GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL, they say.
That's what Pokemon fans expected upon the announcement of the Pokeverse event. Surely there are a lot of fond memories that will touch the hearts of the community especially with Veronica Taylor (the voice of Ash Ketchum) and Jason Paige (the original singer of the Pokemon theme song), travelling all the way to SM Megamall for the festivities.
And while there were fans who enjoyed their overall experience, there were those who were left disappointed.
A con-goer by the name of Rita, posted an extremely long thread on Twitter, narrating her overall experience, tackling everything from the ticket prices, the venue, the singing contest, etc., highlighting the major red flags.
Just by looking at the overall slogan of Pokeverse, Rita noticed some similarities from another Pokemon convention in the Philippines.
High ticketing prices
And the list went on. Many fans have already questioned the ticketing prices, as it goes beyond the average rates that most local cons offer.
Rita even explored on the problem centered on the pricing, where she highlighted that TOYCON charges around Php500 as a standard. Other cons had it less.
Pokeverse's standard day pass is at Php1000.
VIP tickets could go as far as Php6,000 to Php19,500, and some members of the community even pointed out that the organizers were involved with NFT projects, which explains the high prices.
But pricing wasn't the only concern that con-goers experienced. There were even artists who explained that they were mistreated by the organizers.
Other glaring red flags
And there were many other red flags that were listed, ranging from the lack of communication from the organizers as seen with how the schedule wasn't fulfilled and how the programs caused a lot of confusion to the community.
Then there were concerns that were raised, which included the exposure of terminally ill children, wearing medical face masks on stage.
Eventually Rita revealed that she was involved in the event's singing contest. She got a chance to sing with Jason Paige and the other winners.
However there were other glaring occurences she raised. Allegedly, one of her friends had been filmed throughout the event, something that Rita wasn't comfortable at, since her friend has scopophobia.
The wave of backlash from the fans kept on piling up and the organizers then decided to issue a statement to Rita.
Pokeverse responds
"Hi BintuRita we apologise for the oversight we are investigating the matters with the production the team."
"The organisers have been very busy with post production but have said will reach out to you personally to make sure your concerns are addressed."
"It’s our first event with very little time to prepare but we do agree that better that a lot of things need to be improved for another season but we appreciate your participation and will continue take your feedback to do better next time."
"Please DM us privately as we did have your prize bags available on the day and was suppose to be given to you after the performance and we will have it delivered to you this week."
"We have taken down the PokeSinger video as well for the time being to investigate further."
"But we really appreciate you for being part of the event and we hope to excite better for another one."
After hearing their statement, Rita clarified some parts. First, she didn't want her video of her singing to be taken down. She wanted to take down any media that features her friend who never wanted to be featured on the video.
Eventually she revealed her overall feedback.
SPIN.ph has reached out to Pokeverse for any comments. This is a developing story.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
