I keep thinking we will reach a point of cultural exhaustion with pokemon – I almost don’t like talking about it anymore because of how ubiquitous it is. I also feel somewhat alienated to what it has become. I don’t know how to describe this without coming across as the most hipster boomer – I have a ton of nostalgia for pokemon, but it feels nothing like what people even 5-7 years younger than me remember. Not to say my experience of it was better, but it’s different enough that I can’t really say I am a pokemon fan, because I am not the type of person that label describes today.
If you go back and look at the toys and media and games about pokemon from the late 90s and early 2000s, the word that comes to mind is “scuffed”. There was copyright, sure, but there was no overarching company producing/overseeing things, no quality control, no sense of cohesion. It was a free for all. Also, it was very specifically targeted at young kids, like 4-11. I hear so clearly that children’s entertainer voice in the writing or the audio. It reminds me of when in 5th grade, on the morning announcements the principal got on to say “Now there will be no more of these pokemans cards out at recess, keep them at home or in your backpacks, if we see them out we will take them until after school. Thank you.” Just like – idk what this goofy thing the kids are going crazy over, something about animals with super powers, i think.
Yet as weird as it is to say, the pokemon weren’t as much the focus at that time- they were in a sense, but an encyclopedic knowledge of them wasn’t really the point. I remember reading that the creator of pokemon based the idea of it on his memory of bug catching as a kid. That matches up pretty well with my memories of playing make believe pokemon with my friends. It was the adventure of it, setting out all alone, exploring nature and going off the beaten path. The search for cute or cool or badass critters was just the context. The gym challenge was the final layer to make it a true hero’s journey – a metaphorical mountain to climb, internally and externally. A journey to become the best, like no one ever was. To prove your metal, you get your team of new pets and…dog fight with them….listen they just faint, they don’t die. :^). But that has all the elements of a 10-year-old’s perfect fantasy.
I’m not sure if it was completely my mom’s influence, but even as a kid I had mixed feelings about making them fight. I really liked the idea of being a breeder like Brock, and finding them jobs – like the firefighting squirtles, or chansey in the hospital. I still wanted the adventure/discovery aspect, though. When my friend who had an N64 showed me Pokemon Snap, I was over the moon. It was perfect! Mew was my favorite pokemon at the time, so having her as the final boss just felt right. The volcano area was also a favorite because lets be real, proportionally there are a ton of cute fire-type guys. And – the music slaps.
I think that adventure part is why Pokemon Go had all the hype it did. The core of what makes pokemon compelling to many many people, particularly millenials, is that fantasy. I need to queue up the “thats my OPINION” vine before I say this, but I don’t think having 1000+ creatures really serves or enhances that vision. Competitive pokemon battling ala WolfeyVGC has a completely separate appeal, and I don’t want to take away from that, but that and the TCG and the mainline games – which sag under the weight of this decades old formula – have come to define what “pokemon” is. None of that is what makes pokemon magical to me.
Really, if I had the star trek holo deck and could just BE Misty, that would probably be ideal. She has that perfect fiesty tomboy personality, and my favorite pokemon – psyduck. Just exploring the world with my cute pets, a boy who I am constantly exasperated by and drives me crazy, but very maybe secretly I have a little crush on (which I am also annoyed by), and a chill, knowledgeable dad type (we can just omit the sex pest part). Add in the bonus of being “harrassed” by the cuntiest trio – a true diva, her flamboyant gay man best friend, and a world weary, chronically anxious talking cat from brooklyn. Sounds like a riot, if I’m being quite honest.
There is something soul crushing about throwing these blogs out to no one, like streaming on twitch to 0 viewers, but I in this case …. I can only imagine the kind of comments I would get for daring to have the tamest personal opinion and experience known to man. There’s something to be said about picking your battles, and pokemon as a topic online is a hornet’s nest you best be very careful with. They can sniff out an outsider, they know someone with the wrong kind of nostalgia in an instant – and so I just say “yeah, I’m not that into pokemon”.
>>robyns_ramblings 