The tour, which was kickstarted last February in Miami, had slowly but surely been making its rounds across the country, and when I found out it was on its way to Minnesota, I knew I had to be there. Unlike some malls, Mall of America is always busy. Going at 11:00 AM on a weekday is no different then going at 3:00 PM on a Saturday. People are always there, because tourists have this ingenious idea that you'll never find a better place to shop. For all of you who have never been to the Mall of America, let me tell you now, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Roughly 5% of the stores are actually worth visiting. I mean I love "Wallet World" and "Motherhood Maternity" as much as the next guy, but sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming and you just find yourself walking back and forth across the gigantic mall over and over again. Mix in a pathetic parking ramp and you have a formula for success.
So on top of the other local shoppers, we had hundreds and hundreds of gamers in need of a Pokémon fix. Sadly, I arrived an hour and a half after the event had already begun, and everything worth looking at was infested with long, long lines. For all of you who went to E3, I can somewhat feel your pain. But regardless, this put a dent in my initial plan of actually entering the tournament, which is a shame really, as I was hoping to put "went to nationals for Pokémon" on my college resume. For some reason I just assumed no one would show up to a Pokémon event, but wow, they don't call 'em Pokémaniacs for nothing. I know now not to underestimate their determination.
Lines stretched farther then the eye could see.
The mall tour has two primary focuses: one is the ability to get creatures downloaded directly to your game pack, including the debut opportunity for gamers to get their hands on the elusive Celebi (a rare character within the Pokémon series) and the second is a tournament for gamers to show off their battle skills in hope of making it to the nationals. However you're also able to get some free goodies, watch episodes of the Pokémon anime, purchase Pokémon related items in a scaled down version of the now-defunct Pokémon Center in New York, as well as take part in trading card battles.
At the event, the lines were of course mostly focused on the tournament registration/check-in and the downloadable characters, and to a lesser degree the Pokémon store. With little patience I decided I'd wait in line to get Celebi, as he was really the only thing I cared about by the time I saw the mass of 8-year-olds bumping into you every 30 seconds as they walked around with their heads buried in their Game Boys or Nintendo DS's. So while I waited in line with a couple of friends and my brother, a group of more-than-likely 15-year-olds pass by. Now after scoping out the area I had already seen a good deal of nut jobs: grandparents dressed in Pikachu outfits, parents dancing around with their kids in Pokémon hats, etc., but these teenagers were literally part of a Pokémon "gang". They walked past us in matching jump suits, with head bands and what not trying to act cool. I mean after all, you gotta impress the incredibly attractive women that walk around Pokémon conventions, am I right?
Now I mean I'm not saying I'm much better here since I'm almost a senior in high school trying to get my hands on the latest in Pokémon content, but there's only so much respect I can offer to an assemblage of voice cracking kids sporting matching Poké-outfits. If you get to that point you've crossed a bridge you're never returning from. So of course one of my friends makes a crude remark as they pass by. Now you've got to understand here we were a group three 20-year-olds and two 17-year-olds - I wouldn't expect these kids to do much. At first they didn't, they scoffed it off, but as five minutes passed the biggest kid of the group comes over and calls us out on it, but rather then exchanging vulgar remarks, what does he do? He challenges us to a Pokémon battle. Pikachu speaks louder than words my friends, remember that for future reference. I however declined the showdown and instead, they try to get us in trouble with the police who ignore them. Let me reiterate this point: do not underestimate the determination of Pokémaniacs.
So finally I had reached the booth to download Celebi after maybe a 20 minute wait (he came at level 70 for those of you interested) and was on my way to check out the other happenings. As I mentioned before, I gave up on the tournament idea as the line was simply too long and they were only accepting a very limited amount of contenders, not to mention I tend to use very under appreciated (aka weak) Pokémon in the game as a personal preference, something I've realized over time, the majority of gamers do not do. So with that out of the way our attention was drawn to the gigantic Pikachu and Munchlax mascots walking around who were shoved out to the side of the event with a tiny waiting line. I got the camera out and had a group shot to document the momentous day.
I so want those costumes for Halloween.
So after getting some loveable hugs in, we wandered on over to what was easily the biggest line of the event which hundreds of people were waiting for. Oddly enough it was a line for gamers to get two out of an available 20 "popular" Pokémon downloaded to their game pack. These 20 creatures were voted upon by fans, and I think changes depending on each mall tour, but don't quote me on that. The official Pokémon site refused to give out the actual list of the characters available so I was sort of anxious to see what we could get.
However, as I walked near the line there were signs that did in fact reveal the top 20 for download, and was struck by one of the most worthless display of characters imaginable. Almost half of them were plagued with easily obtainable creatures that anyone could catch in-game without a sweat. For Christ's sake Pikachu was one of them. If you're at all familiar with the Pokémon games you then know that Pikachu is not a difficult creature to come across; he appears in literally all the games and is nothing worth getting excited about. I understand his cuteness amongst the youngsters and all, but why would I drive to a mall, make my way through hordes of kids who appear to not have taken a shower in weeks, just to get a hold of a semi-high leveled Pikachu with no special attributes? And the fact that this portion of the event was the most popular with the longest lines had me even more annoyed.
But I was not going home empty handed. No sir, I came for Pokémon downloads, and damnit I was going to get them. Now, there was no way I was about to wait in line for an hour to get them, so instead I thought of an diabolical plan. I headed to the mall's information/help center and asked to borrow a mall wheelchair. Within minutes I had my brother strapped in and I was wheeling him around I went up to the lady in charge of the line and made up a sappy story, and voila, I turned an hour's wait into a few minutes. My brother handed over the GBA SP and I got a Typhlosion as well as a Latios (both of which I already have, but in the end I already had them all anyway). Mission accomplished.
After getting a couple more pictures with the gigantic Pikachu and trying out Pokémon Trozei on the DS (awesome game by the way) we decided we were all Poké'd out and it was time to head home. But not without some food of course, so to top off the day we ventured on over to the infamous Hooters. Pokémon and half-naked girls flaunting their bodies all in one day? Now that's what I call paradise.
Were you expecting anything less?
Here's hoping to do this again next year, but maybe then with copies of Pokémon Pearl and Diamond in hand.
More photos
