Pokeverse was supposed to be the premiere Pokémon con experience in the Philippines and it ended up being one of the country’s worst expos. Fans who attended the show compared it to that Willy Wonka experience that ended up being a disaster, though the presence of two Pokémon legends softened that blow.
BintuRita posted a lengthy thread about the Pokeverse con, going into extreme detail on how poorly handled this show was. The longtime Pokémon fan talked about confusing ticket colors, plenty of large and empty spaces, bad inflatables, overpriced tickets, and photographers who wouldn’t give con-goers their space. Rita also pointed out how some cosplayers weren’t allowed in the venue because the organizers didn’t recognize their characters from the shows or games.
Fans also realized that this con had no official affiliations with Game Freak or Nintendo, with the advertising trying to claim the event was “for fans by fans.” The main sponsors were Kaloscope, an NFT company, and Frigga, a store that sells Feng Shui items. Needless to say, there were plenty of red flags from the get-go.
Rita did try to enjoy the event, praising special guests Veronica Taylor (Ash’s voice actor from the original 4Kids dub) and Jason Paige (the man who sang the iconic Pokémon theme). However, things took a turn when sick children from the Make-a-Wish foundation were showcased on stage. These ill children were exposed to hundreds of maskless con-goers, which is where plenty of the criticism stems from.
Needless to say, Pokeverse was a disaster and is already considered by many as one of the worst Pokémon con experiences in recent memory. References to similar events like Fyre Festival and DashCon were made, alongside the poorly-received Willy Wonka event that took place months ago.
It’s not yet known if there will be more Pokeverse events in the future, but this was far from a first good impression. Pokémon has a pretty healthy fanbase in the Philippines and it’s a shame that these fans didn’t get the show that they deserved.
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