In this comic, we debunk the popular conspiracy theory that Pokemon Go is a US funded program to expose Chinese military operations.

1. Pokemon Go… Unraveling The Conspiracy
By Ella, Axel, and Davis

2. Summer
2016
27% of people reported playing while
d
BREAKING NEWS: Pokemon Go was banned
in China
driving and all public places are full of
d
Pokemon Trainers
d
Concern spread around
the globe

3. so… the Chinese government thinks that
the CIA could place Pokemon in places
that they think are terrorist bases to
access and then get photos taken there
for proof… CHARIZARD IN THE WAR ROOM?
The real-time tracking blends the real world
and the Pokemon universe into one!
People start to worry about spying.
People are saying that Pokemon Go is connected to the CIA by In-Q-Tel (a VC that
invests in US intelligence companies), which funded the company that created
Pokemon Go (Niantic). The co-founder of Niantic created a different tech company
that also creates a map of land and lays it out called Keyhole. Both In-Q-Tel and Google -
invested in this company.

4. Some elements of the app raised concerns about privacy and surveillance

5. Especially when the app asked users to sign in with
their Google accounts
Despite these
concerns players
love Pokemon Go
People keep playing for years
and the line between the
Pokeworld and our world
gets blurrier by the day…

6. In China protestors used the app’s
maps to organize protests against the
government
When cops came to break up the protests
-
people would convince them
that they were just gathered to play
Pokemon Go
This is not the first time that Pokemon
has been used in protests in China as
Pikachu became a symbol of protest
against the government there in 2019
FAST FORWARD Hong Kong 2019

7. The Chinese Government put their Pokeball sights on Pikachu…
The mix between the Poke and Real worlds spelled trouble for their leadership
Please consider that Pokemon Go is a game made by a private company for
entertainment purposes.
So it being used for spying is highly improbable

8. In other cases, alternate reality games
have spun out of control such as with
QAnon. It is likely the Chinese Government
wants the link between the alternate and
tactile reality to stay separate for their
own benefit…
These theories also disregard that the
users have full autonomy over their actions
and that this app does not control them