Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Aiden Horner (left) and Iris Fromm (right) pose with Pikachu and Charmander in German Park in preparation for the May 19 Community Day.

NEW ULM — This Saturday, May 19, Pokémon Go enthusiasts are invited to celebrate the Community Day in German Park.

The community day is themed around the Pokémon Charmander. Players can expect to see a massive increase in the number of charmander wandering around in Pokémon Go.

This in-game event will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Local players are planning to gather in German Park at 12:45 p.m.

Local business Jensen Motors is sponsoring the event and will be donating in-game lures that will be set up throughout downtown New Ulm to further increase the odds of catching a special Pokémon.

Jensen Motors will also donate prizes such as Google Play/iTunes gift cards, hats, mug and pens. Prizes will be given away at 4:10 p.m. in German Park.

Buttons with Charizard (the evolved version of charmander) will be given away on the first come first basis.

Doug Jones, the event coordinator, said he expected a high turnout for this event. Pokémon Go was first released in July 2016, but New Ulm still has a strong community of players. Jones estimated there were 140 regular players in the New Ulm area.

Since Pokémon Go uses real-world landmarks in the game, New Ulm has become one the best cities play the game. Every point of interest or historical marker in New Ulm serves as a PokeStop or Pokémon Gym in the game.

There are over a dozen PokeStops and three Pokémon Gyms on Minnesota Street between 3rd North and 1st South Streets.

German Park alone has six PokeStops and the Angel Fountain serves as one of New Ulm’s most popular Pokémon Gyms.

It is for this reason New Ulm remains of hotspot for Pokémon Go players.

Jones said there are players from Sleepy Eye who regularly come to town to play the game and the community day event promises to bring even more people.

“We’ve got people from Hutchinson, Willmar, Sleepy Eye and Fairfax planning on coming to the event,” Jones said.

Jones wanted to encourage everyone attending the event ot consider inviting a friend to join the fun.

There are a lot of Pokémon fans who stop playing during the winter and this community event is a great way to bring them back to the game.

The event is free the public and family friendly.

A six-foot tall charmander will attend the event and will be available for pictures with young kids and those simply young at heart.

The event will take place rain or shine. A little rain is likely to attract different weather based Pokémon.

May 19 is also when the highly anticipated shiny charizard will be released. This is charizard with a different color scheme than the traditional orange. It will be a race to see which New Ulm player can be the first to catch this prized Pokémon.