You probably already know what Pokémon is, but in case you don't: it's a series of video games that began in the late 90s where you capture creatures called Pokémon and train them to battle one another using their powers. There are also Pokémon movies and a long-running anime series.
Click a link to jump to a specific section of the shrine!
My History with Pokémon
The first Pokémon game I ever played was not a mainline game - it was PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure. If I remember right, I received it as an Easter gift when I was in primary school. I remember looking at the box art and being really confused because I had no idea what kind of animal Chikorita was supposed to be.
Once I started playing the game, I was immediately captivated by this world of friendly, magical creatures. I spent hours playing the minigames over and over again, befriending every Pokémon, and obtaining the maximum amount of berries (the game's currency). I specifically remember that I could bring rocks to Golem in exchange for berries, and I did this many times - not because I wanted more berries, but because I found it really fun.
As a kid, I had an irrational fear of things with the "wrong number" of body parts (like the Cyclops), and I was terrified of Machamp because he reminded me of an episode of Spongebob that scarred me for life, where Barnacle Boy grows a third arm on his shoulder that has a face and can talk. I kept playing anyway and got over it though - I loved the game so much that I didn't want to stop.
My parents saw how much I loved PokéPark, so they rented Pokémon Black (or White, I don't remember) from Gamefly (an online game rental service). I played it for a while, going through the first couple of routes. I had a ton of fun discovering and catching Pokémon and helping them get stronger. They decided to get me Pokémon Black so I could continue playing it.
To this day, Unova is my favorite region, and I love the artstyle of the Gen 5 games the most. The sprites are the best they ever looked - they are detailed, animated and lively. Seeing the Pokémon and hearing the music from that generation makes me feel really nostalgic. (Although, I also had Pokémon Diamond as a kid - I remember my parents getting it off eBay for $11, and I remember waiting for it to come in the mail.)
I initially thought the 3D models were kind of cool when X and Y came out, but I quickly missed the sprites. I also missed making sprite fusions in MS Paint, which I had a ton of fun with. (I know I have a Pokémon x Winnie the Pooh crossover video somewhere that I made in Windows Movie Maker using entirely my own sprite fusions when I was about 8 years old! Pooh was a yellow Ursaring with a red shirt drawn over it. Tigger was some kind of Ampharos hybrid with a Marill tail. Fun times!)
Along with enjoying the games, I also eventually started watching the show. I watched the Indigo League series online (I am unsure if it was a legitimate site or not) and I eventually also watched it on the Boomerang channel. I thought it was really cool to see the games come to life in the show (although I didn't understand the different Pokémon generations at that point and I was wondering where all the Sinnoh and Unova Pokémon I loved were).
Since Pokémon is so popular, I have quite a few fond memories of talking about Pokémon with my friends at school as a kid. I remember one of my best friends convincing me that he had a Charizard card that only something like five people in the whole world had (I believed him at the time, but now? Sure, buddy. You're like 7.) I also had Pokémon battles with other people in the games, and I remember my other friend having a hacked version of Black/White. I had no interest in hacking my game, but he traded me a Pokémon holding one of his 99 Master Balls, which I was happy about since I could catch one more legendary.
I have loved Pokémon for over a decade, and it is very important to me. I still play the games and watch the anime, and it makes me really happy! (My favorite part of the anime is Sun and Moon.) The whole concept of a world where all animals have magic powers and can communicate with each other and even with humans is really interesting to me.
My Favorite Pokémon
Once I have played Gen 9, here is where I will put one of those grids with all my favorite Pokémon! For now, I will say that some of them are Gengar, Zoroark, Poochyena, Houndoom, Arcanine, Cobalion, Grimmsnarl, and Inteleon.
My Favorite Characters
Of course, the main draw of the Pokémon franchise is the Pokémon themselves, but I have also grown very fond of some of the human characters.
Natural Harmonia Gropius
For a lot of my peers, their first legitimate crushes were on classmates or on members of boybands and whatnot. For me, it was N from Pokémon. If I remember right, what drew me to this guy boils down to "he has long, pretty hair and he treats Pokémon like equals". I had the episode that screenshot of him petting Pikachu is from recorded on the family DVR, and I went through a phase where I would watch as much of it as I had time for before I went to school each morning! I don't remember much about his backstory and lore (I'm sure I knew all of it at some point) but he is still very special to me.
Grimsley
Here is another guy I really like. I remember fighting the Elite 4 in Pokémon Black when I was young, and when I saw this guy, I didn't want to fight him because I thought he was handsome :P I also think he is part of why Dark is my favorite Pokémon type, since he is a Dark-type trainer. Just like N, he's still a really important character to me. Pictured is the "glow up" he got in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon (which I don't have). I'm glad he came back, and I really like this newer design too. He looks tired.
Team Rocket
As a kid watching Indigo League, I actually found Team Rocket annoying since they would always show up and interrupt whatever was going on with the plot. I even quit watching the show at one point because of it! However, as time went on, I grew to love Jessie, James, and Meowth and their antics.
Especially in the newer seasons of the anime, I think they are really fun to watch, and they break up episodes in a nice way. I find their banter very funny, and it amuses me how the other characters always fall for their ridiculous disguises. I also love how they genuinely care for each other and for the Pokémon on their team. I think Meowth is a really interesting character since he can speak human language and help to bridge the gap between humans and Pokémon as needed.
My Pokésonas
I don't have a Pokésona currently, but I did create Pokémon characters to represent myself when I was a kid. (Images TBA! I need to draw them first.)
Gengeowth
A very great name I came up with as a child, pronounced like "gang gee (hard g) owth". He is a talking Gengar/Meowth hybrid who just looks like a light grayish-blue Meowth, because dark purple + tan = light blue I guess. (I was flabbergasted when Alolan Meowth was revealed since it looks so much like him!)
He was less of a version of me and more of an imaginary friend who would do all of the stuff I was doing. He also had a best friend, a Gliscor who could talk but was otherwise normal. I would imagine them hanging out with me instead of paying attention in school like I was supposed to.
Gengarkoom
Gengarkoom is a Pokésona I came up with a couple years later. I made her as a sprite fusion in MS Paint, and she is a hybrid of three of my favorite Pokémon (Gengar, Zoroark, and Houndoom). She is pretty much a purple Zoroark with a Houndoom tail.
I drew her a lot of times and got pretty good at drawing Zoroarks. I would draw her alongside N as a Zoroark. I eventually retired her when I created the first iteration of my old fursona, a purple wolf named Shadow.
Games I Own
Here are all of the Pokémon games I own, ordered by release date!
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire (Wii, 2003)
I haven't played much of this, but it's really fun! I'm not usually a fan of pinball, but it's fun using a Pokéball as a pinball and catching a Pokémon with it!
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (Gamecube, 2005)
I watched a playthrough of this on YouTube as a kid and I thought it looked really cool, so I asked my parents to get it for me. I thought the 3D characters and battles were cool, and I liked being able to capture other people's Pokémon. I also really liked curing the Shadow Pokémon. My online name when I was 9 or 10 was WerewolfXD for a little while because I loved this game and the Twilight movies.
Pokémon Diamond (DS, 2006)
I had tons of fun with this as a kid (I remember my playtime reaching 40 hours), but I don't think I ever actually beat the game. I remember spending a lot of time riding the bike around in Eterna City, hatching Gastly eggs and catching Ponyta. I would also go to the Safari Zone and catch Pokémon just to send to My Pokémon Ranch.
Pokémon Battle Revolution (Wii, 2006)
My parents downloaded someone else's save for me that had every Pokémon unlocked. I remember having a lot of fun messing around with it, and I really liked the music. I have a strong memory of seeing that a Pokémon knew the move "Perish Song" and being scared to use it because I thought the Pokémon would actually die.
My Pokémon Ranch (WiiWare, 2008)
I adored this game as a kid! I loved just watching all the Pokémon mill about and collecting new Pokémon for the ranch. Hayley would bring one new Pokémon to the ranch per real life day, but I remember the grin I got on my face when I realized I could set the Wii clock forward and get as many Pokémon as I wanted! My Wii is likely about two years in the future now. I also spent tons of time catching random Pokémon in Pokémon Diamond just to fill up the ranch. I really want Nintendo to make a sequel to this! It would be so easy to integrate with Pokémon Home.
Pokémon Rumble (WiiWare, 2009)
I really loved collecting the little toy Pokémon in this game! I remember playing the level with Persians in it repeatedly and collecting tons of them until the game wouldn't let me anymore. I also remember playing co-op with my dad.
PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure (Wii, 2009)
I already talked about this extensively up above.
Pokémon Black (DS, 2010)
Again, I already talked about this one.
Pokémon Rumble Blast (3DS, 2011)
I was really excited for this game since I loved the original Pokémon Rumble, and this one has Unova Pokémon in it! I think I played through about half of it.
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond (Wii, 2011)
Same story as Rumble Blast - I was very excited to play a sequel to a game I loved but with Pokémon from my favorite region! This is nowhere as nostalgic to me as the original PokéPark though. I put tons of hours into 100% completing PokéPark as a kid (and continuing to play it even more after), but I'm not sure if I even finished the sequel. (I did finish it when I revisited it in 2022.) I think I just didn't dig the darker story, and I've always found having to switch characters annoying in video games.
Pokémon White 2 (DS, 2012)
I don't remember much about this game, but I remember being really excited for it! I also thought it was cool that it had all of the Unova Pokémon plus more Pokémon from other generations.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity (3DS, 2012)
I barely played this one, but I remember thinking it was fun and interesting.
Pokémon Y (3DS, 2013)
I think I got about halfway through this game. I thought it was fun to give the Furfrou different haircuts.
Pokémon Sun (3DS, 2016)
I barely played this one at all for some reason. I think the lack of traditional gyms threw me off.
Detective Pikachu (3DS, 2018)
I got this in 2019 because I loved the movie, but I haven't played it yet. It lived in my junk drawer for quite some time before I had my 3DS games properly shelved. The Switch sequel looks...unfinished, to put it lightly.
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! (Switch, 2018)
I played this, but I don't think I finished it. It was fun using the JoyCons to throw Pokéballs and collecting a lot of Pokémon.
Pokémon Shield (Switch, 2019)
When this was announced, I was really excited for a new mainline Pokémon game that I could play on my TV. I played through it and I enjoyed things like being able to see Pokémon in the world before you encounter them. However, this game is just so damn easy! I remember being younger and coming up with lots of different strategies to try and beat the Elite 4 in Pokémon Black. In Shield, I was able to one-shot 90% of Pokémon in late-game battles using my Inteleon with Mystic Water and Snipe Shot.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (Switch, 2020)
I have only played a couple of hours of this so far, but it's fun! I love the art and music, and it's really fun to rescue Pokémon and recruit them to come live in your town.
New Pokémon Snap (Switch, 2021)
I really enjoyed playing this! It's fun to photograph Pokémon in their natural habitats and play the role of a Pokémon researcher. This is my favorite Pokémon game on the Switch.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond (Switch, 2021)
I have this, but I'm not sure I'll ever play it. I prefer the look of the original.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Switch, 2022)
I haven't finished this yet, but it's a really nice change of pace from the main games! It's fun to explore the world and sneak up on Pokémon to catch them. I'd like the next one of these to take place in Unova. (Pokémon Legends: Kyurem?)
Pokémon Scarlet (Switch, 2022)
I preordered this, but I'm putting off playing it. I'm worried there will be a lot of bugs that take me out of the game.
Bonus
Here are my thoughts on the games I have played that I can't "own" (online games, free games, mobile games, and fangames).
Pokémon Dream World (Online, 2010)
This was an online game where you could get Pokémon and items to transfer to Black and White. I LOVED this as a kid, and I really looked forward to playing it on the weekends. I loved the watercolor artstyle and getting to decorate a house for your Pokémon. I wish Nintendo would bring it back, or at least do something similar.
Pixelmon (Fangame, 2012)
This is a Minecraft mod that adds Pokémon. If you play it on a server, it's pretty much a Pokémon MMO with base-building, trading with other players, fun events, and every single Pokémon. It started out with blocky models, but eventually switched to regular 3D models. I have lots of fond memories of playing around with it both on singleplayer and on servers. I talked about it more in my Minecraft shrine.
Pokémon Dream Radar (3DSWare, 2012)
A fun little AR game that I'm pretty sure was free. I had fun seeing Pokémon in my house and catching them. I also remember shaking my 3DS in a specific way to make it think I was taking steps so I could get more Play Coins to play this game.
PokéFarm Q (Fangame, 2013)
This is an online game I spent a lot of time on. You hatch Pokémon eggs, collect lots of Pokémon, arrange your Pokémon in fields (kind of reminiscient of My Pokémon Ranch), and click other people's Pokémon to help them grow. There are also Fakémon and fanmade rare Pokémon variants you can collect. I don't play it anymore because it isn't as interesting to me now as it was when I was a kid, and because I can't play games with a lot of clicking anymore without hurting my wrist.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump (Mobile, 2017)
I spent a lot of time with this one! It's somewhat repetitive and making progress is slow, but it's just fun to raise Magikarp and discover new varieties. I also love the music and the artstyle. I would love to see more games like this where you raise and collect Pokémon for things other than battling.
Pokémon Rumble Rush (Mobile, 2019)
I remember sitting on my bed and getting really sucked into this for a few hours. Then, I reached a point where I couldn't progress any further without grinding or paying for microtransactions. I thought "you know what, this sucks actually" and stopped forever.
Battle Ready Figures
I collect Battle Ready Figures! I think they're really cute and I like how on-model they are. Here are pictures of my collection!
(Coming soon!)
Ideas For Future Games
There are lots of things I would love to see in future Pokémon games. I'm not sure if these will ever happen, but it's still fun to dream! Here are some of my ideas.
More Interesting Battles
I would love a game where the battles are as dynamic and full of possibility as they are in the anime. Pokémon can use moves in lots of creative and unconventional ways, and it makes the show really interesting to watch. I would love for the games to be this way, thought it would be really difficult to pull off.
More Pokémon Variants
I know it would take tons of work, but I would love to see a game where every Pokémon has many different physical variations, like Spinda, Vivillon, and the Magikarp in Magikarp Jump. I think that in the actual Pokémon world, every kind of Pokémon has this many variations, but it's not portrayed that way because of how much work it would take.
Regions
I would love to see regions based off of Africa, Australia, and North America (the parts with more wilderness). I think these places all have lots of interesting animals that Pokémon could be based off of. They also have beautiful and interesting landscapes.
Life Sim
I would love a Pokémon life sim game! Maybe I don't want to be the protagonist kid who runs around catching legendaries and saving the world. Maybe I want to be like one of the background characters who just goes about their everyday life and takes care of a select few Pokémon. I would love to just hang out in the Pokémon world, have a house that I can decorate, talk to other trainers and befriend them, have my Pokémon go on playdates with theirs, grow berries in a garden, and more stuff like that.
Pokémon Sanctuary
I would love a game where you run a Pokémon sanctuary. You can take in Pokémon that need help, nurse them back to health, and have them live in a big, beautiful nature reserve. You can also watch them go about their lives and interact with each other. Maybe you can breed rare Pokémon and help increase their numbers in the wild.
Sprites I Made
When I was a kid, there was a period in late 2012/early 2013 where I got very into editing Pokémon sprites/fusing them together in MS Paint. Here, you can gaze upon them in their full glory.
Sprites
General Pokémon sprites that I found on my hard drive. I'm pretty sure I made all of these myself.
Videos
These are the big boys. Full Pokémon sprite videos I made in MS Paint and Windows Movie Maker, complete with Kevin MacLeod music. Three episodes of a Pokémon/Winnie the Pooh crossover series. Based on the dates these were last modified, I spent all of Sunday, December 2nd, 2012 working on these and then I never made any more. I was planning on posting them on YouTube, but I never shared them on the internet...until now.
"PNN Update 12-3-12"
This is some kind of "news update", but it appears to be more of...something you would see on a shopping channel? I guess they're advertising pets.
Wildcards
Random, unexplainable things I found in the sprites folder. I'm just as confused as you are.