The Problem With Pokemon

Pokémon has always been a part of my life.

I was growing up when the phenomenon first hit; I religiously watched the TV series, begged my parents to take me to the movies, and even dabbled with the trading card game. I fell out of the fandom when the Hoenn region ended-I was getting more into Yu-Gi-Oh! at the time. But now with Pokémon Go exploding into the cultural landscape, Pokémon has once again taken the world by storm. And playing the game has made me think about the anime, which was my first exposure to the franchise.

As I type this, there are over nine hundred episodes of Pokémon. Throughout all the seasons, there has been one constant: Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu.

This is a problem.

Ash's main goal is to become a Pokémon master. Yet time and time again, we see him fall short of that glory and to tell you the truth, it's gotten tiresome. He has to become a master at some point, right? All the feats he's accomplished should at least earn him that title, or hell, a spot in one of the many incarnations of the Elite Four.

Secondly: Ash does not age. At all. He is ten years old when he begins his journey (apparently everyone is cool with child endangerment) and to this day he is ten years old. He has never celebrated a birthday. Is this kid a Highlander or something?

Now I don't hate Ash. Far from it. But there's only so many times you can do the same thing before it gets old. Which is where the games come in.

In every game, there is a different region-and a different protagonist to follow. Imagine what would have happened if the anime followed the same model. Every region would have its own hero, with a different personality and different Pokémon team. Think about the movies too! For the anniversaries you could have the different heroes teaming up.

Now it's not like that approach wasn't dabbled with. In 2013, the Pokémon Origins anime was released, which was a more faithful translation of the Red and Blue games.

I just wish it was done sooner. And stuck to that model for every region. Would have been cool.

The Lowdown

So this is a long time in the making. I more often than not tend to ramble about geek related things on my various social media sites. I thought, "why not have a blog and post all that here?" It's easier, more efficient, and some of my friends have used it to great effect.

Here on this blog you will find:

• Short and not so short essays on various aspects of pop culture
• Cinema With CJ: movie reviews and analysis.
• Rose Colored Glasses: where I look at certain "classics" of geek culture and see if they hold up or not.
• Nerd Court: Taking creators (and sometimes fictional characters) to task.
• Animaniac: In where I watch and revisit anime and cartoons
• Shelf Life: Reviews and analysis of comics and novels.
• The Pitcher's Mound: My takes on franchises.
• A lot of stuff about Spider-Man. Because I like Spidey. A lot. 

Hope you enjoy.