Pokémon, aka “Pocket Monsters” is a Japanese entertainment franchise that debuted in 1996 via a series of video games made for Game Boy. Since then, the franchise has expanded to include a long-running anime series, a manga series, and also a trading card game. I myself am the proud owner of a Pokémon Pikachu blanket from childhood and a Pokémon Leafeon statue that I bought recently to add to my new room.

As a fan, I have also written about different aspects of the franchise and appreciated others’ writing about it. One of the most delightful articles I wrote was a review of Vol. 8 of the Collector’s Edition of the Pokémon Adventures manga for We Write About Comics. Not only was it a more mature take on Pokémon that added depth to the video game’s worldbuilding and characters, but it also led me to reviewing Vol. 9 and buying Vol. 10 later on. Recently, I also read the early volumes of the manga (Vol. 1-7 of the original edition of the manga) and it has me appreciating the later volumes in the series more.

Another Pokémon related book that I love is Marlin M. Jenkins’ poetry book Capable Monsters. It takes the Pokémon game encyclopedia known as the Pokédex and uses Pokémon as a metaphor to discuss race, queerness, and how both made him feeling Othered during childhood and adolescence.

Speaking of Pokémon and poetry, both my personal life and two different playthroughs of the video game Let’s Go Pikachu inspired poems that were recently published on Videodame. The first is called “Self Portrait As Cubone” and the second is “Ode To Pokemon That Shine“.

A final Pokémon related thing I like is Death Battle’s epic video that shows Pokémon’s most well-known protagonist Ash Ketchum battling Yu-Gi-Oh’s most well-known protagonist Yugi Mutou. For those not familar, Death Battle is a YouTube channel that pits different characters from different pop culture franchises against each other for fun. In particular, the “Ash Vs Yugi” video is poignant for those who grew up in Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh’s heyday like me. Both franchises dominated schoolyards so to see them fight and showcase the best of both protagonists is pretty awesome. Not to mention, the video features Jason Paige, the singer for the OG Pokemon English theme, singing an original song titled, “Millennial Monsters”.

Even though I don’t like everything Pokémon has to offer as a franchise, it still has a special place in my heart due to the comfort and joy I get from collecting, befriending, battling and sometimes becoming a pocket monster (s/o to the Mystery Dungeon game spin-offs). Moreover, I love bonding with other Pokémon fans and seeing how Pokémon has influenced everything from video games to poetry to YouTubers. Happy 30th anniversary Pokémon!

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