Nostalgia from the 1990s is taking over the world. Pokémon, the popular game, television and card series, is making a comeback with a new app for your Smartphone. Now that familiar little black and yellow creature is back, and roaming through Chapel Hill.

“I played it all throughout my childhood so the nostalgia’s really kicking in now,” said Matthew Long, a Charlotte native who remembers training mystical creatures on the Nintendo Pokémon games.

But for kids today, Pokémon no longer means hours spent on a Game Boy. Now it means hours spent outside, physically chasing those famous little characters.

The new Pokémon Go app was released last week, quickly adding $7.5 billion to Nintendo’s market value. The “augmented reality” game uses your phone’s GPS to detect where you are and then layers the Pokémon characters onto the physical world. Gamers can walk down the street with their Smartphone and see favorite creatures like Pikachu, Squirtle and Charmander outside famous Chapel Hill murals, restaurants and stores.

Some local business are seeing more than just the creatures – they’re seeing opportunity.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to get some people in here,” said Carly Shell, a waitress at Four Corners on Franklin Street who came up with the idea to offer a 20 percent discount to Pokemon gamers.

“It just seemed like a good idea to give a discount to people playing the game. This culture erupted all of a sudden and it’s surreal how much people have gotten into this game so fast.”

People like Meg McGurk, the executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.

“I am only 24 hours into my own Pokémon training but am totally obsessed.”

After walking through downtown looking for Pokémon herself, McGurk urges local businesses to capitalize on the app’s popularity.

“It’s a great opportunity for businesses to capitalize on it, to play it up on their social media and put up a sign that says, ‘Come in and cool off while you’re playing Pokémon Go.’ So there’s a tremendous amount of economic activity that can come from this.”

Already, groups of gamers are joining together to explore different locations and meet new people, like UNC student Robert Mabe.

“We spent about four or five hours straight just walking around looking for Pokémon. Then a bunch of people just met up and it was a battle royal type of thing.”

The game has different features, including what’s called a “lure.” It signals where more Pokémon can be found and lures gamers to that location. But Lisa Edwards at the Chapel Hill Fire Department warns gamers to stay aware of their surroundings and be cautious when following a lure.

“You never know who you can run into while playing this game, so from a community perspective, we just want people to be aware that there’s a new phase going around and we wanted to get the word out.”

Edwards urges gamers not to use the app when crossing the street and to bring a buddy when traveling to new areas. A Facebook page for the Chapel Hill Pokémon league is helping gamers connect and form groups to travel with – something UNC student Jack Williams says is unusual in the gamming community.

“I think people try to stereotype gamers as people who stay inside and play their games in the basement. But with this game, gamers can show that we’re running around and having fun. We may look funny while doing it, but maybe you should try it.”

Those who do try it, can keep track of their distance on the app and use their mileage to earn rewards.

“A lot of people got incentivized to move when the Fit Bit came out,” Williams said. “But I think this is just a Fit Bit that makes people want to do it. It’s like an incentive.”

For others, it’s simply chance to enjoy that nostalgia. Chapel Hill local Christian Earnsman is now teaching his little brother, Sterling, how to play one of his favorite childhood games.

“He’s played a little bit before, but I feel like this is the first time he’s been really excited about it. So it’s cool for me to help teach him and show him around.”

The game is still working through glitches with millions of people using the app within the first week. But that hasn’t stopped kids, teens and adults from exploring Chapel Hill, trying to “catch ‘em all.”