What’s happening with Pokémon: GO? A whole new phenomenon!

Google unwittingly planted the seed for "Pokémon: GO" two years ago in one of the many April Fools' Day jokes the internet company is famous for. In a mischievous 2014 post, Google announced a new training tool, created in conjunction with Pokémon and Nintendo, for hunting Pokémon using Google Maps. Its goal, the company said, was to hire the world's best Pokémon Master - because it valued technically savvy risk takers who can "navigate through tall grass to capture wild creatures."

In 2014, Niantic set out to turn Google's Pokémon joke into a breakthrough for augmented reality - a still-nascent field that involves layering digital images onto homes, offices, streets, parks and other real-life settings.In the case of "Pokémon Go," this involves smartphone cameras and GPS technology that can project cute and creepy "pocket monsters," or Pokémon, into the real world, at least as viewed through a phone's screen.It helped that Niantic had already built a technological foundation for "Pokémon Go" via an earlier mobile game called "Ingress." The science-fiction game requires players to visit real-world landmarks and other locations to acquire weapons and gear necessary to gain points, acquire territory and battle an opposing faction.

In 2014, Niantic set out to turn Google's Pokémon joke into a breakthrough for augmented reality - a still-nascent field that involves layering digital images onto homes, offices, streets, parks and other real-life settings. In the case of "Pokémon Go," this involves smartphone cameras and GPS technology that can project cute and creepy "pocket monsters," or Pokémon, into the real world, at least as viewed through a phone's screen.It helped that Niantic had already built a technological foundation for "Pokémon Go" via an earlier mobile game called "Ingress."

The science-fiction game requires players to visit real-world landmarks and other locations to acquire weapons and gear necessary to gain points, acquire territory and battle an opposing faction.

The final piece in the "Pokémon Go" puzzle fell into place last August, when Google reorganized itself as a holding company called Alphabet that would in turn own a collection of independent subsidiaries - from large ones like Google itself to tiny ones like Niantic.But Niantic quickly broke free of Google in order to explore opportunities with companies that might be reluctant to partner directly with the search giant, said long-time technology analyst Rob Enderle. "There are a lot of companies out there that are afraid of Google," he said.