Gotta Catch Em All

I am aware that I am nineteen years old, but that doesn’t stop me from telling you about my early days of being obsessed with Pokemon. I had a valid excuse, being the proper age to get hooked on it. Created in 1995 [I was 5 years old at the time], Pokemon, today, is the second “most successful video game-based media franchise in the world.” Of course it can’t beat the ever so popular Mario series, but it’s up there.

To give a brief run down of the typical Pokemon “synopsis,” “Players of the games are designated as Pokémon Trainers, and the two general goals (in most Pokémon games) for such Trainers are: to complete the Pokédex by collecting all of the available Pokémon species found in the fictional region where that game takes place; and to train a team of powerful Pokémon from those they have caught to compete against teams owned by other Trainers, and eventually become the strongest Trainer, the Pokémon Master. These themes of collecting, training, and battling are present in almost every version of the Pokémon franchise.”

Pokemon Red and Blue, the first two RPG games to be released in North America, came out in 1998 [I was 8 years old at the time]. I remember the day that my father took my brother and I to “Toys R Us” and we went into the electronics section. I was so excited to be a little eight year old and get a pokemon game. Odd thing was that we got the games before we got the systems. Seeing as their were two versions, red and blue, my brother got one [red], while I took the other [blue].

I remember waiting in the car while my brother had his transparent gameboy pocket, playing the game. Being the selfish little kid I was, I complained and demanded that I get “my turn.” Finally playing, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. After I think a few days, I ended up getting the Original Gameboy.

Pokemon was a huge hit for every kid my age. I don’t quite remember the grade I was in, but I believe around the 4th grade I was well into my Pokemon card collecting, as I remember bringing my Rare Holographic Charizard card to school to show all my friends [and make them jealous]. I remember my first pack of Pokemon cards, while I was at the mall with my mother and brother. We were originally supposed to be shopping for clothes, but somehow ended up convincing my mom to buy us some. If only I had known how much of my life it would encompass, and not to mention parents money, I would have strayed from it [and all Collectible Card Games]

Lastly, I remember my brother and I asking our dad to wake us up at 6:00am to be able to go in the den and watch the Pokemon television series. Looking back, we didn’t see many of the episodes. I guess I wasn’t a fan of waking up at that time back then. My best friends, Sam and Grady, whom also happened to be my neighbors for a solid 14 years of my life, were also obsessed with this franchise. We’d always do anything related to Pokemon. I believe the most absurd and slightly embarrassing thing I can recall is walking around the neighborhood with my brother and best friends and Role Playing ourselves in a pokemon world.

It seems that innocence, as well as ignorance, is bliss. As an innocent child, life was great. The world didn’t expect anything of you, girls still had “cooties,” school was a breeze, and money wasn’t an issue [that you were aware of]. I do miss those days. Nostalgia doesn’t help either.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSEfr7wNYrI&feature=channel_page[/youtube]