Speed Philippines – July 2019

66 JULY 2019

SHOULD YOU CATCH ’EM ALL?

GAME ON

The Pokémon
franchise is undeniably one of the biggest in
the world, spanning the gaming world, TV and
anime, licensing and merchandise, and the
movie industry. In fact, this column comes as
a hangover from the recent phenomenon that
was Detective Pikachu—finally a noir-esque
movie that doesn’t only appeal to kids, but
also to older Pokémon fans who want more
complex, engaging content.

I loved Detective Pikachu, not just because
it appealed to the Pokémon fan in me,
but because it was actually a very decent
standalone film that even non-fans would
enjoy. In fact, Pokémon products, throughout
the years, have always had this draw. Cute
Pokémon like Pikachu and Jigglypuff are sure
to capture the hearts of kawaii-loving kids
and kids-at-heart who haven’t played a single
Pokémon game in their lives.

Pokémon Go managed to reach one billion
downloads by September 2018; many of
those who got into the hype hadn’t played a
single Pokémon game before. Prior animated
Pokémon films provided entertainment and
captured good blockbuster numbers.

And this year, there’s so much more in store
for Pokémon. A new Sword and Shield game
is coming out and by the time this column is
published, we would have more information
about the first main series games in the eighth
generation of the Pokémon series. A new
mobile game called Pokémon Masters has
also been announced.

Pokémon Home is also slated for release soon,
allowing players to upload all their Pokémon
from the previous games into the cloud for
trading and for transfer to the upcoming
games. Imagine all 807 Pokémon in one place,
interacting with each other, battling with
one another. With every new development in
technology that brings a new feature to every
new Pokémon game, it seems like we’re finally
closer and closer to living the story of Ash and
Pikachu, where we can summon and trade and
battle with our Pokémon wherever we are.

Pokémon started on its road to world
domination around the same time I was born.
The very first Pokémon game was released
in Japan when I was just three. I started
watching the animated show when I was
in grade school, and played my very first
emulated version of Pokémon Red when I was
in high school. More than two decades later,

I’m still playing it, still watching it, and still

writing about it. Maybe not as much as I would

like to, just because playing Pokémon games

takes hundreds and hundreds of hours—hours

that as a working adult, I could not spare. But

it’s something that I never want to grow out of.

I guess that’s the draw of the franchise: the

fact that it’s so simple everyone understands

how it works, and the fact that there’s a

product for every kind and level of fan or pop

culture enthusiast. It’s not a franchise that only

the nerds would understand or only hardcore

gamers could enjoy. It’s not a franchise with

merchandise that’s too expensive or too hard

to find. In the franchise’s 23 years, it managed

to bring together gamers of all ages, fans

from different walks of life, and even

create families where parents would get

to watch something that they truly enjoy

with their kids.

That’s why you don’t need to be that

kind of fan who knows the name of all

807 Pokémon (and counting). You don’t

need to be that guy who played every

single version of the game, and have

caught all the different types of one

Pokémon. You can just be you. You can

just consume what you want to consume.

Your Pokémon Home doesn’t have to be

a complete living Pokédex. And it’s okay.

You enjoyed it, you can continue enjoying

it. That’s what matters.