Talking Dutch: Desperately seeking Pikachu
A forgotten Flemish town is back on the map thanks to Pokémon Go, and local businesses couldn’t be happier
Derek Blyth on a gaming craze
Just look at what happened a few days ago in one tiny town. Nog nooit zoveel volk gezien in Lillo – Never seen so many people in Lillo, ran the headline in Het Laatste Nieuws.
No one knew what was happening at first. It was a rainy Monday morning in this far north district of Antwerp, when suddenly mobs of young people arrived waving around their smartphones. Weer of geen weer – Weather or no weather niemand kan de Pokémonvangers uit Lillo houden – no one could keep the Pokémon hunters out of Lillo.
So what is this Pokémon craze all about? Pokémon Go is een spel op de smartphone – Pokémon Go is a game you play on your smartphone, the newspaper explained, geïnspireerd op de razend populaire tekenfilmreeks uit 1996 – inspired by the insanely popular animated film series from 1996, waarbij enkele jongeren jacht maakten op Pokémon – which involves groups of young people hunting for Pokémon. De bedoeling is dat je er zoveel mogelijk vangt – The aim is to catch as many of them as you can.
Mob scene
Although the Pokémon characters appear only on your phone, they only appear when you “find” them in real-life places. The hunt for Pokémon characters like Rattata and Wartortle has already taken fans to some strange places in Flanders, like the abandoned and forgotten Lillo, one of the villages eaten up by the expansion of the port of Antwerp.
Het piepklein havendorpje Lillo werd de afgelopen weken overspoeld – The tiny harbour town of Lillo has been mobbed for the past few weeks omdat daar veel Pokémons gesignaleerd worden – because a number of Pokémons have shown up there.
Thousands of people are now passing this way every day, said one happy pub owner
Normaal is het dorpje van zeven straten en 35 inwoners uitgestorven – Normally this village of seven streets and 35 residents is dead maar nu is het aanschuiven voor een parkeerplekje – but now people are queuing up for a parking place.
Not that local businesses are complaining. En gelukkig maar – And a good thing, too, want de horeca krijgt er alvast een boost door – because food and drink establishments are definitely feeling the benefit.
Duizenden mensen per dag passeren hier tegenwoordig – Thousands of people are now passing this way every day, one happy pub owner told the newspaper. We zijn wel wat toeristen gewoon – We’re used to getting some tourists maar dit hebben we toch nog nooit gezien – but we’ve never seen anything like this. We kunnen het amper bolwerken – we can hardly cope.
And it’s good not just for business. The Pokémon craze is credited with getting people out of the house. Even on a rainy Belgian day.
Al heel de dag regent het pijpenstelen – It was torrential rain the whole day, geen denken aan dat er nu iemand buitenkomt – no one thought anyone would leave the house, maar toch – but no, overal staan Pokémonjagers onder hun paraplu’s verscholen – Pokémon hunters were everywhere tucked under their umbrellas.
Those little characters with funny names might have arrived at the right time to save the Flemish tourist industry.
Photo courtesy polderke.com
