In the Fall of 2011, I was living in Burlington, Vermont. For Halloween, I dressed up as my favorite Pokémon, Alakazam (Bulbapedia bio here). It was an entertaining night with the costume, as reactions ranged from "Who the hell are you?" to "OMG ALAKAZAM I LOVE IT!". I was pleasantly surprised to meet an equal number of excited, wide-eyed nerds as confused frat bros.
Six years later, for the Halloween of 2017, I wanted to recreate this costume, with some enhancements. The first time I put the look together, I had a mask on the whole night. While this was fun to hide my true identity, it limited my ability to do basic things like interact with people or sip drinks. There was also opportunity to improve upon Alakazam's gauntlets, legs, and knee pads.
I debuted Alakazam's return at San Francisco's LoveBoat Halloween (formerly Ghost Ship), an annual costume party that takes place in a pier warehouse. Upon entering the party, I heard a passing dolphin shout "Is that an Alakazam?!". Success!
The time spent on building this costume resulted in a fabulous night where I met several Ash Ketchums while dancing the night away. The project also rekindled my love of Michaels and glue guns. Thanks, Alakazam!
