This year marks the 25th anniversary of what is arguably one of the biggest influences on today’s generation, the Pokémon franchise.
What started as a simple game for the Game Boy console in 1996 has evolved into a global phenomenon that makes it difficult to imagine a time before its existence.
The player's function in the game is to be a Pokémon trainer. They collect and train fictional animal-like creatures known as Pokémon that battle with other Pokémon to improve their skills.
The game was created by Japanese video game designer Satoshi Tajiri and was inspired by his childhood when he collected bugs that fought each other.
According to Ameridisability, a publication for people with disabilities, “[Tajiri] originally called it ‘Capsule Monsters,' inspired by a Japanese fad for toy monsters in small round capsules available at vending machines.”
The first Pokémon game, “Pokémon Red and Blue,” was originally called “Pocket Monsters Red and Green.” There were only 151 Pokémon at the time, but there are 898 in existence as of this year and they’re all on the official Pokémon website under “Pokédex.”
The release of the first game led to the creation of many different products and merchandise, from action figures to trading cards. The trading cards first released a few months after the video game’s development in October 1996.
People were introduced to the franchise in various ways and one of the most common ways was through the trading cards, which was the case for business management sophomore Ameet Jogia.
“It was at my elementary school . . . it was like third to fourth to fifth grade,” Jogia said. “I remember someone had brought Pokémon cards to class and then we were looking at it at recess.”
Jogia currently has more than 100 cards, similar to well-known celebrities who also have large collections.
In an October 2020 article from Dicebreaker, a website dedicated to tabletop games, retired rapper Logic bought the most expensive Pokémon card for more than $200,000.
The Maryland rapper bought a rare holographic Charizard card that had no shadow underneath the character like most cards do.
Pokémon has been referenced in hip-hop songs multiple times.
From legendary artists including Ice Cube in his song “Can You Bounce” where he raps “I collect them like Pokémon from Nokishan, accept the ones with no behind,” to newer rappers such as KYLE in his song “Oceans” where he raps “Yeah I wanted Pokémon but that don't make me a nerd.”
With trading cards still being produced, traded and collected today and the 25th anniversary cards available at places including McDonald’s and inside cereal boxes, the market and fanbase of Pokémon keeps expanding.
Pokémon took the world by storm again in 2016 with the release of the augmented reality app and smartphone game, Pokémon Go.
The app uses the player’s phone camera to show Pokémon in the physical world on their screen. The app gives users the real sensation of capturing different Pokémon and in order to capture Pokémon, it requires players to explore different areas to keep finding characters.
“I think it's gonna stick around for quite a bit,” chemical engineering freshman Jaden Apilado said. “Especially if our generations like showing our kids.”
Each generation discovered Pokémon in different ways whether it was from video games, trading cards, TV shows or even memes. But no matter what generation, Pokémon has become a cultural staple that has found its way into multiple facets of global society.
