Memories of Art Through the Ages
My memories of Pokémon: Art through the Ages, a Pokémon event that took place in 2022 in the United Kingdom
Pokémon: Art Through the Ages was an official event that took place at the Trafford Centre, in Manchester, United Kingdom, between October 17th, 2022 and November 13th, 2022. It is one of the larger retail spaces in the country, the third-largest in fact! This free event was advertised as an interactive experience and featured artwork of the original 151 Pokémon installed throughout the venue.
The main event was the scavenger hunt. Anyone who could find each of the Pokémon and make a note of them in the activity booklet provided would be rewarded with a special certificate for their efforts. There were also ten hidden art pieces with a piece of a code present on each. Discovering the hidden artwork and unscrambling the code allowed participants to redeem a limited edition poster at the GAME store within the Trafford Centre. There was also a range of activities aimed at younger fans, such as meet-and-greets with Pikachu, special art classes designed for children 6–11 years old, and a gigantic screen to watch Pokémon movies and Pokémon anime. On the day of the event launch, there was even a Pokémon Bus, which sadly wasn’t around when I visited.
When I first heard about the event, I really wanted to attend. It was close by and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I hadn’t had a chance to meet with my closest friends for a few years. There were points I almost gave up on the idea entirely, due to concerns of catching the virus and passing it on to vulnerable people around me. Even getting on a train again after a few years was quite daunting. In the end, I ultimately decided I was going to go for it, choosing to have a nice time with my two friends. Once I saw their faces I felt reassured that the event was just what I needed.
Because the Trafford Centre is so large, fitting artwork of all the original 151 Pokémon wasn’t as difficult a task as I thought it might have been for them. I had visited the venue previously with friends, but this was quite something! Our first task was to find the Orient Main Stage and collect our activity booklets, which contained a checklist of all 151 showcased Pokémon to mark off as we encountered each of them. Once we obtained our booklets, we started to traverse the building looking for Pokémon.
One of the first things we saw when we entered were these large banners with Squirtle and Eevee on them. Surely those counted, right? Then there was the gigantic banner up high across one of the halls featuring the legendary bird Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, as well as the Mythical Pokémon, Mew! It was impossible to miss the gigantic Charizard artwork that was right above us at the Great Hall, where the main stage was located. There were tons of Pokémon banners and signs in that area, so that checked off a few boxes, too!
While I was in the Great Hall, I distinctly remember hearing a mother talking to her child about how she played Pokémon when she was young, and how Squirtle was her favourite. I loved how this event was an opportunity for parents to bond with their children over a common interest. It was quite touching!
We moved on and found a really cool area with Fossil Pokémon. The activity required you to place your booklet over a textured surface and make a rubbing using a pencil to reveal the Pokémon underneath it. There were supposed to be four panels where you could do this, but three of them were missing, likely stolen. Thankfully the one still remained, and after a quick scribble, it was revealed to be an Aerodactyl, another Pokémon checked off the list.
We also discovered a fountain with artwork both inside and around the outside, featuring Water- and Ice-type Pokémon such as Dewgong, Magikarp, and Poliwrath. The fountain is a permanent fixture in the Trafford Centre, but to see it decorated with pictures of Pokémon this way was a great sight.
As we explored the upper floor, we discovered the hidden artwork that was mentioned on the Pokémon website. Once we started to discover a few letters and numbers, we quickly worked out what the code was, but still made the effort to track down the remaining artwork in order to fill it out fully. Once that was done, it was off to GAME to collect our posters!
I have a rather funny memory of speaking to the guy behind the counter, who looked so sick and tired of giving out posters all day, and admitted as much to us. After obtaining my poster, I decided I was going to buy myself something to mark the day, and I left with a Lugia plush!
One of the final locations we visited was an area with large pillars, decorated with Pokémon banners, showing artwork of certain Pokémon types such as Flying, Fighting, Water, and Fire. By this point I believe we had discovered about 80% of all the Pokémon, but even then we were still missing quite a few…
As we continued to traverse the Trafford Centre, it became harder to find the remaining Pokémon, and we struggled to discover the last of them. I had heard that there had been some Pokémon displays outside the Trafford Centre that had been stolen, but I couldn’t verify it. With this in mind, I knew it would be impossible to check off every Pokémon, so I went to the desk and told them I had found everything we could, hoping they would take pity and give me and my friends the certificates regardless. Thankfully, they did!
At the time of this event, the idea for Johto Times and my passion for documenting and preserving events hadn’t quite materialised yet. Even still, I acknowledged that because this event was only in one location for a specific amount of time, it might be useful to preserve some of the things we saw. Because of this, I did my best to photograph as many areas as I possibly could, and I requested an additional copy of the activity booklet in case I wanted to document it in the future.
After a quick chat with the staff to thank them for a great event, we decided to take a break. All in all I think we spent around two and a half hours searching for Pokémon, so we were overdue for a rest with some food and drinks. After recovering a bit, we finally said goodbye to the Trafford Centre.
While the event was enjoyable to visit and we had fun tracking down all the Pokémon, most of the art on display, which were mostly official renders used across Pokémon products, fell beneath my expectations. As this was a one-off event, I thought the organisers would have gone all out by displaying paintings, statues, and artwork drawn by those who visited the Trafford Centre, or online in some kind of contest. Imagine walking underneath the bones of a gigantic Aerodactyl hanging from the ceiling? Or a life-size figure of a Scyther hiding in some tall grass outside of the venue? I feel like this would have made the whole experience truly memorable.
The collaborations Pokémon did with classic artwork in the style of Edvard Munch in 2018 and Vincent van Gogh in 2023, resulted in some great art and an opportunity to learn about the real-life artists which the pieces were inspired by. Those events brought lots of great merchandise with them, such as prints, plush toys and trading cards. I really wish that they had gone the extra mile and pushed the art side of the event even further. Due to the decline of retail, it would have been great to see some of those empty units used for special exhibitions. Or there could have been a pop-up Pokémon Center store for the duration of the event, where people could purchase unique items, providing it could be done in a safe and controlled way where everyone who attends has a fair chance of obtaining the exclusive merchandise.
While I certainly wasn’t the target audience for Pokémon: Art Through the Ages, it was fantastic to get out and about again after so long, doing normal things like shopping, visiting a fast-food restaurant, and spending quality time with friends. This event marked the beginning of a return to normality for me during a time when things were still far from it. Pokémon was the push that I needed to make it happen, and for that reason alone, it will always be an important event that I am going to look back fondly on over the years to come.
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