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Apr 04, 2024

Don’t Believe This Pokemon Sleep Rumor

Now that players know how Pokemon Sleep works, a rumor is circulating that does a disservice to how the game and smartphones operate. The Pokemon franchise is consistently taking itself to new heights

Now that players know how Pokemon Sleep works, a rumor is circulating that does a disservice to how the game and smartphones operate.

The Pokemon franchise is consistently taking itself to new heights and experimenting with new ways for players to bond with its titular creatures all the time. Pokemon Sleep, after a lengthy wait of four years, is the latest of the series' endeavors to make fans feel like they live in a Pokemon world. The mobile game is exactly what it says on the tin, as it's a title where the elemental critters will gather around if the player sleeps a certain way.

However, now that the game has released in select countries, fans are able to understand how Select Button plans to gather and evaluate players' "sleep research" in the game, and it's caused a strange rumor to circulate. As Pokemon Sleep asks players to place their phone on their mattress while it remains on and charging, some people have claimed that doing so is dangerous and will risk their mattress being set on fire, but this is far from the truth.

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While fans shouldn't worry about Pokemon Sleep itself causing their phones and beds to catch fire, the claim is not an unfounded one. The concern comes from the idea that people can move in their sleep and unknowingly move their phone underneath blankets and pillows. This might accidentally cause their phones to overheat, which could cause the lithium-ion battery commonly used in smartphones to swell, and might start a chemical chain reaction in itself that could lead to a fire or even a small explosion. This is a risk in almost every Apple and Android device.

However, the odds of this happening are incredibly slim to where Pokemon Sleep will likely never be the cause, though the exact odds of this happening (while very small no matter what) depend on device specs. Smartphones can overheat over the smallest things, such as having too many applications open at once, and the batteries are usually always fine and don't catch fire. If there are any problems Pokemon Sleep can be blamed for regarding this situation, it's that it insists that the game won't work if placed anywhere other than players' beds, which is also not true.

Pokemon Sleep may be a Pokemon game, but it's still a sleep-tracking app. There are no special tricks to the one where Pikachu, Snorlax, and other pocket monsters nap with fans that dictate that the game has to be in bed with players. No matter how much the tutorial insists that the phone needs to be on the mattress face down charging, the only one of these that the game detects is if the phone is plugged in. Pokemon Sleep works perfectly fine on players' bedside tables, and charging a smartphone while sleeping is what plenty of people do already without any harm.

The only issue that may arise from players not following Sleep's exact instructions is it might not record players' sleep with perfect accuracy. While the game has only just soft-launched, it's hard to tell if this will have any real repercussions on fans' rewards, but the most likely situation that'll come from inaccurate results is that Pokemon completionists might have trouble filling out their Sleep Style Dex in specific areas. If this bothers players, then they can easily have the Pokemon GO Plus + on their bed instead of their phone, even though the peripheral is rather expensive.

For many players, Pokemon Sleep can be played as intended without any harm, but it's understandable why fans might have concerns even if the risk is rather small. Even if fans have a habit of moving in their sleep that could result in the phone overheating or falling off the bed, they can still play the game in a way that works for them despite what the tutorial might say. After all, Pokemon Sleep is meant to be a fun spin-off Pokemon game that lets fans bond with the creatures they've loved for the last 27 years, so they should play in a way that helps them sleep at night.

Pokemon Sleep is available now for mobile devices in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Latin American countries, with more countries to come at a later date.

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Zackari has loved video games since he first played Sonic the Hedgehog on the SEGA Genesis as a toddler. He considers himself a specialist in video game lore and is one of the few people who understands what's happening in Kingdom Hearts. With his long history as a gamer, he loves reporting on industry news and breaking down gaming trends, stories, and characters with the unique perspective of being both a journalist and a fan just like everyone else.