Panic! at the Pokémon Convention—This Week On VICE: Members Only
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It’s getting to that time of year where people who live in countries that experience at least six months of winter start dispatching themselves to warmer climates, like migrating birds with a preferred pilates trainer and access to Salesforce. Rio, Mexico City, Bali, Phuket—all about to get hit by the lesser-discussed Super El Niño event of Claudevangelists taking a break from their usual routine to stay in a hostel with its own mushroom blend tea and refresh their Instagram grid with pictures of waterfalls.
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A soldier on the wanderlust frontlines herself, VICE writer Niloufar Haidari has some concerns about the spirit of those who regularly hurl themselves halfway round the world to attend ancestral healing practices that have nothing to do with them and then throw a tantrum when they can’t use Apple Pay in a rural food market. She writes:
“Long-term travel was once the reserve of hippies with bad hygiene practices, students on their gap year, and wealthy bohemians, but the rise of remote working has birthed a new modern-day travel monster: the digital nomad. Almost always working in tech or helming a pyramid scheme, this demographic is driven to travel entirely by a desire to do exactly what they would at home but for cheaper, with better weather, and higher prospects of casual sex with anti-vax somatic healers.
“Basically, what I’m saying is that while it is possible to travel like the late, great Anthony Bourdain, a lot of people are doing it in a way that is actually closer to Christopher Columbus if he had a smartphone.”
Read Niloufar’s full thoughts below:
Read Next The Worst People On Earth Are the Ones You Meet TravelingSpeaking of things that shouldn’t be happening but somehow are, here’s an image for you: A pervert in a Pikachu onesie convulsing on the floor of a conference center as 60,000 volts rips through their body.
It might seem strange or uncanny, like a gif of dubious origin you’d find on a 4chan board for soon-to-be-radicalised weebs, but that is literally what’s happening in some parts of the world. It turns out the Pokémon cosplay community has a growing sex-pest problem, with allegations of sexual assault emerging from shaken high-ranking players and reports of spiking incidents at convention after parties. The situation has gotten so dire that cosplayers are tooling up to deal with it.
In a report for the latest issue of VICE magazine, The Self-Destruction Issue, VICE staff writer Amber Rawlings spoke to members of the community about the issue and their preferred methods of self-defense, which range from “flathead screwdriver” to “firearm.”
“I prefer pepper spray and a heel,” said one Pokémon fan, who cosplays as Cubone. “Even a cute multitool on your keychain can go a long way—something small with a screwdriver, flathead, or mini blade is surprisingly useful in a lot of situations.”
Unless you find a stray copy in a shop, you can’t read Amber’s full report in The Self-Destruction Issue—it’s sold out—but we have posted it online so you don’t go without:
Read Next Pokémon Cosplayers Are Buying Weapons to Fend Off Sex PestsYou’re welcome,
Emma Garland
Deputy Editor, VICE Magazine
To get past the paywall, sign up for VICE membership. A Digital Only subscription is just $2 a month (or $20 a year, if you prefer), while $70 a year also gets you 4 issues of VICE magazine, delivered straight to your door. (All three kill all the ads on this site.)
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