South Park released an episode titled "Chinpokomon" that parodied the silly obsession kids had with Pokemon in the late 90's. Despite its explicitly racist undertones and poking fun at Americans' fixation on large penises, the episode does a spot-on job of ridiculing Pokémon's popularity. The obsession with Pokémon stems from human beings' innate desire to 1. collect everything and 2. get absorbed in whatever fad is popular at the time. As a video game completionist and collector, Pokémon is the perfect (or worst) match for me.
Everyone has heard of Pokémon. But few people have played the games as extensively as I have, and I say this not to brag, but to modestly and self-deprecatingly acknowledge the fact that this is an intellectual property to which I have committed two-thirds of my life. Over the years, my feelings toward Pokémon have shifted between obsession and diluted interest. Companionate affection, a characteristic of successful long-term relationships, ensures that I can never completely abandon Pokémon, no matter how uninspired and redundant it gets. I couldn't care less for the spin-off games, though. Except for Pokémon Snap; that game was awesome.
Pokémon is truly a completionist's nightmare, and no matter how many hours, hundreds if not thousands, that I put into the games, I will never be able to fully finish some of them. I will always feel compelled to fully complete my Pokédex and the postgame content for my selected version of every generation of the main series titles. I always need to obtain the gold trainer card and complete all the sidequests.
Earlier last month, I once again played through the 3DS Virtual Console's release of Pokémon Red version, the very first Pokémon game I ever played in the fall of 1998, for maybe the hundredth time. I also went through every single one of my main files across the seven generations to check off as many items in the Pokémon postgame checklists that I found online. The desire for completion compels me. The same time last year, I replaced the save batteries in my original Gameboy cartridges for the first and second generation Pokémon games (Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal) and played through them again to regain the level of completion I previously had on the save files for those games. For those who don't know, old cartridge-based games relied on internal batteries for save files, which would eventually run dry, as all batteries do, resulting in your previous save file being completely erased.
Imagine this: a person turns on one of their old Pokémon games after many years only to see that all of their progress has been completely erased. What if they had a complete Pokédex? What if they had a legitimate event Mew? What if they wanted their save file to last forever as a reminder of their happy childhood?
Thankfully I had anticipated the death of the batteries and transferred all my Pokémon on those games to my Pokémon Stadium 2 cart, a Nintendo 64 expansion game of sorts and 3D battle simulator that effectively serves as a storage device for one's generation 1 and 2 Pokémon across multiple games. Given this, I still had to replay through my Yellow and Crystal games to reach the level of completion I had before. Thankfully, now there are tools to backup my save files, so even if the new batteries run dry, I will have a way to restore my current save data.
I assume that not everyone would have had as much foresight. Or they probably just don't care about lost data. But for those who do care and are affected, a lost save file can be a great tragedy symbolizing the death of their childhood, a reminder that the past is gone forevermore.
I, on the other hand, see Pokémon games as opportunities to build upon past memories and reflect on previous accomplishments. I have thirteen "diplomas" for my complete Pokédexes across my main Yellow, Crystal, Ruby, Leaf Green, Diamond, Soul Silver, White, Black 2, X, Omega Ruby, Moon, Ultra Moon, and Let's Go Eevee save files. Thankfully, my future Pokédex completions will be facilitated by Pokémon Bank and the upcoming Pokémon Home service, which can transfer all of one's Pokémon from previous games to the upcoming Sword and Shield.
In a way, all of my save files across the seven generations of Pokémon games serve as a record of my life. I can easily recall significant events that occurred during my life when I played each game: generation 1 was fifth grade, generation 2 middle school, generation 3 high school, generation 4 college, generation 5 and 6 my first two years of working full-time, and generation 7 graduate school. Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee came out two weeks before I turned 30.
Generation 1-6 Games
Yet, no matter how many hours I put in the Pokémon games, I'm always left feeling unfulfilled. Is it really necessary to complete everything in these games? No. Is it fun? Not really. Then why do I do it? Even if I complete my Pokédex, there's no way I can collect the shiny form for every single creature without cheating, which I refuse to do. Then there are my ongoing efforts to catch and breed Pokémon with the right natures and IVs/stats so they can be used competitively. And I don't even engage in competitive battling outside of the in-game Battle Towers, Maisons, and Trees. There's EV training and team building, dumb mini-games and items to collect, and not enough time to truly finish absolutely everything in all of these games. What is the point of trying to collect and complete everything? There really isn't any logical reason to it, outside of dopamine releases. People often have unusual hobbies, and completing everything, or as much as I can, in the Pokémon games is one of mine.
There are days when I lament the excessive time I have poured into (some might say wasted on) these games. I could have used those hundreds of hours to go through my bucket list of other video games and books. Then there's the thought that since I've already invested so much time into Pokémon, I might as well persist.
After I played through Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee toward the end of last year, for the first time I seriously considered whether I was getting too old for Pokémon. Yes, it took a lot longer for me than for most. Though I have pondered the possibility before throughout the years, normally I would quickly arrive at the conclusion that it's okay for me to still love Pokémon, even when it felt boring and mind-numbingly repetitive. I have experienced an oversaturation of Pokémon content in my lifetime, and I haven't even watched the Anime episodes past season 3 since 1999 (the show is on season 22 now wtf).
Nevertheless, I still feel excited for the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield. The Galar region appears to be based on Great Britain, which is perfect since I've always been deeply interested in British literature, history, and culture. Also, I really like Corviknight, one of the new Pokémon based on a raven revealed in the Direct. For the longest time, I've waited for Game Freak to create Pokémon based on a panda, wolf, and raven, three of my favorite animals. Generation 6 gave us Pancham and Pangoro. Generation 7 gave us Lycanroc and his three forms. And for Sword and Shield, we will have Corviknight and two legendaries based on wolves: Zacian (it's Sif from Dark Souls!) and Zamazenta. No longer will I have to wait for my panda, wolf, and raven Pokémon. Quoth the raven, "Nevermore." These are small rewards for my nearly lifelong patience. Then of course, there's the new mechanic of dynamax, which allows Pokémon to grow to a Kaiju-level sizes. It's almost too stupid to imagine, but I'm sure some people are excited.
Corviknight: "Nevermore."
Giant Pikachu
I've never met a person in real-life who is as dedicated to Pokémon as I am. Everyone else, from kids to adults, dabble or have dabbled in Pokémon for a short period of time, whether it was playing the first generation games as kids or jumping on the bandwagon of Pokémon Go back in 2016. Recently I was surprised to learn that my elementary students are still collecting Pokémon cards. I was never that into the cards, until last year when I started buying a bunch of them from Ebay of Mewtwo, Darkrai, and some of my other favorites. I also collect Pokémon books, figurines, stuffed animals, and other toys. Pokémon for me is a compulsion.
Nostalgia is profitable, and this is why Pokémon has found so much success. Pokémon Go is a perfect example. Then there's the Detective Pikachu movie. Seeing as the Nintendo Direct for Pokémon Sword and Shield also just aired yesterday, it is safe to say that Pokémon is showing no signs of fading away in popularity anytime soon.
People have repeatedly stated that Pokémon is merely a fad. They said this back in the late 90's, and then again in 2016 when Pokémon Go came out. Maybe for most individuals Pokémon was merely a a transient interest, or a quick nostalgia trip. Lack of commitment on their part, understandably so. Common, very common, and typical; these people are like Ratatas, Zubats, and Bidoofs in the wild.
It's common for people to jump on bandwagons and fads as they come out due to their innate desire for fulfillment, which they desperately hope they can attain by temporarily absorbing themselves in what's popular. It's another thing to be cognizant of one's sincere passion and devotion to a subject while acknowledging its innocent and silly nature.
We'll speak nothing of the zoophilia and sexualization of certain characters in the Pokémon fandom. This video is funny, though.
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