Pokémon and Me

15 Mar, 2011

I guess I’ve wanted to write about Pokémon for a while. If anything, just to clear up my thoughts and perhaps decide whether I could possibly get back into it, or the games more specifically. Like any 90s kid, I was taken in by the Pokémon craze and it quickly became my favourite TV show. I really have no idea why the TV show was so fascinating to me. I even owned (and enjoyed) the first three feature films. A while ago I watched the hilarious Nostalgia Critic review Pokémon: The First Movie and obviously he wasn’t too fond of it. He admitted that Pokémon wasn’t a nostalgic show for him since he was an 80s kid, but every point he made about the movie, I really couldn’t disagree with. The three protagonists at the time, Ash, Brock and Misty, all had no personality and the dialogue at times was just abysmal. Someone who is new to Pokémon could not watch the first movie and understand what is happening, since there is little to no explanation. Finally, the major moral that the film tries to get across at the end is that fighting is wrong…baring in mind that all these people do is get their Pokémon to battle and fight each other. I guess the anime series and films are just targeted towards children, since I loved the first film as a kid. It’s amazing what effect time can have on perspective.

I was also very much into the trading card game. That is, I collected the cards and that was about it, since I’m fairly sure nobody actually knew how to play that game. Still, the thrill of buying a pack of cards, the anticipation of opening up to see what new Pokémon I had. Always hoping that there would be a “shiny” in there somewhere; at the end of the day though, it was just another bunch of Ratatas, Magikarp, Geodudes and…*sigh*…Zubats.

I got the occasional decent card though; Charizard being the highlight of my deck and I remember somehow getting both Electabuzz and Dragonite after seeing Pokémon: The First Movie at the cinema. Pretty sneaky I must say. Eventually as time went on and the prices of packs grew insanely, I, along with most people, decided to put the cards down. I believe I still have them somewhere back at home; holding firm the belief that one day they’ll be worth a fortune.

Of course, my main love of Pokémon was the handheld game series. I had one of the original Game Boys, essentially a grey brick in your hand, and I believe the only game I played on it was Pokémon Blue (and maybe some Tetris). I was amazed and excited that I could have my own Pokémon journey and show that Ash kid how it’s really done. I could collect every Pokémon, become a master, and all within the palm of my hands. I hazard to think how many AA batteries I must have got through, the original Game Boy needed 4 of them and I was on this thing a lot. My brother had to out do me though, by getting the special yellow Game Boy Pocket with Pokémon Yellow (smug little bas-). I really did love Pokémon Blue though. All 151 Pokémon, just there, waiting to be caught. The great feel of triumph as you beat all 8 gym leaders, the Elite Four and then of course, your rival (aka the shortest reigning Pokémon Champion in history). Add to this the ability to trade and battle with your friends and experience the infamous MissingNO glitch, ahhh…good times.


Truly epic.

Then Pokémon Gold and Silver came along, I didn’t get this game straight away, and ended up buying it when I got my Game Boy Advance. Again, I loved this game. I was open to the idea of adding more Pokémon at this point, it meant a new adventure was possible. The 2nd Generation games added lots more features like a real-time day and night cycle, specialised Poké Balls and Poké Gear (although having trainers ring you all the time for a rematch got slightly irritating). For me, this game didn’t quite have the charm of Pokémon Red and Blue, to this day I still can’t remember if I actually finished Pokémon Gold or not. It was still a very good game though, I think the fact that I was growing up definitely had an influence on me and may have been the reason I didn’t finish Gold.

This is really when I stopped playing Pokémon games and stopped associating myself with the franchise altogether, to be honest. I’m not entirely sure why. I assume it’s a combination of the fact that I was getting older, and also because everyone my age seemed to give up on Pokémon at roughly that time. When I heard that another generation of Pokémon games were being made and more Pokémon would be added, this somewhat decided it for me. I had this idea in my head that 251 Pokémon was enough and Gold/Silver were good enough games to end on.

The years went by and more games were made. I drifted further and further away from Pokémon to the point where I had almost forgot about it completely. However, when I got to university and I saw that Pokémon Red and Blue were being remade, it got my attention. I think that being in my first year at university, living away from home for the best part of a year for the first time, generally feeling like a grown up for the first time, had a strange effect on me. I’m probably not the only person who has reacted to university/living away from home like this; I guess I almost receded to my childhood at times. My first year at university was an important time and made me look back on my life occasionally. I started drawing again, which I still do when I get the time, I wanted to talk to my friends back home all the time and I missed my childhood hobbies. Obviously a big hobby, within gaming, was playing Pokémon. I did some research on LeafGreen and FireRed as well as the other games I had missed, just to see if I really had missed out, I was quite surprised by what I found. Quite often forums and video game stream chats would mention Pokémon games; and I found that they still have a huge following. Not just with new gamers, but with people my age and even older fans who had played every Pokémon game, I was pretty shocked.

I was under the impression that people my age and above, simply couldn’t play Pokémon games anymore because they are aimed at children and it would be embarrassing to still play them. If I had still been playing Pokémon games throughout my GCSEs and A-Levels, I would guarantee that I would have been made fun of. I’m glad though, I mean, why shouldn’t people my age and above still play Pokémon? I loved Blue and Gold, they were great games, why should age stop me, or anyone else, from enjoying the rest of the series?


*facepalm*

However, I still never really got back into the franchise properly, I have managed to play the games that I missed, but for each one I just ended up forgetting about them and/or cheating (shameful, I know). For me, they haven’t really added anything special, just more Pokémon. I have to admit though, Pokémon Black and White do look good. I’ve looked at reviews and they really seem like good games. One of the things that really interests me about Black and White is that you can only encounter the new Pokémon until you beat the Elite Four. In a sense, someone entirely new to the franchise could pick up this game and start playing. Concurrently, someone who has been away from the franchise, like myself, can pick up the game and treat it as a fresh introduction to the series. I understand that plenty more features have been added too like additional battle modes, cutscenes and a generally better story and look to the game.

I’ve decided not to buy Black/White though, since I don’t have a DS and there are already plans for new Pokémon games to be released on the 3DS. Will I buy a 3DS and the next Pokémon game? I still don’t know. I guess getting all of this out hasn’t really helped me decide, but it’s nice to be able to express my current thoughts and opinions on the franchise. Time will either drive me further away from the idea or make me want the game more than any other in a long time.