma, Shekhar who lives in Bistupur, Jamshedpur.

For St Mary's English School student Amit, Pokemon GO is a boon in disguise. "Earlier, I used to be late for school. But, ever since I started my Pokemon hunt, my lifestyle has changed for the better. I mark Pokestops at night and wake up as early as I can to grab my monsters," said the Class IX boy, also a resident of Bistupur.

In stark contrast, homemaker Suniti is alarmed by the craze for this game.

"I do not understand the ABC of Pokemon Go. All I know is my son Shrish, only seven, keeps talking about catching monsters. He is so addicted that I am worried that constant cellphone use will affect his eyesight," said the anxious mother, adding, "Most boys in his class play the game too. Many mothers like me are concerned."

Naveen Kumar, a BA student of Marwari College, Ranchi, isn't among the progressive gamers. "My friends and I play Candy Crush... we are not interested in Pokemon," he said.