Pokemon: whether you love it or hate it or hold no opinion on it, you’ve definitely heard of it. Whether you’ve encountered it in video game form, card game form, cartoon form, or any other endless number of merchandising forms, it’s pretty tough to avoid. Pikachu snack foods, Pikachu party favors, even Pikachu airplanes; there is denying the reach of Pokemon in global culture.

But where did it all start? Many people, even if they recognize those “pokemans,” they may have absolutely no context to put them in – they just are. For those in the know, the truth is that Pokemon first came onto the scene first in 1996 as a rather unassuming Game Boy RPG in Japan and later spread to the rest of the world in 1998. In the world of Pokemon, these creatures roam the world, just waiting for a strong trainer to come along, kick the crap out of them, stuff them into a techno-magical ball, and then train them into being BFFs. That may be a rough summary, but I challenge you to tell me it’s wrong.

Continue Reading…