Pokemon Is One Powerful Drawing Card

Bear witness to the latest merchandising marvel and sociological sensation to hit America: Several thousand youngsters and their weary parents descended on Del Amo Fashion Center over the weekend in tribute to a menagerie of fantasy animals called Pokemon.

The multitudes had come from across the region to participate in just one niche of the multibillion-dollar craze--playing and trading Pokemon (pronounced POH-kay-mon) cards. But at home, you can bet most of those children also wear Pokemon clothes, collect Pokemon action figures, watch Pokemon cartoons and play Pokemon Game Boy video games, the Nintendo product that ignited it all.

The gathering Saturday and Sunday at the Torrance mall was the latest leg in the Pokemon Trading Card Game Tour, which has been greeted by mobs of obsessed youths across the country.

Many parents, such as Linda Kovar of Palmdale, rose with the sun and drove miles so their children could commune with kindred spirits.

“I think they’re crazy,” Kovar said of her son, Tommy, and his three friends, all 13. “They play Pokemon all the time. They played it all the way down here.”

Pokemon, which means “pocket monsters” in Japanese, was created three years ago by Nintendo for its hand-held Game Boy. Pokemon is actually a collection of about 150 characters, some resembling common mammals in pastel colors, others appearing reptilian or insect-like. Each is endowed with special powers. They include: biting, scratching, slashing, hypnotizing, poisoning and flame throwing.

The object, for players, is to adopt the creatures and use their powers to capture others. The object, for captains of industry, is to use the creatures to capture the consumer dollar with spinoff products and tie-in marketing.

“There was a time when a lot of [toy manias] were accidental,” said David W. Stewart, chairman of the marketing department at USC’s Marshall School of Business. “It’s not accidental now at all.”

At school, children talk about the latest Pokemon cartoon episodes the same way soap opera buffs might discuss the latest cliffhanger or plot twist. The most ardent Pokemon fans have memorized the names, looks and personalities of each critter. Collectors and players pepper their conversation with special terms and phrases incomprehensible to those not of the Pokemon world.

“Whoo-hoo! A holographic Raichu!” shouted a gleeful 13-year-old Arjuna Dharmaraja, after ripping open a new pack of cards bought at the Del Amo mall.

Translating for an adult with no clue, he said: “It’s an electric rat. It’s rare and it has a high value.”

Pokemon appeals to children because it makes them feel connected to one another, said Myron Orleans, professor of sociology at Cal State Fullerton. “It gives them a sense of power and strength to be associated with something bigger than themselves.”

Many children arrived at the Torrance mall bearing binders or boxes filled with cards and engaged in excited discussions about Pokemon with boys and girls they had never met. They also talked business and sometimes drove hard bargains.

“I’ll trade you a Scyther for a Wartortle,” offered Matt Nolan, an 8-year-old from Los Angeles, asking about a card featuring a flying dinosaur with sickle claws on a glimmery, holographic background.

Its owner, 10-year-old Elliot Trinidad of Hollywood, knew better and declined.

“Scyther is a rare one. Wartortle is a common one. A rare one is worth more than a common one” Elliot said.

Matt tried again. “I have a Slowbro.” He held up a card imprinted with a pink bear-like creature with a cerulean conch-shell tail. Elliot immediately agreed to the swap.

Sometimes, the trading got so frenzied that one father compared it to the floor of a stock exchange.

Eight-year-old Bryce McLeod had a Charizard, a fire-breathing Pokemon coveted by another youngster. The bid got higher and higher.

“He just kept throwing cards down until he got it from [us],” said Bryce’s dad Dan McLeod. “It was a 6-for-1 trade! . . . They’re learning about free-market enterprise, about supply and demand.”

McLeod said he saw a similar card on eBay, the Internet auction house, sell for $90.

Parents said that, although some Pokemon charters are violent, the depiction of blood and gore that comes into family rooms every night is far worse.

“I’d rather [they] do this type of thing than have them watch someone get shot up on television. On television you see blood and everything, said McLeod, a computer programmer from Lancaster with a pierced tongue.

The Pokemon card-fest will move next weekend to the Westminster Mall and then on to Escondido and Henderson, Nev.