We’ve all heard the catch phrase: Gotta Catch ‘em All. We all know who Pikachu is. We all wish we had a PSA 10 graded Charizard to buy a house. If you were a kid, have kids, or been on the internet at all you know what Pokémon is. And today, February 27th, marks the day that Pokémon turns 30.
Is anyone else picturing Pikachu with back pain?
But in all seriousness, it is an exciting time to be a Pokémon fan. Remakes of Fire Red and Leaf Green (remakes of the original games that came out for the GameBoy Advance) release today. In March we are getting the long awaited emulation of Gale of Darkness and a new frontier in the franchise with Pokopia, a cozy Minecraft meets Animal Crossing adventure where you help design a perfect homestead for you and fellow Pokémon. Just don’t ask what happened to humanity. Some questions are better left unanswered.
In a Steve Jobs level of “one more thing” during today’s direct we got our first look at the tenth generation for Pokemon with Pokemon Winds and Waves. As a Cape Cod native, even though we got this vibe with Sun and Moon, I am hyped for a water based Pokémon adventure. We won’t see the game until 2027, but I appreciate that they will be taking their time with this addition into the franchise. Even the base trailer looks to have a level of polish that hasn’t been seen in a mainline entry for quite some time, though I’m sure the games ratings will land around 7.8/10 (too much water you know?). There’s plenty of excitement and speculation over what will be in this new game, but the only question that will be on my mind in a loop will be which starter to go for? How could you say no to any of those cute faces?
Pokémon means so much to so many people, and of course that includes the dude writing this blog post. These games, anime, comics, and card serves as a corner stone for so many of my most important relationships; my clique in high school, my little sister, my best friend to best man in collage, and of course my wife. My first game was technically Ruby, but my love for the franchise really clicked in high school with Pokémon Platinum on the DS. Practically all of my favorite Pocket Monsters debut in Gen 4. My first team was Glaceon, Garchomp, Lucario, Ninetales, Absol, and my boy Luxury who even made it into the Super Bowl commercial.
But Pokémon means something else entirely to me. It sparked my interest in writing.
In senior year of high school, my friends and I got together to design a web comic creating our own Elite 4 and Pokemon League. We even hosted a tournament to determine who would be the champion of the league. No big deal, but I did happen to win that tournament. Undefeated. Even against an extra player using banned legendaries. But like I said no big deal or anything.
We designed our characters, drafted different teams, and even made an epic mountain rise arena for our Elite 4. We were in graphic design for trade school. My friends Karina and Juliana would be in charge of art. That left me with the story. It was my first crack at writing, and while I now focus on traditional novel formatting, it was cool to tackle a script format that could be easily converted into a comic. The initial chapters centered around my character Charlie, a young executive-to-be ignoring his duties to travel the world with his Pokémon instead (I wonder if this character inspired my catchphrase “I don’t want to go to work today”) where he would meet his to be comrades to form their own Pokémon League. It was action packed, hilarious, and imaginative.
It never saw the light of day in the end. Regardless it still holds a dear place in my heart as the beginning of my writing journey. So many years have passed since I penned it, but maybe I’ll take a peak at the old file. Maybe even write some new chapters, just for me. But today, we play. And there is no better game to play than the (remade) games that started it all.
Can I let you in on a secret though?
…I’ve never beaten a Gen 1 game.
And If I don’t beat Leaf Green this time I’m sure my wife will *@&$^#_!&#T!@______
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