Tragedy of the Pokemons

This weekend I went to see the Pokemon drone show down at the Ferry Building, having always been curious to see a drone show. I figured in honor of the pocket monsters I would re-install Pokemon Go and play it on the bus. It’s been a few years since I played it – I started doing the crossword and other word puzzles on the bus or writing in my notebook instead of the pandemicky, avoidant haze of flinging pokeballs into the aether. As we rode down Mission it became more and more clear to me that this was not just a drone show. We were surrounded by Pokemon people. Finally I realized it was a 50,000 person convention or the World Championships or something. Cosplay! Pikachu hats! People with little stuffed pokemons perched on their shoulders with magnets, like Teto the fox-squirrel riding on Nausicaa! Little kids with a million pokemon charms on their pokebackpacks! It was very festive, and I filled out my Pokedex with some new creatures. There behind the Ferry Building half an hour or…