My lubricious readers, I just can't put my finger on what makes Pokemon such a compelling franchise. When Dan first brought home Pokemon Red and the ole gray brick of a Gameboy, I had no idea that I was getting into a 15 year long love affair. The anime had been playing in the US on the WB channel for a few months at this point and I watched it fanatically. I stopped watching the anime about a year later and never looked back, but the games have always come back to sink their hooks in me.
I played my brother's copy of Red at least 5 times. I swapped it with a copy of Blue once and played through it again. I borrowed a copy of Gold from a friend and played through that. I eventually bought a GBA SP just to play Ruby with some friends. I stopped playing for a period here. For one thing, Leaf Green and Fire Red looked like insults to my nostalgia-filled memories of Red and Blue. For another, I was moving out west to go to college and didn't want my roommates to see my toys and correctly guess who I was. And later the DS looked like a weird machine, and no one I knew had anything good to say about Diamond and Pearl, and I never had any money anyway.
I thought I was done with the franchise, but I was kidding myself. While I was letting the new titles come and go, I was secretly playing roms of the old GBA games over and over, every few months or so. "Just for nostlagia's sake," I said. "I never did catch all 150," I reasoned. And while I never did catch all 150, I also never slaked my nostalgia either.
About the time Black and White were coming out, I eventually ran into some roommates who didn't seem so judgmental. In fact, some of them seemed positively more nerdy than I. Next thing I knew, we were syncing up our emulators and having weekly battles. This was a slippery slope. It was further lubricated by my staying in college long enough for the younger students to catch up to my peer group. These folks had no such qualms or reservations about hiding nerdiness. At some point in the later 2000's it became expected and enjoyed instead of ridiculed or hidden.
By the time Pokemon Black and White 2 were coming out, I was feeling distinctly left behind. Sure the new Pokemon were disturbing to my Gen Wunner sensibilities, but I now knew more about the mechanics of the games, the sculpting process that each new title contributed to. Things were happening! Things that could make my Wartortle more interesting, and my Flareon less vulnerable. Things that even recolored my impressions of games I had played before but apparently knew so little about. I denied myself, however. There were still older titles I hadn't yet played. Nuzlockes to discover. I settled on old emulation.
However, when XY came out, my wallet lost the fight. The hype and the new Type and the 3D won me over, and my wife and I each got a copy (along with about half a dozen of our friends). I played that game to death. I learned how breeding worked, what EV training was, and even tried to design some competitive teams on Showdown! Eventually, my friends stopped showing up on the PSS, and I got a little tired of just riding my in-game bike all the time. I put the game down.
And now, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire ate coming out. My fingers itch. I tell myself that I don't need it. I still have the newest version. Sure I loved gen 3's unique tropical environment. Sure Groudon's my favorite legendary Pokemon. I mean, yeah, the talent shows, and the trick house, and hidden bases were all awesome. But come on. How many times do I need to play this game?
How many, indeed?
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