We threw Cooper a Pokémon birthday in West Orange, New Jersey, in a backyard that dropped down in levels. The tables and all the Pokémon decorations were on the bottom, and the party ran up top, which gave us plenty of room. We introduced ourselves and had the kids shout happy birthday, then we showed them how the game worked and let them loose.
A few of them were meeting Pokémon for the first time, and they stayed with it the whole hour. The rest already knew what they wanted, and they were off as soon as we finished talking.
The station to watch was the knockdown. Several kids had decided they were only going after Pikachu or Charizard, so every throw was aimed at those two, and they had a real battle going for it. You could tell when one of them finally hit, because the rest of that group immediately reset and went again.
Cooper got so caught up earning coins and Pokéballs at the task stations that he forgot to go catch more Pokémon. We had to remind him. He was having too good a time on the tasks to notice he was light on a team.
At the end we brought them in with what they had caught and named the Master Pokémon Trainers.
One more happy birthday, then pizza, cupcakes, and party favors. We had a blast, Cooper. We hope you did too.
Stay Adventurous!
Ginny
