I enjoy seeing stories at the intersection of my hobbies. As a lawyer and avid Pokemon Go trainer (player), this class action lawsuit against Niantic–the developer of the popular mobile game–piqued my interest.

This past Saturday, Niantic sponsored Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago. And it was a disaster. Trainers waited in three-hour lines to get into the Grant Park–the venue in which Pokemon Go Fest took place. Once trainers got into Grant Park, many were unable to access Pokemon Go because of connectivity issues. Niantic tried to reduce trainers’ angst by refunding all tickets to the event, providing attendees with $100 of in-game credits, and a Lugia.

Seriously. A Lugia.

But that was not enough for some. Tonight, a trainer from California sued Niantic in Cook County Court and is seeking class action status. Although Niantic has fully refunded attendees, this trainer is looking to recover his–along with that of the other 20,000 trainers who attended Pokemon Go Fest–travel costs.

My initial reaction is that this aggrieved trainer will be unable to certify this class. I do not know much about Illinois class action standards. It looks like there are four elements to certify a class in Illinois: (1) numerosity, (2) commonality, (3) adequacy, (4) and a class action is a fair and efficient way to resolve the case. But if Illinois’s requirements are interpreted remotely similar to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a), this trainer will unlikely be able to show commonality with the proposed class members.

Commonality requires a class representative to show his claim is like other class members. I can’t see how one can show commonality to recover for the cost of traveling to an event. There were upwards of 20,000 who attended Pokemon Go Fest. Some were Chicago natives. Trainers from Asia traveled to the event. Others drove. I can’t see how this case can be properly managed with 20,000 people who had varying experiences traveling to Pokemon Go Fest. If the court certifies it will owe some bus fare while it will owe others international plane tickets.

Simply, I don’t expect this class action suit to go very far.