I really like Pokémon! I think it’s cool! I’m not big on the hardcore competitive scene or anything, but I also love a good sporting event, I love cheering and yelling, and I love watching an underdog come from behind and tear things up. For these reasons, as well as the fact that it was taking place in the beautiful city of San Francisco, I thought that this year I would try to make it to Pokémon Worlds, the annual esports gathering where the finals of the biggest Pokémon video game tournaments and the TCG take place. I’d never been there, it looked like fun, and my friend Pikachu was going to be there.
Unfortunately, I’m not going there after all. I’m not going due to a combination of people being totally weird about Pokémon, The Pokémon Company having a confusing website and customer service process, and the iffy, frustrating, and poorly executed ticket purchasing process.
My story begins in April, when The Pokémon Company opened an “interest list” for anyone who thought they might want a ticket to Worlds. Registration has been open for several weeks, which is very reasonable and plenty of time to get your name in. I did, as did my partner, who wanted to accompany me, and my friend, who also wanted to attend. We made some tentative plans for the duration of our stay, but we didn’t want to buy flights or find a hotel until we were 100% sure we were leaving.
World Passes operate on a lottery system, in which individuals are randomly selected to purchase tickets and must do so within a short period of time (72 hours) or forfeit the opportunity. This is understandable from The Pokémon Company. Adults are extremely strange about buying popular things online, whether it’s concert tickets, rare stuffed dolls or, apparently, World Cup passes. Scalpers are commonplace. Many people will buy passes just to get their hands on exclusive collectibles. The Pokémon community has seen its share of wild behavior from grown adults among children who just want to enjoy their cartoon video game. A lottery system makes sense to curb these bizarre impulses and ensure that as many ordinary people as possible who just want to attend the event can get tickets for their families. Plus, there are a lot of people who want to go, and they can’t all get into the Moscone Center.
However, as understandable as it is, the fact that we have to have a lottery really sucks. I wish I could just buy the three adult multi-day passes I want and show up.
In May my partner was lucky enough to be selected to purchase multi-day tickets. He happily went and did it, dropping $120 for a pass. However, he did not receive the prompt that would have allowed him to purchase a second adult pass, and there was no way to go back and purchase it after the fact. He tried to contact customer service almost immediately, but the representative he spoke to via email didn’t really know what to do. Tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable as well. So now we just had to pray that my friend or I would receive the email as well. We didn’t do it.
May turned into June and multi-day passes were sold out. Day pass emails began circulating through the same lottery system. We patiently watched flight and hotel prices rise more and more as the month progressed. Finally, as July dawned, we collectively agreed to cut our losses and not go. $120 down the drain.
Then, about a week ago, my partner received an email from customer service. After all, he was allowed to buy a second pass. We thought about it for a few days and re-examined the prices. The flights were fine, but the hotels and AirBnBs looked shabby if we wanted to be near the venue. Additionally, one member of our group still wasn’t guaranteed entry, and at this point it seemed pretty hopeless. We refused to buy another ticket.
SO, Today, my friend and I received an email inviting us to purchase day passes. Baffled, I opened it immediately upon receipt to see what was left, only to see this:
©The Pokémon Company ??????????
So The Pokémon Company sent me an email inviting me to buy a pass that they don’t even have for sale? All right???
Looking at the various Pokémon subreddits, it seems like most other people have managed to navigate this system with fewer problems than I have, although I see a lot of people not knowing when they can buy tickets, or if they’re even available anymore. Personally, I found the whole ordeal to be quite frustrating and poorly communicated. I want to go to the Worlds one of these days but I don’t really want to do it again. I’m not someone who can plan big trips at a moment’s notice. I like to have a few months in advance so I can take time off work in advance, get a good deal on decent accommodation, arrange pet care, and track flights a bit to get cheaper ones. I would have felt a lot better if The Pokémon Company had shared literally anywhere some sort of timeline regarding when invitations would be sent out, so we would know what to expect. It would also have made a difference if their customer service had responded as soon as possible instead of months later.
So no World Cup for me this year. The Pokémon Company should consider holding this thing in Kansas City sometime. We were a host city for the World Cup. We can handle it. I would buy Pikachu products while having a small barbecue, and I might decide to go at the last minute if the lottery system continued to fail me.