You might remember that last year, I made a post in this series about how much things have changed over time. This year, I’m going to talk about how things have stayed the same. Read on as I reminisce for a few minutes.
Those of you that have managed to keep up with the Pokemon anime series might have remembered a little throwback in one of last year’s episodes. Diamond and Pearl’s episode 74 has Ash and Pikachu contending with a trainer and his Raichu. Naturally, Ash loses, it’s what he does best. That’s not the point though. At the Pokemon Center, Ash pulls out a Thunderstone. The same stone that he was given 10 years ago in Vermillion City.
That seems like a minor point of continuity coming up, a small nod and thank you to the fans that have stuck with the series since its conception. Let the thought really sink in for a moment, though. Pokemon’s been around for eleven years now folks. I still remember watching the very first episode on its premiere date here in the United States. I still have a copy of Pokemon Red that I got on its release date. I’m 21, and already that makes me feel old. Time has really slipped by for us all.
In the last decade, I survived Jr. High, graduated from High School, and am currently studying Computer Science. I’ve changed quite a bit from the insular person I was just a few years ago. I’ve made friends with people all over the world. Not everything has been rainbows and butterflies though. My family has been wracked by cancer. I’ve had to contend with watching the people I love suffer through unimaginable hardships. I can’t even turn on the news without feeling depressed at the sorry state of world affairs. I’m sure many of you can relate similar experiences.
At the same time, my “Pokemon Realization” is a little comforting. Sure, the fervor that has surrounded the franchise has died down substantially over the course of the last decade. Yet at the cusp of 2010, Ash and his friends are still wandering around on their camp adventures through the Pokemon world. The manga series that follows the game continuity is still trucking along, now in its Platinum arc. Japan’s already revisiting the Johto region with the 2nd Generation remakes, which will be seeing release over here in a few months. Further, I’m almost positive that Generation 5 is in the works for a late 2011 release.
Really, this whole year has been a stroll down memory lane. I’m sure people have similar feelings with the release of Dragonball Kai, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Inuyasha: Final Act. Pokemon is just my guilty drug of choice. My DS is in a Pokemon Platinum carrying case, with Pokemon Diamond and Ruby loaded in. I cosplay Giovanni at anime conventions and I plan to be at the midnight launch for Soul Silver. I’m even watching a bunch of people play through the series for charity right now. I have grown up alongside this series. So much has changed in the last decade, but Pokemon is still here, just as I am still here. You might think it strange, but it gives me a feeling of contentment.
The world keeps turning. Some things never change, and I am so glad for that.
I remember watching those 2 epis of Raichu! Just nvr got that deep thinking xD wow how years fly by~
I remember coming home from school one day and saw my brother was watching Pokemon ( the episode that Ash gets Bulbasaur. I told him what a stupid show it was. However the very next day I sat next to him on the couch and watched it with him. I remember my other brother CRYING HIS EYES OUT when Ash “left” Pikachu.
Ahh memories.
i have also followed the series since the beginning, and being 18 i can feel wat you mean by time flies by. thats awsome that you cosplay as giovanni, i thought id never find anyone willing to do so. i got soul silver a few weeks ago the day of its u.s. release and i must say they did a wonderful job. pokemon isnt likely to die soon and neither are we.