Thousands Descend on National Mall for Massive Pokemon Go Walk [VIDEO]

I had to take a picture of this. #PokemonGo #PokeStop
A photo posted by Paolo Esparza (@paoloesparza) on Jul 30, 2016 at 6:29pm PDT

Seeing thousands of people descend on the National Mall on a weekend is just par for the course for D.C. But on Saturday, it was largely locals -- not tourists -- who were crowding around national monuments, all glued to their phones.

Thousands of people joined in on a huge Pokemon Go party that began at the Jefferson Memorial and proceeded throughout the National Mall.

Come find us at the national mall for the #DC #PokeWalk for some treats thanks to @KINDSnacks & @drinkbai #Pokemon! pic.twitter.com/tEofZDwm66
— NotionTheory (@notiontheory) July 30, 2016

The event was started by six ordinary people and quickly blew up, with more than 13,000 saying they were interested and more than 4,000 indicating they were definitely going. The group even had to get permits from the National Park Service.

And on Saturday, they were impossible to miss.

"National mall is LIT right now full of #PokemonGO players," wrote Twitter user @dwayneldridge.

Local businesses were even trying to get in on the action, with TaKorean -- a restaurant located near Metro Center -- tweeting: "Out catching Charmander and Pikachu at the National Mall? We've got lunch covered so that you can catch 'em all."