The Pokemon gijinka trend started last year once the "official" fanart started popping up in major cosplay circles. In California, most cosplayers have already retired their humanoid Pokemon costumes in the back of the closet. This was my first time cosplaying as a pokemon gijinka. I decided to go as Persian, the classy cat pokemon, to go with Jared's Giovanni.

Of course, there were many cosplayers still running around the convention center.

To my surprise, there was a Tiffany's right across the street from the hotel. Downtown Seattle is very metropolitan. This means there are plenty of restaurants to choose from (Cheesecake Factory, Johnny Rocket's, Daily Grill, to name a few) and plenty of shopping. Posing in front of Tiffany's was rather appropriate for the classy cat pokemon.

Earlier that afternoon, there was a marching band that was en route the convention center. I could not tell whether or not if they were affiliated with Sakura Con, but it was nice to see eccentric local entertainment. The steps of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center were met by petitioners against prop 8, local street performers, and the occasional otaku performance group.

The main hub for Saturday cosplayers was in the 4th floor garden. Despite the freezing cold, cosplayers managed to find ways to have a good time be it the Circle of Glomps game or a series specific cosplay gathering.

Speaking of series specific gatherings, the Pokemon gathering was scheduled for late Saturday afternoon. Despite the vast amount of Pokemon cosplayers, I could not find the specific gathering spot. The advantage of Pokemon's sudden return to popularity is that there were cosplayers - trainers, grunts, gijinka - running around the convention center. That way, we could just ask and pose for photos.

We'll just say that Sarah is a gijinka Butterfree or a gijinka Beautifly?

I was rather pleased that people could pinpoint that I was cosplaying as a gijinka Persian. My issue with gijinka pokemon is that it is either hit or miss. My main concern was that I would be just another catgirl with Cosworx ears. However, having a Giovanni cosplayer to pose and be sassy with does help.

Sarah took a few photos of Jared and I as Giovanni and gijinka Persian.

We wandered into the dealer's room to find more Pokemon cosplayers. Jared found quite a few Team Rocket grunts running around.

My main mission was to find a present for fellow Scarlet Rhapsody press assistant, Deb. Her birthday had passed the previous weekend. Greg Dean (Real Life Comics) had his dignity to sell. However, by the time we reached his booth, Greg Dean was already sold out of it. I went to Yaya Han's booth and she was very kind to give me free hair ribbons for Deb. I finally found a present for Deb - ribbons for her upcoming gijinka Shaymin cosplay. Thank you very much, Yaya.

The greatest find that the Team Rocket don found was a Mewtwo cosplayer. I saw the Mewtwo earlier in the day during the doll gathering. We also ran into my Bay Area friend, Cassandra, just as she was leaving Cheesecake Factory.

After Pokemon times, we decided to go into Tsukihime cosplay. It was rather fitting for Jared to dress up as Shiki for his Anime Horror Panel at 9:30PM later that night. Normally, I'm used to attending masquerade on Saturday night, but with the masquerade starting earlier in the day, I just wandered around finding things to do.

Sakura Con did have a few interesting sights. When Jared was checking in with convention operations, the staff was singing a famed drinking song, but they had to change the lyrics to make it approrpriate for a family friendly convention.

And on the way to the panel, we ran into a bunch of guys giving out free high fives and free fist bumps. Look at it as a healthier alternative to free hugs and free glomps.

Jared's Anime and Manga Horror panel started at 9:30PM. He was in the same timeslot with the Gay & Lesbian Speed Dating event. In other words, there were no Yaoi Lesbians (tm) present. A few highlights included Jared talking about anime he finds really scary. Ironically enough, his panel started after the Anime that Scarred Me for Life panel. While attendees were raving about traumatizing anime in that panel, this panel glorified such.

After the panel, I made reservations for Cheesecake Factory. I figured we could use a victory dinner after what we have all been through during Sakura Con. Even though it was 10:45PM in the evening, it was still a nice and filling meal.

At midnight, everyone was practically just hanging out by the main events hall or at the all night rave. The convention center still have attendees hanging out, but it was not as bustling during the day. Jared and I decided to take advantage of this moment to get Tsukihime / Melty Blood shots.

Many thanks to the cosplayer who took photos of us!

After wandering around the halls of the Washingtion State Convention and Trade Center, we decided to call it a night. There were still night owls and con zombies running around, still looking for something to do. Luckily, Sakura Con had giant "Schedule at a Glance" posted in main thoroughfares of the convention center.

Pictures are copyright by Scarlet Rhapsody (formerly Traveling Valentine). If I took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This site was brought to you by the font Wicked Queen. Many thanks to Chaz Boston Baden for the image resizing and watermarking program.