Despite having been out for less than a week, it’s become quite apparent that Pokemon Go, the new augmented reality game for mobile phones, has become a genuine phenomenon.

I got to witness this mania first-hand on Sunday evening, via a stroll through Des Moines’ Sculpture Garden, in which hundreds of millennial’s were milling about, attempting to capture as many virtual Pokemon as possible.

Now, a planned Facebook Meet Up gathering scheduled Sunday, July 24th, in Des Moines, Iowa, has ballooned well past expectations.

What started out as a casual Pokemon Go gathering in Des Moines, has quickly exploded into a full-on event.

“Dude, this event is getting out of control. We’re at like 150 so far!” exclaimed event organizer, Miguel Baires, whose expert gaming analysis you may remember from NerdBacon’s E3 2016 coverage.

Baires, the founder of the Iowa – Pokemon Go Meetup group on Facebook, told me that he had created the event as a way to get like-minded Pokemon Go enthusiasts together for some good natured monster hunting fun on a summer afternoon. However, with next Sunday’s planned event having now rocketed past a staggering (for Des Moines) four hundred confirmations, Baires has expressed concern that the impending congregation of would-be Pokemon Masters may raise the ire of city officials.

“I don’t think they’re going to be too kind to an unplanned event downtown. It’s going to look like a riot, [to them] or a protest.” Baires said. “I don’t know how the police are going to look at this.” he concluded, referring to the continuously expanding amount of people who say they plan to attend.

Miguel’s Pokemon Go event was posted via Facebook at 1pm central time on Monday afternoon. It only took five hours for the gathering to attract two hundred confirmed attendees, and that number continued to grow throughout the course of the evening.

Pokemon Go has dominated gaming news cycles since its release on the iOS and Android app stores last week.

Business Insider reported that Nintendo’s stock rose an astonishing 23% in trading Monday alone, taking Nintendo’s stock to its highest level since 1983.

Similar Pokemon Go meet up events have been rapidly mushrooming in cities across the nation. A planned event for this Saturday in Chicago has a current confirmed guest list of over six thousand participants. Another event taking place in Denver is closing in on two thousand.

For his part, Baires says that he isn’t as worried about playing host to an impressive head-count, as he is about people having a good time.

“I’m just a simple man. 

I like Pokemon

And I like people

So this is what happens.”