Gotta catch 'em all: Halifax Halloween parade encourages people to dress as favourite Pokemon

Dozens of Pokémon character Pikachu parade at Minatomirai shopping district during a special gathering event of Pikachu in Yokohama, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. (Source: AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Like many Canadian youths in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Kristyn Green grew up trading Pokémon cards and playing the extensive library of games in the franchise, in hopes of catching all of the elusive and ever-expanding roster of creatures.

This Thursday, she and her husband Vincent Morley are hoping to see more than 100 Pokémon up close.

The pair is organizing a Pokémon parade on Halloween near the Oval in Halifax. The event encourages participants to dress as their favourite pocket monster from the original series.

The Pokémon franchise, which started in 1996, now has more than 1,000 creatures, but the first generation only featured 151 iconic monsters.

“(My husband) said, ‘What if for Halloween we organized 151 people as the 151 original Pokémon?’” Green said. “What a crazy thing to do; let’s do it.”

Green and Morley have an entertainment company and they often host variety shows around the city. Green said they’re excited to put on an event with such a wide appeal.

“We love creating shows and events for the public but we’ve never been able to do something so communal and all-ages,” she said. “It’s really getting a lot of people together who love the same thing. It’s been fun and worth it.”

Green said she and her husband recently got back into the Pokémon card game, revisiting a fond childhood activity that has become popular with multiple generations across nearly 30 years.

“We loved it when we were kids,” she said. “There’s the nostalgia for the original Pokémon. This is such a fun, silly game.

“If we were to go back and tell ourselves at age six we’d being doing this, I don’t think we’ be surprised.”

Green notes that roughly 50 people have already registered as Pokémon for the parade. She stresses that the costumes don’t have to be elaborate or complicated.

“It can be so low effort,” she said. “You can wear a garbage bag and go as Graveler. It’s more about bringing everybody together.”

Anyone interested in registering for the parade can send an email to [e-mail] with their top three Pokémon choices.

The parade will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

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