Catch most of 'em

By Sarah Tereniak
Collegian Staff
November 8, 2006

It’s impossible to forget the Pokémon explosion. It was every little kid’s dream: animals with funny names that lived in red-and-white balls and would come out and fight other animals whenever you wanted them to. The TV show naturally led to cards, video games and much more.

I was into the Pokémon craze as much as the next kid. I had all the cards, but the TV show was undoubtedly my favorite part of the whole deal. Who didn’t love watching Ash Ketchum run around and get badges on his quest to become a Pokémon Master? He had two best (human) friends, Misty and Brock, and he had his trusty Pokemon sidekick, Pikachu. Ash had everything. I was pretty jealous. I think a lot of people were.

The Pokémon world was thrilling. It was an alternate reality that every kid wished he or she could be a part. Instead of going to school, Ash and the other kids, when they turned 11-years-old, set off on their own and sought their fortunes. Why the creators of Pokémon thought it would be a cool idea to have parents in the show sending their 11-year-old children into the world with no adult supervision, I don’t know. Just because those kids got to have a bunch of crazy animals as pets didn’t make them any more mature than kids in the “real world.” But it was still cool enough that I began asking my parents to let me be more independent about an annoyingly large number of things.

Almost every kid I knew was obsessed with Pokémon and could hardly wait until the new episodes would air on Saturday mornings (or maybe I just hung out with a bunch of nerds). It was usually the only thing I looked forward to every week. I don’t know why it meant so much to me. The whole Pokémon concept is really pretty stupid, but I guess I couldn’t see that back in fifth grade. The legacy has lasted, however. Pokémon is still alive and kicking, and kids who are the age I was when I was enraptured are just as devoted. They love the same things about Pokémon that I did: becoming intimate with a different world, a fantasy land.

I was flipping channels early one morning over the summer and came across an old episode of Pokémon-—one of the really old ones. It was probably from the first season that it ever aired. I laughed as I watched, remembering how ridiculously dedicated I had been to the show, but at the same time, I felt nostalgic about it. It was a good time to be a kid. Maybe I’ll buy some episodes on DVD and attempt to “catch ’em all” just one more time.

tereniaks1@lasalle.edu