A Pokémon rave? It might be ‘the most fun you’ve ever had.’

There’s just one Baltimore dance flooring the place you’ll seemingly see Pikachu, the lovable, red-cheeked mouse mascot from Pokémon, full-body head-banging this weekend to rib-shaking bass.

As town thaws out from the snow, megafans of Pokémon — the animated phenomenon from Japan about capturing animal-like creatures and coaching them for battle — will sweat it out Friday night time at Baltimore Soundstage’s Poké-Rave dance social gathering. Many will don inventive, do-it-yourself costumes, prepared to bounce and thrash to pulsating, Pokémon-inspired digital dance music (EDM).

“For somebody who doesn’t know what they’d be walking into, to sum it up in one word: Energy. Straight energy,” stated Ventis, aka Chris Butler, Poké-Rave’s headlining DJ. “It’s probably going to be some of the most fun you’ve ever had.”

The enjoyable doesn’t have to incorporate dancing. Attendees can play video video games, retro and new, on flat-screen TVs in a lounge space or get artful at a bracelet-making station. Later within the night time, a cosplay contest will decide the best-dressed Pokémon characters, with the winners receiving free Soundstage tickets for a yr.

Will it’s the orange dragon-like Charizard? The fluffy Eevee? The highly effective, purple Mewtwo? The world of Pokémon is so huge, with its human characters capturing and coaching so many various creatures for battle, that the costume potentialities are practically limitless.

“The creativity always stands out most. I’ve seen people come dressed as Poké balls!” stated Butler, referring to the trademark red-and-white sphere used to catch the creatures.

Ventis, Half Hack3d, Beast and the remainder of the DJ lineup will present the night time’s soundtrack, which is able to mix EDM’s many subgenres like dubstep, drum and bass and home with sounds from Pokémon and video video games.

Pokémon works nicely with EDM, stated Half Hack3d, aka Andrew Parker, as a result of its narrative tales are stuffed with highs and lows, which requires a variety of music and melodies. It provides a DJ and producer rather a lot to work with.

“It’s like, ‘This is really high paced, this is really creepy and mysterious, this has got some ominous chords,’” he stated. “It’s just a soundscape journey.”

Pokémon’s continued longevity and relevance is a marvel, the DJs stated. What began within the mid-’90s as a GameBoy online game has endured for many years, spawning TV sequence, films, social media crazes and seemingly limitless colourful merchandise.

“You see so many different kinds of people — people that spend thousands of dollars on costumes,” Parker stated.

But within the case of Poké-Rave, Pokémon is merely the widespread entry level that brings a bunch of individuals collectively, Butler stated. Above all else, 18-plus dance events like Poké-Rave are centered on constructing an inclusive group by means of a shared curiosity — and one which isn’t consuming.

“It’s all about self-expression and giving people a place to fully let go for the night,” stated Mike O’Brien, Baltimore Soundstage’s advertising director.

For these on the fence a couple of rave, Butler stated this isn’t what you see within the films, the place attendees have “their nose turned up and they’re a bit on edge,” he stated.

“When you go here, they’re not strangers in a sense, they’re more like friends you haven’t met yet,” Butler stated, “because whether you look to your left or right, front or back, everyone is just on the same wavelength of good vibes.”