(no subject)
This is a repost.
However:
1) It is a repost from like three years ago. A good chunk of my flist was not on my flist three years ago.
2) It is the best post I ever made in my lj and I don't want it buried so far in the past only dedicated stalkers read it - hence, I'm dating this out of order so it stays near the top.
I love pokemon.
It's not just for the games, although my first game system was bought so that I could play Pokemon Blue, although I've played every game for handheld systems, even buying new ones to get the new pokemon game from Gameboy to DS. Although, while I never owned either, I've been to many a friend's house to play Stadium, Colosseum(which was fucking awesome), SSB or SSBM.
It's not just for the TCG, although I regularly journeyed on Friday nights a few towns over as a kid to play it for two hours, although it's brought me plenty of entertainment - although I could still use an opponent, if anyone's up for it on Lackey: I can't afford the real cards.
It's not just for the anime, although it gave me plenty of great episodes in Kanto and more than a few afterwards, through the filler. Although I still want to catch it from time to time even now, though it's either become formulaic or I've grown up enough to notice the formulas. Although focused more on fictional ecology and guest stars than battles, for I can appreciate fictional ecology, and I love watching pokemon fight.
And it's not just for the fact that, because of this anime, I got into others: I may have been fated to turn otaku from my sci-fi/fantasy interests and such, but it gave me at least a couple years head start.
It's not just for the manga, although Pokemon Special is probably the greatest manga I've ever read, or at least the one I enjoyed the most - a manga with an amazing fandom, beloved even on 4chan, and so vast it got a rerelease through popularity in scanlations. It's not just that Magical Pokemon Journey/Pokemon pipipi is incredibly cute, and I do want to read the one written by the futanari artist(released stateside as "Electric tale of Pikachu" for the start, but many different titles as it continued.)
It's not just for the fandom - in fact, I might've migrated away from it a bit and I wonder if I'll ever be as active as I once was. It's not just for the fandom, even though I've met some of my closest friends there, even though I've read a couple really awesome fics, even though the games which absorbed a large part of my life were ones I learned about as the inspiration for Bulbagarden's (immensely fun, if only it ever finished) diplomacy game, even though there were times in my past when Bulbagarden was the only thing that kept me sane. That's certainly among my favorite parts - fandom always is - and pokemon has a huge body of lore accumulated over the years and commemorated in the fandom, from Missingno rumors, Porygon seizures, and 1st edition Charizard to level 1 Rattata - but it's not just for that.
It's not just for the dub music, although it's so good I wonder how 4Kids could possibly be responsible.
It's not just for the occasional piece of epic realistic fanart.
It's not for the fact that it's the only individual franchise to have a board on 4chan. Freaking 4chan. (/jp/ isn't *completely* /touhou/)
It's not just for that cloudy day when I was watching minor league baseball and have a headache and it's between innings and I see an Aerodactyl-looking cloud in the sky, nor is it for my urge to point up and say "that cloud looks like an Altaria's wing!"
It's for all of those things. But moreso, it's for what they convey - sure, none of 'em can fully do it. The anime you only watch, the games often have weak graphics and experienced trainers learn them to be covered by mechanics in a way which the real pokemon world never could be, the TCG... battles start to run together after a while and you're just handling cards.
Heck, you can buy a replica, but you can never hold a real pokeball in your hands or send out a real pokemon... sure, it's impossible. But I dream. Dream of the world where any kid can start out from Pallet or New Bark with a pokemon companion by their side, the world where you shout orders to your Pidgeot trying to triumph over the enemy in a tremendous display of skill. It's for the idea of the pokemon world, something which all of these offer windows into, but something which nothing can convey with the fullness of reality. It's even for the contest battles, dazzling displays of your pokemon's coolness which the anime got right but the games are lacking something for those who want to follow in May or Dawn's or Ruby's footsteps.
It's because, when you get down to it... sure, we might not catch 'em all, might wait until there's nothing else to do in the pokemon world, might only challenge the legendaries for boredom.
And sure, in a real pokemon world it might require more effort and animal taming skill than I personally have even to get the cute little Pidgey I caught in the bushes to become a Pidgeot, and my arm probably wouldn't be good at hurling pokeballs, and there's no way in hell that any of those five legendary pokemon which awe me and which I'd love to send into battle would join a merely above-average trainer like myself. Sure, I probably wouldn't be able to get more than a couple badges, and if I did make it to the pokemon league frustration and first-round losses are my most likely fate.
But still, I think the Johto theme was right: "Everybody wants to be a master." At least, it's the case for me, the respect people I know have for pokemon seems to be more than mere childhood nostalgia, and I want to at least live in the pokemon world... if only for the video games it'd produce.
This isn't something I'll "grow out of", no matter how many years people have waited for me to do so - it's been what, 11 so far? 12? Still not "grown up". I don't care if anyone's five-year-old brother watches pokemon - I watched baseball at that age, does that make it childish and worthless? I don't care what anyone says - there were times I was shunned for it, but I still wore Satoshi's hat with pride.
And I will NEVER feel ashamed of being a pokemon fan, because pokemon deserves to be loved.
However:
1) It is a repost from like three years ago. A good chunk of my flist was not on my flist three years ago.
2) It is the best post I ever made in my lj and I don't want it buried so far in the past only dedicated stalkers read it - hence, I'm dating this out of order so it stays near the top.
I love pokemon.
It's not just for the games, although my first game system was bought so that I could play Pokemon Blue, although I've played every game for handheld systems, even buying new ones to get the new pokemon game from Gameboy to DS. Although, while I never owned either, I've been to many a friend's house to play Stadium, Colosseum(which was fucking awesome), SSB or SSBM.
It's not just for the TCG, although I regularly journeyed on Friday nights a few towns over as a kid to play it for two hours, although it's brought me plenty of entertainment - although I could still use an opponent, if anyone's up for it on Lackey: I can't afford the real cards.
It's not just for the anime, although it gave me plenty of great episodes in Kanto and more than a few afterwards, through the filler. Although I still want to catch it from time to time even now, though it's either become formulaic or I've grown up enough to notice the formulas. Although focused more on fictional ecology and guest stars than battles, for I can appreciate fictional ecology, and I love watching pokemon fight.
And it's not just for the fact that, because of this anime, I got into others: I may have been fated to turn otaku from my sci-fi/fantasy interests and such, but it gave me at least a couple years head start.
It's not just for the manga, although Pokemon Special is probably the greatest manga I've ever read, or at least the one I enjoyed the most - a manga with an amazing fandom, beloved even on 4chan, and so vast it got a rerelease through popularity in scanlations. It's not just that Magical Pokemon Journey/Pokemon pipipi is incredibly cute, and I do want to read the one written by the futanari artist(released stateside as "Electric tale of Pikachu" for the start, but many different titles as it continued.)
It's not just for the fandom - in fact, I might've migrated away from it a bit and I wonder if I'll ever be as active as I once was. It's not just for the fandom, even though I've met some of my closest friends there, even though I've read a couple really awesome fics, even though the games which absorbed a large part of my life were ones I learned about as the inspiration for Bulbagarden's (immensely fun, if only it ever finished) diplomacy game, even though there were times in my past when Bulbagarden was the only thing that kept me sane. That's certainly among my favorite parts - fandom always is - and pokemon has a huge body of lore accumulated over the years and commemorated in the fandom, from Missingno rumors, Porygon seizures, and 1st edition Charizard to level 1 Rattata - but it's not just for that.
It's not just for the dub music, although it's so good I wonder how 4Kids could possibly be responsible.
It's not just for the occasional piece of epic realistic fanart.
It's not for the fact that it's the only individual franchise to have a board on 4chan. Freaking 4chan. (/jp/ isn't *completely* /touhou/)
It's not just for that cloudy day when I was watching minor league baseball and have a headache and it's between innings and I see an Aerodactyl-looking cloud in the sky, nor is it for my urge to point up and say "that cloud looks like an Altaria's wing!"
It's for all of those things. But moreso, it's for what they convey - sure, none of 'em can fully do it. The anime you only watch, the games often have weak graphics and experienced trainers learn them to be covered by mechanics in a way which the real pokemon world never could be, the TCG... battles start to run together after a while and you're just handling cards.
Heck, you can buy a replica, but you can never hold a real pokeball in your hands or send out a real pokemon... sure, it's impossible. But I dream. Dream of the world where any kid can start out from Pallet or New Bark with a pokemon companion by their side, the world where you shout orders to your Pidgeot trying to triumph over the enemy in a tremendous display of skill. It's for the idea of the pokemon world, something which all of these offer windows into, but something which nothing can convey with the fullness of reality. It's even for the contest battles, dazzling displays of your pokemon's coolness which the anime got right but the games are lacking something for those who want to follow in May or Dawn's or Ruby's footsteps.
It's because, when you get down to it... sure, we might not catch 'em all, might wait until there's nothing else to do in the pokemon world, might only challenge the legendaries for boredom.
And sure, in a real pokemon world it might require more effort and animal taming skill than I personally have even to get the cute little Pidgey I caught in the bushes to become a Pidgeot, and my arm probably wouldn't be good at hurling pokeballs, and there's no way in hell that any of those five legendary pokemon which awe me and which I'd love to send into battle would join a merely above-average trainer like myself. Sure, I probably wouldn't be able to get more than a couple badges, and if I did make it to the pokemon league frustration and first-round losses are my most likely fate.
But still, I think the Johto theme was right: "Everybody wants to be a master." At least, it's the case for me, the respect people I know have for pokemon seems to be more than mere childhood nostalgia, and I want to at least live in the pokemon world... if only for the video games it'd produce.
This isn't something I'll "grow out of", no matter how many years people have waited for me to do so - it's been what, 11 so far? 12? Still not "grown up". I don't care if anyone's five-year-old brother watches pokemon - I watched baseball at that age, does that make it childish and worthless? I don't care what anyone says - there were times I was shunned for it, but I still wore Satoshi's hat with pride.
And I will NEVER feel ashamed of being a pokemon fan, because pokemon deserves to be loved.