A few years ago my oldest son discovered Pokemon. He's been collecting trading cards for a while and even asked for a Pokemon themed birthday last year.
Recently while searching for events to attract older kids I came across the Pokemon Gym on Sunday afternoons at Game Empire in Pasadena. I know nothing about Pokemon other than my kids have a huge collection of cards and the characters on the animated show are a bit annoying. This past Sunday I told the boys to grab their cards and join me on an adventure to check out the Pokemon Gym. I had no idea if we would play; if we would be observers; or if it would even be appropriate for kids of their age (the listing said all ages but I had never been so really you never know).
We walked into Game Empire and explained our purpose. We wanted to check out the Pokemon event. The associate was very helpful, explained the event, what we needed and where in the store it takes place. We headed up the stairs to the game room and there was a young teenage boy who asked if we were there for Pokemon. He was very sweet to my boys (ages 6 and 8) and even traded some cards with them.
In one afternoon I learned we learned we needed to create a playable deck; there are fake Pokemon cards (yes people make fake cards like fake money!); there are legal and illegal cards to play and my kids had a lot of fun checking out the "gym."
I have a feeling our Pokemon adventures have just begun. We observed, but my 8-year-old is eager to create a "playable deck" (Game Empire sells them as well). If you have a Pokemon lover who is interested in learning to play the game I definitely recommend taking a visit to Game Empire on Sunday. The staff member in charge was extremely helpful, as were the people who came to play. The were young kids and older adults playing together in a fun environment. All ages was definitely the right description - and it was air conditioned (non-screen) play on a hot day!
Have a great week - the calendar is FULL! We are giving away tickets to Brick Fest LIVE! Celebrate National Coloring Book Day this weekend and more. Be sure to tell us if there is something we have missed (or if you know of an event that was cancelled...sometimes we aren't always the first to know). And as always, please email joyces@macaronikid.com about free, local events to post on the calendar.
Recently while searching for events to attract older kids I came across the Pokemon Gym on Sunday afternoons at Game Empire in Pasadena. I know nothing about Pokemon other than my kids have a huge collection of cards and the characters on the animated show are a bit annoying. This past Sunday I told the boys to grab their cards and join me on an adventure to check out the Pokemon Gym. I had no idea if we would play; if we would be observers; or if it would even be appropriate for kids of their age (the listing said all ages but I had never been so really you never know).
We walked into Game Empire and explained our purpose. We wanted to check out the Pokemon event. The associate was very helpful, explained the event, what we needed and where in the store it takes place. We headed up the stairs to the game room and there was a young teenage boy who asked if we were there for Pokemon. He was very sweet to my boys (ages 6 and 8) and even traded some cards with them.
In one afternoon I learned we learned we needed to create a playable deck; there are fake Pokemon cards (yes people make fake cards like fake money!); there are legal and illegal cards to play and my kids had a lot of fun checking out the "gym."
I have a feeling our Pokemon adventures have just begun. We observed, but my 8-year-old is eager to create a "playable deck" (Game Empire sells them as well). If you have a Pokemon lover who is interested in learning to play the game I definitely recommend taking a visit to Game Empire on Sunday. The staff member in charge was extremely helpful, as were the people who came to play. The were young kids and older adults playing together in a fun environment. All ages was definitely the right description - and it was air conditioned (non-screen) play on a hot day!
Have a great week - the calendar is FULL! We are giving away tickets to Brick Fest LIVE! Celebrate National Coloring Book Day this weekend and more. Be sure to tell us if there is something we have missed (or if you know of an event that was cancelled...sometimes we aren't always the first to know). And as always, please email joyces@macaronikid.com about free, local events to post on the calendar.
Enjoy!
Faith Mellinger
Co-Publisher
If you are not seeing all the images click HERE and go right to the website. Thanks for reading and SHARING Pasadena Macaroni Kid. We make every effort to ensure that the events we list have the most up to date information but things change, so please call ahead. We do not personally check out each event, and a listing in the calendar does not constitute an endorsement of the event!
