What does Pokemon mean to you?

For me, Pokémon is about possibilities and potential.

When a new generation is unveiled, my mind goes into overdrive thinking about what could be there--what the characters are like, what we'll get to do, what the evil team is like, and so on.

And when all is said and done and "THE END" appears on the console screen, it's really not the end--I think about what could've happened if the story had gone differently, what isn't explained over the course of the adventure, what isn't explained in the Pokeverse as a whole, and more. Sometimes it's fun imagining Pokémon as a completely different genre altogether--so exploring various possibilities is what makes the overall universe resonate with me.

 

Pokémon has such an extensive world, and that's what mostly draws me back in. There are endless possibilities of what pokémon can bring us. I also love to see what each new region has to offer, and the so many different ways that the world of pokémon can parallel ours while still being completely different. Because of the nature of pokémon, it's also so easy to make up pokémon and even whole regions for ourselves. Pokémon may be a simple series of games, but it inspires so much creativity, and that's why I love it.

 

When I think of Pokémon, a few things pop to mind. I typically recall a large region to explore, new Pokémon of shapes, sizes, colors and types to discover, challenges to overcome, a decent length for a main story, and plenty of post game content that will keep me coming back for more. This extends slightly into the side games, new worlds, new challenges, new gameplay that I hope can hold my attention for a playthrough. Only rarely does Pokémon fall below my expectations, but that hurts when it happens.

 

It’s reminds me of simpler times.

Pokémon is so soothing since it’s really laid back. Building your team is extremely satisfying, especially since there’s so many potential Pokémon you could have. And on top of that, growing a connection to your Pokémon is really special and gives you more immersion into the game.

Pokémon is a great series and will always hold a special place in my heart but game freak really should try to not do what they did with SnS again. It wasn’t bad but it felt so underwhelming compared to the other games.

 

Inspiration and imagination.

Honestly, Pokémon is the reason why I draw today. If I hadn't played the original GBC games, I wouldn't have ever wanted to design my own Pokémon trainer and team. Pokémon is dear to my heart and because of this, I have not only continued to enhance my drawing skills but I gained more opportunities to meet other people of all ages and become friends with them. The friends I've found all had personas and characters based off the series itself, which in turn, made me happy to get the chance to talk to them about my own characters.

I could go on, but yes. Pokémon really means a lot. And I've enjoyed the RPs I've done, the characters I've played and created, and the worlds we've formed around the world of Pokémon.

 

NOTE: There's some talk about this game being an unhealthy obsession for me here. I mention this to say that I don't encourage things like this, as they have negatively effected my life in several ways.

It's strange, because Pokémon has influenced me in so many ways, yet I don't feel nearly as much attachment to it as I used to.

When I was either four or five, I was introduced to either one episode of the DPPt Pokémon anime or the game Pokémon Battle Revolution. I can't remember which came first, I'm thinking it's the former, but whichever one it was instantly hooked me. I'll still hold by the fact that Pokémon is a fantastic concept for a game that was executed very well. It helps that the Pokémon themselves, with some exceptions, have fantastic designs in a vacuum. There was no single Pokémon that hooked me rather than just all of it, although I did have favorites back then.

As my childhood progressed, I loved the games more and more. I got into collecting cards, watched the new anime episode every morning, and spent a massive portion of my video game time playing Pokémon. Because I was kind of a jerk when I was a kid, I would get pissed off at people if they didn't want to talk about Pokémon with me. I had made little books out of just paper that had little Fakemon in them, all of which were poorly designed but that's beside the point. This game was my life for several years.

At one point though, things started to shift. Something about the show clicked in my brain that made me say "this show is annoying" at around the middle of BW, and I got less interested in the trading card game around then as well. However, around then was the time that I learned about Pokémon Showdown, and that was where most of my days went at that point.

I remember for an entire summer I would just spend every day on Pokémon Showdown. I would spend almost all of that time in the Trivia room playing Pokémon trivia and talking about random stuff with the others there, as it was a community much like this one where the active members were consistent. My name was "Ask Duosion" there, which is how the name Duo stuck. I'd eventually talk in the Lobby as well for general Pokémon discussion, and I'd occasionally either shiny hunt or build teams and play with them on Pokémon X and Y while talking.

Remember when I mentioned me making Fakemon books? Well, a few months after the aforementioned summer, that had a big resurgence. I had remembered watching a few awesome pixel art videos a few years back and wanted to try it myself, and while my attempt back then was unsuccessful, I tried it again on that Halloween around five years ago. I made around five Pokémon fusions and I was extremely proud of them. I showed them to all of my friends, and I kept this passion to this day, where I now sprite things fully from scratch.

Soon after, me wanting to play Pokémon Showdown died out. At the same time, by coincidence, I was moving out of state, and I only rarely keep in contact with even a single friend from my old hometown. It stung, but I made new friends, and those friends were super interested in Nintendo. You wanna know what game I played with them the most? Smash 4, of course. Pokémon was more of a side thing we did from time to time, as literally all of my friends liked it, but none of them took it super seriously. We didn't battle much, but it was still enough time to 6-0 people with my Dragon Dance Scrafty or Physically Defensive Sylveon. Still another string by which I connected with my friends.

I really hadn't latched onto anything big with Pokémon for a while. I shiny hunted from time to time, but that was mostly on the side, and after a while I barely cared about the shinies I got. I also was still breeding Pokémon but never battled them. That was until Sun and Moon came out and I decided to check out Smogon's forums to see what the community thought of the new Pokémon. I never did end up posting in that part of the forums and instead became attached to another side of the forums that will take me a long time to elaborate, but to summarize, it's about creating new Pokémon Showdown formats and is largely centered around discussion.

After this, I also got a bit more into draft leagues, but I honestly don't know why I did. Every time I won I hardly cared, every time I lost it was crushing, especially given my bad temper. I still did have some great moments from those, though. Whimsicott is one of my all-time favorite Pokémon solely because of the amount of teams I was able to stall out with its SubSeed set in a certain league. Eventually, I realized that they just weren't for me. I did power rankings for a league and had significantly more fun with it even if I struggled to keep on schedule.

It's also worth mentioning that as time has progressed and I've gotten older, the release periods for Pokémon games have become more and more exciting. Black and White I hardly cared to keep track of despite my addiction to the games back then, X and Y were really cool, Sun and Moon were even better and Sword and Shield was fantastic. I still enjoy playing these games through just for fun as well, whether it be through Nuzlockes or just regular playthroughs.

So, that's about where I stand today. Taking a step back at this made me realize that I enjoy discussing Pokémon more than anything else, aside from casual playthroughs. Battling feels unfulfilling, shiny hunting lost its magic for me, and I never really knew how to play the card game. For those of you on Team Wisdom, that's why I've made a writeup for each week - I genuinely love talking about this game, and it's especially great that it can be helpful to others. One thing I'm confident won't die out is my passion for Fakemon because I love Pokemons' designs and I love being able to get creative with my take on my own, even if I think Game Freak's are much more intricate and probably objectively better. It may have had a huge negative impact on the way I am today, but I still can't hate it for all the time I've spent with it.

 

"We’re still so far away from where we want to be, but with you, I could stay right here for the rest of my life…"

For me, Pokémon is more than the games, the world, the people and the plot. 'Tis the feeling that lies beneath all this which appeals to me the most…
The feeling when you open up a fresh new game with your friends, or when you plan a road trip together…
The feeling when you run through fields as a child without a care in the world…
The feeling when you set foot in a new place, not knowing what to expect…
The feeling when you first encounter the person who will become your best friend…
The feeling when you find the group that just 'clicks'; that you know will be the people who you want to be with for the rest of your life…
The feeling when you and your friends finally graduate after years of hard work…
The feeling when you meet new acquaintances, reach for new goals…
The feeling when, after years apart, your old friend group comes back together…
The feeling when, in your last years, you find one game that started it all…
And the multitudes of interconnected stories like this in the world, each just waiting to be shared; to be heard…
A journey together with a circle of souls so diverse and unique, yet so closely knit as if related by blood; persevering hand-in-hand against all odds, through the good times and bad yet never permanently losing the smile on each one's faces… To me, that is the true spirit of Pokémon: an adventure of friendship!

"There's a movie on TV. Four boys are walking on railroad tracks… I'd better go too."

 

There are 2 of these to me.

The first perspective is to look at the games and anime which in my eyes are the core of the series.

I love the games for the expansive worlds and vast array of Pokémon. You virtually never run out of stuff to do and for the record I think of that as an experience that I can always come back to.

The anime (while in more recent editions has fallen slightly out of favor with me) has it's charm and I can see why many a person still follow it and even enjoy it more as their appreciation for the series as a whole grows.

The second perspective is about fan works and content creation.

This side of the gate is also very much a vital portion of what makes us a community whether it's from creating OC Pokémon (I have a lot of those) Stories, fan games and or rom hacks, or fan art and video series on various platforms it is certainly one thing I look forward to. But that's me enjoying the creative direction of fans and that is something other communities do well also.