Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Indonesia's Own Pokémon Event

In the past few days, I had suggested that Pokémon matters might become a bit more "happening", from an in-person Pokémon Go tournament (PvP, necessarily) to just other matters in general. A lot of that would have to do with my current locale - more specifically, my resident country - of Indonesia. And presently, it has a Pokémon event that can be said to be proud to be called its own, with a lot of benefits for a lot of players (Trainers) of contemporary Pokémon games and more.

That event would be called Pokémon Festival Jakarta, and as can be discerned, most of it takes place in the nation's capital and largest city. The festivities (ahem) actually kicked off five days ago on December 8 with great fanfare, and will run up to early next year on January 8. Specifically, its location is PIK Avenue, a shopping mall on the northwestern tip of the city, which could be quite reachable for some and somewhat distant for others; all in-person events and meetups will certainly occur there, and it comes complete with a bazaar for merchandise and relevant booths and activities, befitting its "festival" moniker.

For the festival, there is of course the game-related content. One of those is the PvP tournament as above, which was three days ago and was dubbed as an "Invitational". Unite didn't miss out either, and it had an Open tournament the next day after. TCG will have its spotlight soon enough with a national league tournament this weekend, while Community Day for Pokémon Go is certain to have its "live edition" as well. For those who can't get to the venue but do have Pokémon Go, they can still enjoy a local in-game event titled "Waktu Indonesia Nangkep" ("Capturing Indonesia Time"), which runs during the time of the festival and coincides with the addition of the namesake language support for the game.

Even so, there seems to be one glaring omission, and that would be for the main series games and the associated VGC tournaments. Though the festival image does feature the ninth-generation starters, which are presently on those games, there are no indications of the games' involvement. It may be that the problems of the country's past with these games still haven't been resolved (an issue for a separate discussion), even though they have their fans and valiant competitors, and they're the root of many things about Pokémon. It seems to leave something to be desired for those who do (or will) play them.

Still, no matter what is involved, a Pokémon event here in this country has to be a major affair for all its major fans, and this one is indeed as such, certainly becoming a precedent for major Pokémon events in the future. Right now, though, fans have an entire month (a little less at this point) to revel in all the things that the current Pokémon festival offers. The event does make it quite indicative that Pokémon affairs in this country are very much happening, and for fans, it can only and has to get better from there.

One year ago: The Bugs of Unite
Four years ago: Trainer Battles Are Go!!!
Five years ago: Will You Be There?

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