I learned some things today. First, even ridiculously terrible weather won’t stop dozens of Pokemon fans from attending an outdoor launch event in Times Square. Second, Pikachu is 5 feet tall and freaking terrifying.

Nintendo held a big launch event for Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver at the Toys R Us in Times Square today. It was a mostly outdoors event, with a “Pokewalk” to promote the games’ new Pokewalker pedometer accessory. Meanwhile, New York has gotten about 2.4 inches of rain in the last two days; it’s been raining so hard feel like I should be playing with origami and looking for my son. As you can imagine, this has been perfect weather for getting people outside to check out a new Pokemon game.

The Pokewalk itself was just a 50 foot loop marked by “Pokemon tracks.” That’s literally all it was: no booths, no displays, just footprints on asphalt. Guides from Toys R Us stopped at certain points on the path to demonstrate features of the games, but that’s pretty much it. Fortunately, fans got some swag for their trouble, including nylon Pokemon bags, rubber Pokewalker cases, cardboard Pikachu hats, and Toys R Us ponchos.

The event wasn’t exactly packed, but even with the rain several dozen Pokemon fans still circulated through the Pokewalk and the Toys R Us. Most of them ended up inside around the store’s DS displays, meandering around and trading their Pokemon. Some of them actually dressed up like the trainers… and a Squirtle.

I also learned a third thing today: the lights on some subway stops look just like Pokeballs. Fun fact!