Pokemon WAG

Ok Reader, so on Saturday, The Lad and I popped on a train and went off to Birmingham so he could compete in the National Pokemon Championships. We were both knackered, he'd been up till the wee hours all week training his virtual pets to do all sorts of mad things and I'd just had my first week at work, and had that day had an optician's appointment, an audition and an 8 hour day at work, all in completely different parts of London. The Lad was stressing out because he was pretty sure he wasn't going to make it in time to register to take part (which would have been a hell of a waste since he spent so much on our fares) and I was trying to stay awake with quite a great deal of difficulty. We did eventually arrive though, clammy from the train. What was pretty surprising was that the train station was actually attached to the warehouse/exhibition centre that the event was held in. Handy, but it did mean that even though I have now been to Birmingham, I've never actually seen any of it, which is vaguely ridiculous.

Reader, we walked for miles. It was like walking through a huge shopping centre, only it was completely dead and longer, with less to look at. It was at this point I became convinced that there wouldn't be anyone there. That it would be just me, The Lad and two 11 year olds. Boy was I wrong.

We turned a corner and saw the sign for the hall we wanted, entered it and were almost eviscerated by a wall of BO. There were at least 600 people in there, mainly all bunched up in a square of people. After a while we figured out that the big square was actually the line to sign up to compete, so we joined the back (yes, we. I kept him company despite the sweat smell) and waited. Now, I'm generally a big fan of the geeks. My boyfriend is one, my brother is pretty geeky and most of my friends have their moments. But my god. I have been to conventions before and experienced the hidden geeky nature of Britain and have enjoyed it but this....this was unspeakable. The people in the line were what can only be described as socially inept, it was a bit like a group of hyperactive 5 year old boys with ADD and hygiene issues got put into sightly overweight men's bodies. There was the guy behind us that kept quoting pokemon to himself as if it was real life in a too loud, snotty nosed way 'Oshawot, I choose YOU!' and then going 'This sucks! I'm never going to get in! I HAVE TO DO THIS!' We were pretty scared. Then there was the obese albino man dressed as a fisherman. And who can forget the double denim'd lad with enormous glasses who looked like he was going to wee himself? And those were the normal people...

Out of the hundreds of people, I spotted only one other WAG, who frankly looked as out of place as I felt. We shared a sympathetic look as we carted out boyfriends' bags around while they competed and I felt she was a kindred spirit who understood my pain. However, it did mean that there was never a line for the ladies loos which was nice. 

Anyway, The Lad hasn't stopped boasting since, because he got into the final 32 people out of 500 and we worked out he was something like 26th. He has told literally everyone we've encountered since the battle and I have to say, I am a little worried. He's become a little aggressive to strangers since then, especially on trains. I have to keep reminding him that it doesn't give him special social status and nor does it allow him rights over other citizens of England. However, I have to admit, I am pretty relieved. Going to the tournament showed me that yes, I may have a geeky boyfriend, but in comparison to most, he's a god! Comparatively, he was the coolest guy there. Which was nice. Although we were disappointed that One Direction didn't show up after their ad campaign for pokemon of late... 

Another thing that I keep meaning to blog about is a gig me and The Lad went to a while ago, which was AWESOME. It was for a band called The Cold War Kids who are like The White Stripes, but better and more talented with more interesting songs. The Lad introduced me to them last year, and I have to say, I'm very glad he did, cause they're fantastic. Their gig was no exception, they were brimming with energy and we managed to get all the way to the front! We were so close in fact that we kept catching the lead singer's eye (so cool) but conversely, there was a scary looking bassist who looked like he belonged on a Mormon farm 200 years ago and had terrifying deep set eyes. So whenever he looked our way we'd pretend to be distracted by something shiny. He was THAT SCARY. And he looked angry all the time. If he had smiled we probably wouldn't have been so freaked out, but noooooo....But yes, they were incredible live and I would completely go and see them again. I would also suggest all of you lot go download the album because it is hella good.

In other news, it's looking like my wheat allergy is getting worse which is tragic as my diet mainly consists of bread and cheese in various different forms. I will endeavour to ignore it still though, despite the agonising stomach pains it seems to be flinging my way! Have steer cleared of the wheat all yesterday and today, but I have a red velvet cupcake in my fridge, so I may well cave tomorrow!

On that note lovely Reader, 

goodnight!

Ash

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