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Bad Blood: Pokemon Co. Has Gone Too Freakin’ Far

Bad Blood: Pokemon Co. Has Gone Too Freakin’ Far

By now you’ve likely heard about poor Ramar Larkin Jones. Every year since 2011, Jones has thrown a pre-PAX, Pokemon themed party at his cafe in Seattle, Washington. Jones has been a longtime Pokemon fan and hosted the party for other Pokemon fanatics, charging a $2 admission fee to cover the cost of a DJ and prizes that were given to winners of a cosplay contest and Super Smash Bros. tournament. This year, things went a little differently. The Pokemon Company caught sight of a poster featuring Pikachu and Snivy made to promote the event, and threatened Jones with legal action the day before his party was to take place. Naturally, Jones cancelled the party and refunded everyone’s $2 fee. Case closed, right?

Wrong, sucka! The Pokemon Company isn’t letting go of this one, and it wants some money. It’s asked for $4,000 to settle the suit. According to Jones, there was no cease and desist letter issued before this all went down, and he was completely shocked to learn that Pokemon Co. was pursuing the matter further. I think we all echo Ramar’s sentiments as we ask in unison, “WTF, Pokemon Co.?!” We thought Nintendo was bad, pulling YouTube videos down and removing audio uploads from SoundCloud. This is a mega-evolution of tight-assery.

On one hand, I hope it’s obvious to everyone why it’s necessary to keep a zealous guard over your intellectual property. If you have a billion dollar brand that’s been well-established for over a decade, it’s not solely in your wallet’s interest that you discourage the deliberate usage of your logo and mascot without explicit permission. Pokemon ’s success resting upon the pleas and desires of a younger demographic gives extra reason for caution; its fan base would feel either alienated or inappropriately influenced by the sight of their favorite supernatural critters on the front of sugary alcoholic beverages. Imagine the conversation between a parent and their son after he sees someone in a Diglet costume handing out calling cards for ‘ladies of the night’ on the Las Vegas strip. Precautions must be implemented, and retributive steps must be taken when things get out of hand.

This, though, is absolutely petty, and nothing is going to rouse estrangement between Pokemon Co. and its fans like this nickel swiping temper tantrum. It’s safe to say that Jones was not making money off of the event. He stated that the cover fee (2 bucks is negligible) was collected strictly to cover the cost of the event. Honestly, I’m not sure I could organize and pull off a party in a cafe with contests, tournaments, and a DJ for under a few hundred dollars; I’d be surprised if Jones was breaking even. The Pokemon Company, if anything, likely saw positive revenue from the awareness and exposure this event generated among its fans and the public, but it’s estimated that The Pokemon Company rakes in about $1.4 billion a year, so money isn’t the issue here.

Bad Blood: Pokemon Co. Has Gone Too Freakin’ Far

No, Pokemon Co. and its lawyers are simply proving a point. Showing no regard for one of their biggest fans, they’ve effectively dragged him to the public square, locked him into the stocks and made an example of him until he paid the appointed penalty. Actually, if we really want to entertain that image, we might as well imagine some Pokemon Co. bruiser stalking about the gathered crowd and holding out his hand for their contributions before releasing the prisoner, as Jones was incapable of paying the settlement fee. He had requested some kind of payment plan to pay over time, but was refused. Pokemon Co. demanded its money within 45 days, which it will receive thanks to the generosity of a group of backers on GoFundMe. The damage is done, though, and there is a growing pool of bad blood that has drowned any positive sentiments that older gamers had held in regard to the Pokemon franchise.

This leaves Pokemon fans in a moral pickle. Do we continue to support a company whose games we’re hopelessly addicted to, even though they very plainly see their fans as nothing more than assets and liabilities? I, for one, am going to delete every Pokemon game I own from all of my devices right after I play through these last five hearts on Pokemon Shuffle … and catch a Lucario. Then I’ll be done, and I’ll never buy another Pokemon game again, except for Pokken Tournament. I really want Pokken Tournament . Damn.

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