This is my first post , I've mainly been lurking and reading threads on Smogon (I love the depth you guys handle competitive Pokemon with) but I wanted to register to post this.
Because I unfortunately needed to return to my university campus tomorrow for the start of the fall semester, I decided to head to the Nintendo World store two days prior to this weekend's Carnival Games event and supposed Pokemon giveaway. I live only about 20 minutes from Rockefeller Center via subway, so I figured I'd go and ask my friend who works there as a liaison to Pokemon USA if any of the rumors were true.
I woke up at 10am (earliest I've gotten up all summer) to be sure to catch him before lunch hour. I packed my Nintendo DS in case there were other trainers at the center looking for battle (it's a rare treat to be able to play Pokemon with people in real life) with my newly trained lv100 Pokemon Diamond team ready to go -- Jolteon, Swellow, Empoleon, Lucario, Dragonite and Porygon-Z. My team really needs some kind of wall and support so I was hoping that maybe they'd be lax on early BP starter giveaways! (I really really want a shiny baton pass Piplup!)
I arrived at the center around 11:30am and it was surprisingly busy considering the time (what kind of normal kid wakes up before noon in the summertime??). It turned out that most of the kids there were tourists with their moms and dads sitting on the sidelines.
For those of you who haven't been to the Nintendo World store, it's really an impressive place. It's basically a gaming oasis in the middle of the boring-business district of midtown. There about a dozen demo Wiis set up for people to play, but surprisingly there was no PBR to be found. (I really wanted to try out PBR since I don't yet own a Wii :() There are multiple displays set up including a historical exhibit overviewing the history of Nintendo's handheld gaming systems from some prehistoric stuff before my time, to Game Boy, to Nintendo DS.
The most awesome display is this old-school Game Boy that was corroded in some explosion in the Gulf War but still works.
There are also some very tacky looking bling-bling Nintendo DS's encased in jewels... I'm happy with my white DS Lite.
There were also tons of Pokemon dolls but unfortunately not many DP pokemon yet (I really want a Lucario doll!)
On the first floor of the store (where most of the Pokemon stuff is, called the "Pokemon Center" -- pretty much a reduced version of the earlier store) were a few trainers playing. As I said, most of them seemed to be little who dragged their moms there. I battled one kid, whose Pokemon I destroyed... his Pokemon were in the 90s and he used stuff like Lopunny.
I asked for my friend, who unfortunately despite my efforts was already on lunch break. I played for a bit on the DS Lite gaming circle where you can try out a bunch of games for the DS.
Anyways, my friend (who I had not seen for about a year) eventually returned after about 45 minutes and I basically bombarded him with questions about the Carnival Games event and if the Pokemon giveaway was true. He said most of the events on Saturday would be geared toward the promotion of this Wii game I had never heard of but that Pokemon trainers who show up would indeed be treated to Pokemon. He said that he and Pokemon USA had wanted to reserve the Saturday to promote the last weekend (and last full moon, hence Cresselia I guess) of "a Diamond and Pearl summer" but the plans were eventually superceded by the event for Carnival Games. (Does anyone know what the hell this is? I guess Wii is more important than DS these days) They had stopped handing out flyers for the giveaway, as well, fearing overcrowding in the stores. Kind of sad for Pokemon, actually, considering that the store used to be ALL POKEMON ALL THE TIME when it was the NYPC. I asked if they were still doing the giveaway, and he said probably not but was still awaiting final word from store management. (Apparently there is some tension between the Pokemon people and the store itself? Don't quote me on that...) He said they wouldn't allow (due to space considerations) the set-up of transfer machines but might simply let employees transfer via Mystery Gift or trading via DS. At this point I basically started hinting that I really wanted the Piplup since I couldn't make it on Saturday regardless, and surprisingly he was happy to oblige. (might his willingness mean that if it doesn't take place on Saturday they'll hold it again in September? Maybe that's why the Nintendo World employees were saying something about an event in September).
Anyways, he went and got his DS and he asked me which Pokemon I wanted (I thought it was supposed to be random?) and I enthusiastically said the shiny Piplup. I traded him a Bidoof (XD) for the Piplup, and my dream was complete! A shiny Piplup!
I was so thrilled lol that I took pictures 2 minutes after he left. I must have looked stupid photographing my DS screen, but whatever. Anyway here she is:
Now I can actually go off to college with peace of mind!!
Because I unfortunately needed to return to my university campus tomorrow for the start of the fall semester, I decided to head to the Nintendo World store two days prior to this weekend's Carnival Games event and supposed Pokemon giveaway. I live only about 20 minutes from Rockefeller Center via subway, so I figured I'd go and ask my friend who works there as a liaison to Pokemon USA if any of the rumors were true.
I woke up at 10am (earliest I've gotten up all summer) to be sure to catch him before lunch hour. I packed my Nintendo DS in case there were other trainers at the center looking for battle (it's a rare treat to be able to play Pokemon with people in real life) with my newly trained lv100 Pokemon Diamond team ready to go -- Jolteon, Swellow, Empoleon, Lucario, Dragonite and Porygon-Z. My team really needs some kind of wall and support so I was hoping that maybe they'd be lax on early BP starter giveaways! (I really really want a shiny baton pass Piplup!)
I arrived at the center around 11:30am and it was surprisingly busy considering the time (what kind of normal kid wakes up before noon in the summertime??). It turned out that most of the kids there were tourists with their moms and dads sitting on the sidelines.
For those of you who haven't been to the Nintendo World store, it's really an impressive place. It's basically a gaming oasis in the middle of the boring-business district of midtown. There about a dozen demo Wiis set up for people to play, but surprisingly there was no PBR to be found. (I really wanted to try out PBR since I don't yet own a Wii :() There are multiple displays set up including a historical exhibit overviewing the history of Nintendo's handheld gaming systems from some prehistoric stuff before my time, to Game Boy, to Nintendo DS.
The most awesome display is this old-school Game Boy that was corroded in some explosion in the Gulf War but still works.
There are also some very tacky looking bling-bling Nintendo DS's encased in jewels... I'm happy with my white DS Lite.
There were also tons of Pokemon dolls but unfortunately not many DP pokemon yet (I really want a Lucario doll!)
On the first floor of the store (where most of the Pokemon stuff is, called the "Pokemon Center" -- pretty much a reduced version of the earlier store) were a few trainers playing. As I said, most of them seemed to be little who dragged their moms there. I battled one kid, whose Pokemon I destroyed... his Pokemon were in the 90s and he used stuff like Lopunny.
I asked for my friend, who unfortunately despite my efforts was already on lunch break. I played for a bit on the DS Lite gaming circle where you can try out a bunch of games for the DS.
Anyways, my friend (who I had not seen for about a year) eventually returned after about 45 minutes and I basically bombarded him with questions about the Carnival Games event and if the Pokemon giveaway was true. He said most of the events on Saturday would be geared toward the promotion of this Wii game I had never heard of but that Pokemon trainers who show up would indeed be treated to Pokemon. He said that he and Pokemon USA had wanted to reserve the Saturday to promote the last weekend (and last full moon, hence Cresselia I guess) of "a Diamond and Pearl summer" but the plans were eventually superceded by the event for Carnival Games. (Does anyone know what the hell this is? I guess Wii is more important than DS these days) They had stopped handing out flyers for the giveaway, as well, fearing overcrowding in the stores. Kind of sad for Pokemon, actually, considering that the store used to be ALL POKEMON ALL THE TIME when it was the NYPC. I asked if they were still doing the giveaway, and he said probably not but was still awaiting final word from store management. (Apparently there is some tension between the Pokemon people and the store itself? Don't quote me on that...) He said they wouldn't allow (due to space considerations) the set-up of transfer machines but might simply let employees transfer via Mystery Gift or trading via DS. At this point I basically started hinting that I really wanted the Piplup since I couldn't make it on Saturday regardless, and surprisingly he was happy to oblige. (might his willingness mean that if it doesn't take place on Saturday they'll hold it again in September? Maybe that's why the Nintendo World employees were saying something about an event in September).
Anyways, he went and got his DS and he asked me which Pokemon I wanted (I thought it was supposed to be random?) and I enthusiastically said the shiny Piplup. I traded him a Bidoof (XD) for the Piplup, and my dream was complete! A shiny Piplup!
I was so thrilled lol that I took pictures 2 minutes after he left. I must have looked stupid photographing my DS screen, but whatever. Anyway here she is:
Now I can actually go off to college with peace of mind!!