The internet is awash with Pokemon memes at the moment, probably something to do with everyone simultaneously figuring out that you can emulate a Gameboy on your Android 'phone. If you're not following me, you probably need to trade in your Nokia 3310.
Do you remember your first Pokemon? I don't. It was a hideously long time ago, and only now have I realised just how long ago it was. When I unwrapped Pokemon Red on Christmas Day 2000, I was a week shy of my ninth birthday. Ash Ketchum was ten, and whereas he has remained unaffected by the march of time, I am now twenty years old, and have a lot more to worry about than Team Rocket's nefarious schemes.
When I was nine, my Squirtle and I skipped through the monochrome two-dimensional world of Kanto, capturing small animals wherever we went, and occasionally pausing to deal with curiously inept master criminals. Now that I'm twenty, I wish studying for my electromagnetism exam was anywhere near as easy as exploiting Lt. Surge's ridiculous type disadvantage/close proximity to a cave specialising in Digletts.
With Pokemon turning out not to be the fad our parents and teachers hoped and expected it to be, I guess we can still be grateful. With Black and White 2 coming to the EU this Autumn, our quest to catch them all seems like it will never end.
That's the problem, really. I don't have the time I used to. Despite numerous confiscations (which have had some rather sad consequences that I will get onto later), many happy days and nights were spent in the world of Pokemon. However, back then I was nine, and impatient, and really not very good at it.
I've never caught them all. I have a cartridge of Pokemon Pearl which is only a few Pokemon shy of the entire Sinnoh dex, but I've not touched it in months. Despite owning Red, Blue and Yellow, along with a Gameboy Colour and a GBA, I never managed to get anywhere near the original 150.
I know what happens. Professor Oak just says "Well done" and you go unrewarded for your ridiculously time-consuming endeavours. However, it's the idea of it, that childhood quest that went unfulfilled that has made me more determined than ever to finally catch 'em all.
Now I bring you to the sad news- the terrible consequences of confiscation. I have no idea where nearly all of my games are. Out of the eighteen main titles, I have at some point owned Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Ruby, Sapphire, LeafGreen, Pearl, SoulSilver and White.
Gold gave up the ghost many years ago- this I know. However, many more titles are unaccounted for. LeafGreen is still in my GBA XP. SoulSilver is in my DS Lite. I know for a fact that Blue is in my Gameboy Colour, but where that is I have no idea.
My mother is the main culprit here. Frustrated by the way that I found Kanto curiously more charming than Swindon, she scattered my game cartridges where I wouldn't find them. My brother is also a major nuisance. Being a little thief on the one hand, but terrible at covering his tracks on the other, he not only steals my games and consoles, but gets them confiscated for me.
My mother, feeling the need to confiscate items on a regular basis, has no idea where they are stowed.
So, in order to catch all the Pokemon, I must first go on an epic and mildly dangerous quest to find all my games. I expect failure- some things can't be found. I expect heartbreak- some of the older games may well be broken. I expect opposition- the evil Team Rocket, in the form of my brother, will do much to impede me. But I do expect joy- that, where I least expected it, the face of Pikachu or Blastoise or maybe even Lugia will be looking up at me, and when I slot it into a console, it flickers into life.
I am a child of the Pokemon generation, and I am proud. I grew up with the games, even if they didn't grow up with me. There are arguments that Pokemon fans are childish, or nerdy. I am neither of those things.
There was something that made me very happy when I was little. Just because it was made of plastic and circuitry doesn't mean it's any less valuable than a favourite book or a stuffed animal who brought you comfort. It was good, harmless fun which told you the importance of friendship- albeit when you were sat in a room on your own. That "something" was Pokemon.
This summer, I embark on a quest. I want to start at Pallet Town, and take my little Pokemon friends with me- perhaps all the way to Unova and even beyond. On those cartridges are stored my old Pokemon. They're not just ones and zeros. They're memories- and I'm sorry I forgot.
