Why am I not happy with Pokemon?

[Juxapose]

I have a confession. 

Before the days that I spent untold hours playing Harvest Moon, I was a Pokemon Fanatic. It's true! I still remember the days when I memorized the names and numbers of all 252 Pokemon from Red/Blue/Yellow/Silver/Gold/Crystal versions. I still have the Togepi Pokemon ball and gold plated card from Burger king. I loved everything about Pokemon. I used to love the show, I loved the games, and I especially loved the trading card game. I was a genuine Pokemon freak before a Harvest Moon master. 

However, Pokemon and I had a rough past, especially while transitioning into the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald versions. Like Harvest Moon, Pokemon doesn't seem to know when to stop/think/plan or understand what the series is all about. Marketing and the need to pump out games/cartoons/cards to make tons of money off a once successful franchise had made the series mediocre and unpleasant in many ways. 

Like the Harvest Moon report I made earlier, I will talk about what turned me off on the series. Once again, a disclaimer:

I am not writing this to turn anyone off of the series. This is not a debate or argument, just my own experiences and feelings in the series. I understand that there are still people who like Pokemon, and I am not out to offend anyone. I used to be a Pokemon fan just like anyone else, so I once was in the same ship as any other fan.

[Juxapose]

My experience of Pokemon started in 1998. Pokemon was new, and like most people, I also thought it was a fad that will die out quickly (Like pogs). But one fateful day, I got my hands on Pokemon Blue version FOR FREE! Since I did enjoy the RPG genre, I decided to give it a try. I was hooked! Soon after that, I bought my first booster back of Pokemon cards. My first pull earned me a Clefable of the Jungle series. I had no idea how to play the game, and I just made up the rules for a while. But still, I had fun. Then I saw the Pokemon series on TV. Seeing the Pokemon I collected on the TV was exciting. 

After playing for a while, I got into the "Gotta Catch 'Em All" phase of the series. I had to get 150 Pokemon. Then I heard of Mew, Pokemon # 151. I had to have it. SO I joined the league, and found someone who had the Pokemon, And alas, the collection was complete. The ending was quite lackluster, but I completed the Pokemon Mission. 

Then I got into the cards. By this time, the fossil series came out, and I had the chance to collect the whole 150 pokemon cards. The task was much harder than the game, since getting a Charizard card was nearly impossible. I also never found a Venasaur or Blastoise card either. I had mostly everything else. But I became very good at the card game. Only one person always defeated me, and it was a boy my age with a bunch of Chansey cards. Once again, I had a blast.

Nothing much to say abut the TV series, except that I loved it. I also loved the Pokemon movies that came out in theatres. Collected the rare cards, bought the DVD's, and they made Mewtwo and the legendary birds as my favorite Pokemons in the whole series. I was also a Eevee fan, though everyone loved Pikachu.

[Juxapose]

Of course, Pokemon Silver and Gold came out, and these games became my favorite out of the series. But even so, things didn't quite add up along with the rest of the series. They added 101 new pokemon, which I also memorized and cherished. But I had a lot of questions that needed to be answered. Where did these new pokemon come from? In Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, it was told the absolute rule that only 150 Pokemon exist. (With some minor exceptions which told that some Pokemon were never discovered. Mew, Ho-Oh, Lugia, Togepi, Togetic were among the pokemon not discovered.)

But with Gold/silver/platinum came a massive plothole. Now we have 3 new starter pokemon (Chikorita, Cindaquil, Totodile) with no explanation as to where they came from (Forget the idea that Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur still haven't found where can they be found in the wild). Now we are hit with a whole new breed of Pokemon. Pokemon native to the Morning, Pokemon native to the evening, Pokemon babies, new Pokemon evolutions, Pokemon only found in specific "Seasons", and just plain new pokemon commonly found in the wild. 

How did Professor Oak miss 100 breeds of Pokemon? Did nobody know that another continent exist? And oddly that some new Pokemon only exist in the old continent (Houndour/Houndoom) How did you only just discover Steel and Dark type when they always existed in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow? I don't know, none of this made sense.

What I did love (ignoring the obvious plothole) was that Pokemon Gold and Silver's story is a continuation of Red and Blue. Team rocket tries to resurface, old friends are older and stronger, and the main characters of the old games have roles in the new game. Blue is a Gym Leader, and Red is the final Pokemon Trainer you battle. 

I went ahead, and tried to catch them all again. Never could do it. Entei, Raikou, and Suicune made it impossible to complete that mission. I did get to see the ending after catching 252 pokemon, but it was just as lackluster as the original games.

[Juxapose]

Ruby and Sapphire came out. I was like, "WTF? More Pokemon??"

I didn't play the games till years later. I was already a Harvest Moon fan by this. The idea that there were more pokemon just turned me off. But I gave it a chance eventually. Big mistake.

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire do not have the same charm as Gold and Silver. The original Pokemon Red/Blue storyline died, and we have some sort of new story with Team Magma and Team Aqua. That is not bad, but they do not connect the story of the other past 6 games. This made the new 3 games disconnected, and it felt like a cheap knock-off of the pokemon series as opposed to a third entry to the series. Once again, NEW pokemon that were NEVER discovered in the past games run wild and commonly in the third set of games. I don't remember how many exactly, but I think there were more than 100 new pokemon. Old Pokemon rarely existed in this new continent, and they expect me to roll with it. I didn't.


I still completed the games, and was massively dissapointed. I could not travel to the older continents, now I have 9 pokemon I don't know how to catch in the wild. And I could NOT upload my old pokemon into the new games. I had to buy a new set of Pokemon games (Fire red/Leaf Green) in order to get my favorite pokemon into Ruby Sapphire. And what about Gold and Silver? 

By this time, I gave up on the Pokemon series. Now we have MORE pokemon games (Diamond/Pearl, Black/White, Black2/White2, X/Y). This will never end, and never stop. The games cannot come up with a logical explanation as to why more than 500 pokemon were NEVER discovered in Red/Blue. And everything living, fictional, non living, and godlike now has to be a pokemon in some way. When Ice Cream is now a Pokemon, I can no longer take the game seriously. 

Will I try these new games out eventually? Maybe. Maybe I've missed out on some great games. But that seed that was planted back in 1998 will always remain, why are the new pokemon never discovered in Red/Blue when everyone trips over them commonly?

[Juxapose]

Now, lets talk about the anime series.

I liked the series a lot, but I became tired of it over the years. It's always ash, ash, ash, ash, never ending ash's quest to collect them all and be a master. What's the problem? I liked the first few sewsons when Ash was in the Kanto region, and lost to the Elite four. Then the Orange islands came in, and the series was still OK. But when Pokemon Jhoto League came out, things stopped being interesting. I wanted to see Ash ascewnd to the Pokemon Master, and the next generation of Pokemon trainer take his place (Like in pokemon Gold and Silver). But they kept Ash and Pikachu with new characters. I don't remember when Misty left the series, but that was a total let down for me. I LOVED Misty, and looked forward to the day she married Ash. 

I even started a Fanfic where Misty marries Ash, and Ash's son I named Hiro moved on to continue where Ash left off. The setting would be in the Johto region, and a new adventure unfolded as Hiro discovered new pokemon and friends in his journey. But now that Ash DOESN"T become the pokemon master, I just lost interest. Ash also moves on to all the other regions, and goes on a never ending quest to be a master which he never becomes. Never mind that ASH never gets older (Actually, someone told me that Ash actually gets YOUNGER!!!!!!!!). Ash meets new girls he will never date, and this is so unpleasant. One thing I noticed that Ash's voice actor changes, which is quite jarring. 

I did follow the movies up to the sixth one. I liked or loved all the movies until number six. I no longer follow the Pokemon movies either.

[Juxapose]

Finally the card game.

I loved the card game up to the Dark Pokemon came around. Everything after that has left an empty hole in me that stinks, and will never go away. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the cards, especially the new ones. BUT, it was the rules that grinded my gears.

During my experience with the Trading Card game, most Pokemon cards were fair game. When the gym series came around, things changed. All of the sudden, they want to ban old cards every single year in order to force card players to buy more cards. Even though the rule book clearly states even today that all cards is usable in the pokemon TCG as long as all the cards regardless of year has the same back graphic. But the League wants to have their own set of rules, and the tournament wants to adapt their own rules too.

Home rules are solid considering that there is a rule book that gets updated every generation. However, leagues and tournaments can change rules and ban any cards at any time for any reason. If a player has an unbeatable deck, cards get banned. If a card is unclear, rules are changed or card gets banned. If a rule allows anyone to be a champion, rules get dropped and re-established later (I still didn't get this one). In other words, Pokemon TCG have no true solid rules, and they change to allow who they choose to win when they want to.

What breaks my heart about this rule changing nonsense is that I used to bring my nephew and niece 2 years ago to the league. A rule changed, and it made my nephew's deck which he poured his whole allowance to get worthless. He was only 9 years old dominating the Pokemon league in Livingston NJ. He quit the league when the rules changed on him.

[Juxapose]

In conclusion, Pokemon started off being a great way to interact with the world through trading, battling, and the typical conversation of the Pokemon World. Cute Pokemon that we collected and battled one another to go on our own Pokemon journey. Who was the best? Who had the best deck? Who stayed up 14 consecutive weekends to level up their Pokemon to 100 and be the strongest trainer?

All these died when the series got jumbled with Pikachu EVERYTHING, over 700 Pokemon many no longer care about, Ash's journey that never goes anywhere, and a trading card game that has no true set of rules. My childhood was ruined, and all of my friends who also loved pokemon now see it as the "Dorky" part of their lives which they would rather forget then glorify.

But I still remember those days when Pokemon was good. I still have that copy of Pokemon Blue that was given to me so many years ago. I still have 3 binders of Pokemon Cards. And the Togepi Gold Plated card is still my trophy of my past days. And I still wait for the day when Ash returns home, and asks Misty to marry him.

I still want to write that fanfic that I started yet never finished. Maybe I'll buy a copy of Fire red/Leaf Green, and a copy of Heart Gold/Soul Silver. Maybe I'll look into Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and see where it'll take me.

[Butterscotch]

I would really recommend Heart Gold/Soul Silver. It has everything I loved about the original Gold/Silver/Crystal and updated it and really improved it. SS is my favorite Pokemon game. You might like Diamond/Pearl/Platinum and Black/White, if you can ignore the whole hundreds of new Pokemon thing. I'm kind of disappointed by Black 2, but most fans really like them. I'm going to give it another chance soon, actually. 

A lot of people feel the same way as you about R/S/E. They're my least favorites as well, except for maybe B2. I don't dislike them exactly, but there was something lacking.

[Juxapose]

If I had to say ONE good thing about Ruby/Sapphire is the battle between the main char and his/her father. I liked that battle because it reminded me about a chapter of the fanfic that I never finished. The epic battle between Child vs Parent, and the emotional toll it takes to fight your best against your own blood. Other than that, the game was bad.

BTW, did anyone get the whole Pokemon talent show thing? I never got it. I'm sure there was a trick to it, but I lost interest, and didn't care to look it up. And is it in the future games?

[Butterscotch]

Feb 24, 2013 19:02:18 GMT -5 Juxapose said:

BTW, did anyone get the whole Pokemon talent show thing? I never got it. I'm sure there was a trick to it, but I lost interest, and didn't care to look it up. And is it in the future games?

You mean the contests? They return as Super Contests in in D/P/P and are replaced by the Pokeathlon in HG/SS and Pokemon Musicals in B/W and B2/W2. The musicals are pretty pointless, but are fun. 

[Simfarmguru]

Considering this: n4g.com/news/1182569/pokemon-celebrates-17th-anniversary-today
...and how OLD it makes me feel to see it, I can't help but be amused I found this post today as well. So, let me join in.

I started Pokemon with Red on my beloved Gameboy Color, the first system I bought with my own money(I have played others and owned the first Gameboy, but it was a gift). I fell in love immediately. I have warm memories of my first experience beating the Elite Four with my almighty Charizard(fear my wrath!) and of trading Pokemon back and forth with a friend at school that I got hooked as well! I remember watching the anime with my nephew and falling in love with it's quirky-ness and with Ash's sometimes blindly stupid exploits, particularly as I was rather like him when playing the games sometimes. As such when Yellow came out, I was hooked and still own my copy and adore it. Hopefully IT gets a remake too someday. Then came Silver and Gold and everything just seemed to get bigger and better. Color, time, calls, swarms, Steel/Dark, friendship, eggs, the shining glitch, even the fact that it was still possible to "Catch 'em All"! I remember being in love with the Pokemon movies, killing time many a Sunday afternoon watching the new ones on Cartoon Network. But with Crystal, my interests waned. Yes, the girl/boy choice was cute, but I'd been imagining my characters as girls since day one. Heck, I wrote whole stories(never to see the light of day)pairing her with Lance, my eternal favorite Dragon Master! The extra bit about Suicine was OK, but overall I just didn't feel it. So I never bought another. I've played Ruby, FireRed, and Pearl, only FireRed interested me for it's nice remake. I HAVE bought SoulSilver and since my hubbie bought HeartGold, I intend to try to "Catch 'em all" one last time. But I must agree with my hubbie now. "This is the last Pokemon game I'll buy" he said. And unless Yellow gets a remake, it will be for me as well.

The anime piss me off as well. I feel like I'm watching a Trix commercial for the bazillonth time. "GIVE ASH HIS MASTER-SHIP ALREADY!!!" Geez.

The card game...I'm a very late comer, it's an AWESOME game, but "official" league rules have kept me from playing any TCG on an official level. I have this issue with WoW cards which I really liked and still own. But they keep banning "old" card as well. And then Blizzard went and changed card companies, so guess what? Entire collections wiped out overnight!!! But I'll steer clear of the Warcraft Black Hole there least Jux ceases to be the only person with multi-post rants on favorite fandoms gone bad(JK JUX! I sincerely love your posts, but if I start on that one, it'll never end!)

Yeah, Pokemon has come a long way, and I give them credit for living past the fad phase, but at this point, it's aging, not at all gracefully.

[Juxapose]

What bugs me about Pokemon is that the series had so much potential. Using some of the ideas of the first couple titles, Pokemon can refine and expand on those ideas to make a lifelike breathing world of Pokemon. The portable pokemon games constantly focuses on the whole Pokemon Trainer bit over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (You get the idea.)

Being the pokemon master had it's moment of glory in Pokemon R/B/Y & S/G/P. Now adays, continuing the whole trainer tradition is like beating a long dead skeleton. The idea is old, and they need to focus on the other things that make pokemon. If they wanted to make a long string of games where you're trying to be a Pokemon master and nothing else, the game should have been called "Pokemaster" not "Pokemon".

Back in the days, I was so looking forward to games that either met or exceeded my imagination when it came to the world of Pokemon. The series has so far underwhelmed me that I just gave up quickly. How many times will we keep defeating the elite four before everyone stands together and say "Enough!"

[Butterscotch]

Isn't that what the various side games are about? I don't really follow them, I mainly follow the main series, which I still find enjoyable. *shrugs*

I think the Pokemon series has made some great leaps forward recently and there are lots of interesting innovations.

[Juxapose]

Mar 10, 2013 21:12:47 GMT -5 Butterscotch said:

Isn't that what the various side games are about? I don't really follow them, I mainly follow the main series, which I still find enjoyable. *shrugs*

I think the Pokemon series has made some great leaps forward recently and there are lots of interesting innovations.

True, but most of them don't follow the same system as the main string of games. And the side games don't really advance the story, just borrows the concept of the main games. I'm saying that I would throw my money on Pokemon X and Y if and only if they don't do the whole Pokemon Mastery story again. I am sick and tired of Collecting badges, and beating the elite four AGAIN! I already beat them over a half dozen times in different games, and it's obvious that as long as your Pokemon is over-leveled, they suck.