Kimberley’s Pokémon Day Memories
A Pokémon fan called Kimberley, from the Netherlands, shares her memories of visiting the Pokémon Day event at Walibi World, in 2008
Pokémon Day was a series of official Pokémon events that took place in certain countries around the world, giving fans the opportunity to obtain event distribution Pokémon, promotional items, buy merchandise and go hands-on with various Pokémon products. They would partner with local companies and Pokémon communities, and were held at different points between 2004 and 2015.
Kimberley Ligtvoet attended a Pokémon Day event in 2008 at Walibi World, an amusement park in The Netherlands. She kindly took the time to share her memories with us, and some photographs from that special day!
I'm not sure how we even heard of Pokémon Day, but I'm glad we got to go!
We (my mom, dad and brother) have been to Pokémon Day in Walibi twice. The first time we didn't know you could get a special Pokémon so we didn't bring our games with us (because we didn't want to risk losing them)! The second time in 2008 we were prepared and my brother and I brought our DSi with us to get Darkrai! Unfortunately, when we got there the stand didn't work, but there was still a lot we did get to do.
At the start we got a map of the park with info on all the things we could do. The thing I remember most is going around the park looking for all the inflatable Poké Balls with letters on them. If you spotted one you'd put down the letter by the number on the map which in the end would spell something and you would get the goodie bag if you handed it in. I didn't know yet that this Pikachu card, along with my first ever Pokémon [Trading Card Game] tin of Feraligatr, would be the start of my big Pokémon card collection! We also got to choose something besides cards, so I got a Pikachu propeller pen which would spin when you put batteries in it, which back then seemed really cool.
There were also Pokémon quizzes on a stage that you could win prizes with and of course everyone wanted in. I remember them throwing a chocolate surprise egg which my dad attempted to catch for me but someone smashed it out of the air in front of him[,] but he still managed to grab the little Psyduck toy off the ground for me. I know I still have it somewhere, but it seems to be the one thing I could not find right now (oops!). We also got to see The Rise of Darkrai which was really cool because we got to see Dialga and Palkia battle it out on the big screen!
We, of course, enjoyed the rest of the park too, but we came there for Pokémon and that's what we got! I also still remember getting to take pictures with the mascots, which was amazing as well since they were so big and soft (I already loved anything plushie like back then, so those big suits were amazing to hug).
At that point I've been into Pokémon for a few years since I started when Pokémon Emerald came out here in Europe. I named my trainer Esmee since I thought that's what the girl from the anime was called (it was May). I was about 7 years old when I got my first ever Pokémon which was Mudkip. I still have him all these years later on my Ultra Moon file as a Swampert! I'm really glad I got into Pokémon since that meant being able to be part of a community and meeting new friends throughout the years. From playing with cards on the playground, to trading them in game stores to get chase cards, playing with a link cable with my brother, to connecting with everyone on the Internet. Now that I'm 25, I think the only thing that really changed since then is the amount of Pokémon to love and the size of my Pokémon collection, which is still growing to this day all these years later.
Additional photographs
Thank you Kimberley, for sharing your memories of Pokémon Day, and for those fantastic photographs, they are so wholesome! It’s great to see how different countries celebrate Pokémon, proving just how much of a global phenomenon it truly is. I hope Pokémon continues to have a positive impact on your life for many years to come!