Pokemon Statue Rises In New Orleans (video)

Local residents were baffled when the #PokeMonument showed up overnight.
Pokémon Go may have angered many users with its latest update, but one fan is still so smitten that they have erected a statue in its honour.

The unofficial likeness of Pikachu mysteriously appeared in a fountain in a small park in New Orleans over the weekend.

Pikachu is one of the key characters in the Pokemon universe and one of the most sought-after creatures in the augmented reality game.

The statue of the yellow-coloured character is crafted from fibreglass but painted to look like it has been carved from bronze.
The maker of the statue remains a mystery, and it is not clear exactly when the creation was put in place in the disused fountain.

Local residents woke up to the surprise Pokemon monument earlier this week.

The structure also includes a bronze-look Pokeball beneath Pikachu, along with the words #PokeMonument scrawled on the base.
It is not clear if the hashtag was left by the maker of the statue or added later on.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the Pokemon homage, which appeared in the defunct fountain on Terpsichore Street over the weekend.

City officials have not yet made any comment on the non-approved statue so there is no word on whether the Pikachu tribute will be able to stay in place or not.
Last week, app developer Niantic introduced its first major update for the Pokemon Go app, which controversially scrapped the game's step tracker feature.

The tracker was supposed to show how many steps away each Pokemon was but it broke soon after the app launched.

Rather than fix the bug in its update, Niantic ditched it completely.
The developer also blocked access to unofficial Pokemon-tracking map apps , though another app — Smart Poke V2 — which bypasses the restrictions, has since emerged on the Google Play Store.

Many users were outraged by the update, with some even demanding refunds for their in-app purchases.