The year is 2001. The Pok'emon fad had been over a year prior after schools began to confiscate anything to do with the trading cards/video games if students were seen with them and for that reason there wasn't as much of an impact when the series had been introduced here in the states. So where did that bring me, as I started out late with the video games? That's where I'll be kicking off my latest article...

With my friends in school no longer being safe in trading their cards or lugging around their Game Boy in the bathrooms, our only options were to either buy related books from Scholastic book fairs, or wait for the next big game to come out on the new Game Boy hardware, the Game Boy Advance. The problem with that was, we had to wait another two years for it to release here, while Japan just got it near the end of 2002. Just like my Game Boy Color, I got my GBA a little later than everyone else and, I missed out on getting the two new games, Ruby and Sapphire when they first came out but I at least got to try one of them out at a friend's house.

The graphics and sound of the Game Boy Advance really made the new titles shine.

New features would be added, such as a better storage system, showing the actual Pok'emon you had instead of generic monster icons, and weather conditions in certain areas of the overworld, affecting how battles play out. Double battles were also introduced, allowing two on two battles with certain trainers you meet in the overworld. Along with these games, and a new season of the anime introducing these new Pok'emon, it was a great time to be a Pok'emon fan.

Eventually the two games got their own special edition, just like Yellow, with some other new additions of its own like a harder difficulty and a battle tower. And as we got to 2004 Pok'emon FireRed and LeafGreen were released, being complete remakes of Red and Blue and a new adventure that happens after beating the game, giving the player the chance to obtain Pok'emon that were introduced later, and sending them over to Ruby and Sapphire.

With enhanced graphics and a good retelling, FireRed and LeafGreen became one of the hottest titles of the GBA.

As time passed, we eventually got new games on the Nintendo DS and now the game was going for a combined "2D character with 3D environment" look. At this time I was already out of high school, and I noticed that a couple of the friends I hung out with were starting to lose interest in the series. The amount of creatures was growing, and not everyone could "catch 'em all" either because of lack of interest, or they didn't have other friends to trade Pok'emon over to that weren't in the version of the game they owned. I attempted to get back into buying the games near release again, but the novelty begane to wane.

Pok'emon Black and White, the next pair of titles with all new Pok'emon released just near the end of 2010, and like all other portable adventure/RPG titles in the series you were back to doing the same tasks, strive to defeat the eight gym leaders, along with the champion, collect the new Pok'emon introduced in the new region the game takes place in, defeat members of an evil corporation, and climb the ranks to become a Pok'emon monster. And while the graphics got better, the same, reused concepts for the story became yawn inducing experiences of Déjà vu.

Although my friends and I were experiencing burnout of playing the games, newer generations of fans would continue to play them, along with the card game in tournaments. It was like experiencing nostalgia knowing that they were taking strong interest in the series, as we once did.

By the time the Nintendo 3DS released in 2011, I was reluctant in buying the new games following it. Yes, the games were in full 3D now (complete with the character models) but having to constantly repeat the process in collecting, trading creatures over from another version of the game, and grinding your way to the end of the game just to get one or two legendary creatures was becoming a chore, and on top of that, some Pok'emon designs were really starting to look lazily made.

One of the future Pok'emon, Klefki is literally just a pair of keys. Seriously, how did these designs get greenlit?

Showing disinterest for the longest time, it finally hit me... Pok'emon had officially lost its appeal on me, and it was time for a much needed break as I moved on to other titles. At the moment, future Pok'emon titles have left me a bit in the middle of wanting to play them. Will I play more in the future? maybe. But the series will have to do far more in the story department to impress me these days.

Do you still play Pok'emon? Let me know in the comments, and I'll see you next article!