Unlike last year’s event in Yokohama where I spent very little time at the worlds event area due to a lack of access, this year I was able to secure a Saturday spectator pass for Honolulu. As such, I was able to spend a meaningful amount of time at the tournament site.
Booking a connecting itinerary proved significantly cheaper
than flying direct out of O’Hare (unlike London and Yokohama), so I ended up
starting in Madison and making the short hop to Chicago before taking the
8-hour flight to Honolulu. The travel was not particularly eventful, though I
did have an interesting conversation with my neighbors on the plane, who were
visiting their son in the armed forces. After landing, I took a pre-arranged
shuttle to my hotel.
Once I was settled in, I
went to pick up my badge at the Hilton complex a few blocks away. The ballroom
was in a rather obscure location, situated on top of a parking garage and
requiring use of an elevator or escalators for access. After picking up my
pass, I asked a few questions of one of the customer service reps to clarify
some things.
The spectator pass gave me a slot at the Pokémon Center
store, which luckily did not have to be on the same day as the spectator pass
(I feel bad for anyone who had a single-day pass and had the Center eat up a
significant portion of their time). My slot was for 11 am, but I decided to go
early to identify the entry point. When I arrived, I noticed a large line, and
it quickly became apparent that the store was behind schedule (apparently their
point-of-sale system was having significant connection issues).
After being herded through several areas (including the
parking garage), I finally got to go into the Center around 12:30 pm. I found
the store to be well-laid-out, and I definitely appreciated the live musician
performing there. As far as the actual shopping, I wasn’t particularly picky,
so although a few things were out of stock, I was relatively satisfied with the
selection. I ended up picking up two plushes (Riolu and Crocalor) and some
sleeves.
Naturally, my goal was
to spend as much time at the event as possible since this was the only day I
had a badge for. I arrived before events started, and got registered for the 9
am Build-and-Battle and the Pokémon Go Scavenger Hunt (I wish I had known about
having access to the tasks in the app to get a head start on Friday).
After finishing 1-2 in the Build-and-Battle, I decided to
get some lunch (I had missed breakfast). I found the selections on the top
level of the convention center to honestly be pretty disappointing,
particularly compared to the offerings at events in the Baird Center in
Milwaukee (a similarly-sized venue). The food I ordered was okay, but I
certainly would have preferred a wider selection.
At 1 pm, there was a panel discussing the localization of
Pokémon Horizons and the production of Path to the Peak. While it was largely
information I already knew, I did appreciate the opportunity to listen to some
of the folks involved. Unfortunately, no questions were taken and no recording
was allowed, so I don’t have much to share other than that.
After a brief stop at the anime viewing room and art
gallery, I participated in the 4pm Chaos Cup, where I also went 1-2. I still
needed to cash out both my side event points and the go scavenger hunt, so I
took care of those and headed back to the hotel.
Sunday
I decided to do some shopping in order to see more of the
area. I visited two Book-Off locations and picked up a variety of games
(including a physical copy of Super Mystery Dungeon, since my digital version
crashes my 3DS on startup), and some other media. I was able to finish my
shopping and return to the hotel in time to watch the (admittedly
disappointing) closing ceremonies.
Monday
My flight left in the evening, so I used some time to
explore a bit of Waikiki before heading off to the airport. The return trip was
fairly tiring (as usual), and it was good to return home.
Overall, I had a good time at this year’s event, though it
probably would have been more enjoyable if I could have spent the whole weekend
at the convention enter. That said, assuming I can acquire a spectator badge
next year, I do plan on attending.
Other Notes:
-Given how crowded the main tournament space was and the
unusual way the Pokémon Center line was woven through the facility, I expect
this is the last time the Pokémon World Championships will be held in Honolulu
unless a larger convention center is built or the current one gets a
significant expansion.
-The closing ceremony definitely ended on a whimper. Announcing the next two
years will be in the same state, followed by no Legends Z-A information
(regardless of whether it’s a “competitive” game) was a major structural issue.
Even with the announcements they did make, they could have been re-ordered for
a better impact.
-Shout out to the guy who had us guess Pokémon anatomy while we were in the parking garage waiting to get into the Pokémon Center. It made things a bit more bearable.
-I cosplayed as Michael Hunchence from INXS as a Pokémon trainer like I have at previous events (Friday the 16th was actually the band’s anniversary). Unfortunately, the only time I ran into an Australian was on Monday. He got a kick out of the picture I showed him.
-While the food at the event was disappointing, as usual I got some great meals out of the local restaurants:
In addition to this scrumptious entrée from Eggs n’ Things,
I also ordered food from Kyochon 1991, Betty’s Burgers, Teddy’s Bigger Burgers,
and Fresh Catch Kapahulu, all of them delicious.
