Galactic Comics & Games held a special celebration in honor of National Pokemon Day on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. Fans of all ages gathered to participate in Pokemon card games, video games, card trading, and much more.
The festivities started at 11:00 AM, and Galactic opened their doors to eager crowds that were lined up outside waiting patiently for the store to open. The event attracted an estimated 80 to 100 people, and culminated in a raffle at the store's closing time.
Pokemon Professor Ash Galletta, the organizer of the local National Pokemon Day celebration and the Statesboro Pokemon League, was pleased at the turnout as well as the giveaway merchandise donated by The Pokemon Company.
"I run the Pokemon League here. We meet every Saturday from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM," Galletta says. "Pokemon Company sent out an email that said, 'Hey, if you do an event on Pokemon Day, February 27th, we're gonna send you free stuff."
Galletta says regular, active participation in the league ensured the free items from Pokemon. Some of the coveted items included memorabilia such as Pokemon Center exclusive Pikachu figurines, a quick ball filled with Pokemon cards, and a Pokemon Astral Radiance Elite Trainer Box Set.
Galletta describes the three sectors of the Pokemon League: the trading card game, the video game, and Pokemon Go, which the February 27th event mimicked. The day's activities included hands-on tutorials on how to play the standard Pokemon trading card game for novices, a Gym Leader Challenge for those who are experienced in the standard format, a table to purchase trading cards for only a nickel each, a video game area for gamers to connect and play together, and a small pilot tournament for Pokemon Go fans.
Galletta hopes the attendance and positive response at Galactic's National Pokemon Day will invite more residents to attend the Saturday meet-ups.
"I do encourage anybody who wants to learn how to play to come on Saturday and learn," Galletta says of the weekly gathering. "Everybody is welcome to join, all ages, any age can come to Pokemon League. I think our youngest player is around six and our oldest player is probably in their 40s or 50s, so we have a wide variety of people from all kinds of backgrounds and we love to welcome everyone."
The Pokemon League is free of charge and promises to be an experience the Pokemon "starter" as well as the most seasoned Pokemon "master" will want to add to their regular rotation.
For more information about Pokemon League, please contact Galactic Comics & Games at 912-489-3123.
