Did you know that there’s a PAX Pokemon League with gym leaders, badges, Elite Four, and champion? I didn’t until my friend, Alex, posted a link on Facebook to a Kotaku article on it. It’s such an amazing idea.

At PAX, volunteers are acting as gym leaders and can be identified by green scarves (hopefully they don’t mind me borrowing the image used at the top). People can challenge them to Pokemon battles in Pokemon X and Y to earn their badges. There are a few basic rules, but it boils down to “don’t be cheap, and have fun.” The gym leaders can award badges at their own discretion, so you don’t necessarily have to defeat them to earn the badges.

It’s a neat event that embraces the fun and dedication of fans. Alternate reality games like this one are particularly interesting and engaging, bringing some real world activities to otherwise virtual games. It reminds me a bit of the WoW quests I’ve seen at Anime Expo years ago (that were subsequently banned) or even the Geeky Hooker’s CritterDrops, in which she drops crocheted critters and leaves tips on Twitter so people can find and adopt them. (I didn’t manage to get any at SDCC, but there was a lot of competition.)

It’s too bad there wasn’t something like the PAX Pokemon League at SDCC; I would have loved to participate. On the other hand, it’s good on my wallet because it would have made me purchase the game. It’s a great idea, and I hope more things like this continue to happen.

• PAX Pokemon League official site
• Meet The People Who Are Pokémon Gym Leaders In Real Life, Patricia Hernandez, Kotaku, 8/21/14.
• The Geeky Hooker