Why Playing Pokemon As An Adult Is Still Okay

This past Saturday saw the release of Pokémon X and Y, the newest games in Nintendo’s flagship Pokémon series. A number of people I know lined up for the midnight release, but I told myself I was going to be sensible and wait for a while; I’m a goddamned adult, after all, and lining up for a game seems excessive. I woke up Saturday feeling proud of myself for exercising restraint, and that good feeling lasted approximately until lunch time, when I found myself stranded at Westfield Chermside with time to kill.

I stopped in at Big W — you know, just to see if they had the games, not to actually buy one — but my heart began thumping when the kid behind the counter told me they had completely sold out. A short time later, I found myself in line at JB Hi-Fi, a mixture of shame and relief washing over me as I clutched a copy of Pokémon X, thankful that I’d come to my senses in the nick of time. My boyfriend just smiled and shook his head when he saw me emerge from the store. This was always bound to happen.

When we got home, I fired up my 3DS, picked the cutest of the three starter Pokémon — the fluffy-eared Fire-type known as Fennekin — and got down to business. The rest of the weekend was a write-off. If I wasn’t playing the game, I was messaging friends about it. At first, we oohed and aahed about the prettiness of the game and the sheer variety of Pokémon on offer, but it quickly became a lot more specific as we traded vital information on subjects like the best place to find wild Eevees.

Since its debut in 1996, Pokémon has grown to become the second-most lucrative video game series in the world, second only to Mario. X and Y have met with a damn-near rapturous reception; they’ve been praised as the culmination of the series so far, and as the ultimate version fans have been hoping for since the early days of Red and Blue. To the uninitiated, the whole thing must seem a bit mysterious. What is the secret behind the enduring success of these bright, colourful adventures, and why do so many adults still fall head over heels for them?

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It’s a shared experience

The shared experience of Pokémon goes beyond trading them with your friends: for scores of people who grew up with the games and the animated series, Pokémon has become a language, a form of shorthand communication. The internet runs on this kind of thing, and it’s probably not too much of a stretch to say that most users of Facebook, Reddit, Buzzfeed or any other popular site are exposed to at least one Pokémon reference or inside joke per day.

Once you start looking for these, you’ll see them everywhere. Slowpoke, Seaking and Mudkip are all breakout stars of their own popular memes, while an exceptional internet achievement will likely be met with the compliment “It’s super effective!” The phrase “A wild X appears’ — traditionally from the beginning of wild Pokémon battles — has worked its way into parlance, and is used to announce the arrival of everything from ex-girlfriends to internet trolls.

The shared language of Pokémon gives a reassuring, even comforting feeling of belonging — after all, it can be nice to know that strangers like the same things you like and get the same references you get. You’re all part of the one big tribe. It would be unfair, however, to attribute the ongoing success of the series to nostalgia, because the fact remains that…

The gameplay is just plain excellent

X and Y improve on past games in a number of ways, with the biggest and most obvious of these being the visuals. The chunky sprites of old are gone, with Pokémon themselves now appearing as beautifully-detailed, three-dimensional creatures. This makes for much prettier and more animated battles. For instance, by the time my Fennekin had evolved into a Braixen, it would pull a twig from its flaming tail to execute certain Fire-type moves. The Kalos region, where the game takes place, is also richly animated, with forests that feel deeper and darker than before and ocean waters that sparkle more brightly.

There are other changes besides these cosmetic ones — the battle system, for instance, has been tweaked, and the online multiplayer facilities have been expanded — but the core experience remains much the same as in previous generations. The developers at Game Freak take an ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to the series, and for all the additional bells and whistles, each of the main games is about questing. You set off with one Pokémon, then catch and train others, toughening them up and teaching them new moves as you face off against a series of opponents and uncover a mystery.

As with any good RPG, battles in Pokémon flow according to defined rules and logic. Gym leaders must be approached strategically with the strongest possible party and the knowledge that even a strong Water-type isn’t going to be much good against Grass-type moves. If you rush in, you’re going to get your ass kicked, but that’s okay, because you can always go away, train, and try again. X and Y might look a lot prettier and feel a lot more streamlined, but the spirit of adventure remains the same.

They appeal to obsessive-compulsive types

The slogan ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’ was officially retired from the Pokémon games in 2003, before making a reappearance in the advance publicity for X and Y earlier this year. There’s a reason why this catchy little phrase sticks around. Pokémon games tap into a deep-seated need for neatness, order and completion. At the beginning of each one, you set out as a newly-minted trainer, tasked with seeing and obtaining every type of Pokémon in your home region. The original Red and Blue Pokédex contained 150, while X and Y thus far appear to contain more than three times that number.

Filling a Pokédex takes weeks and months of dedication, and even if you’ve seen them all, some types are damn near impossible to catch. It’s the sort of thing that can really ignite your obsessive compulsive streak, and keep you awake at night. Catching that one you want is a sheer thrill, and nothing compares to the anxious feeling of throwing a Pokéball and waiting, waiting, waiting as it rocks from side to side, hoping that it will click into place.

Pokémon are so damn cute

Cuteness is an evolutionary advantage. Humans are hard-wired to look after our offspring, which is why we’re helpless before a pair of big eyes and chubby cheeks. We latch on to the same traits in animals, which is why, if you drop a tiny, mewling puppy or kitten in someone’s lap, their overriding impulse will be to take care of it. Disney animators know this. The people behind I Can Has Cheezburger know this. Nintendo definitely know this, and I’d be very suspicious of any player who hasn’t raised at least one Pokémon just for the sake of it being so damn cute.

Early in Pokémon Pearl, I captured a Buizel. Buizel is a Water-type whose appearance lies somewhere between a weasel and a sea otter, and I was so infatuated with mine that he never left my party for the rest of the game. I loved his fluffy little paws, and I was very proud of him when he evolved into the big bruiser known as Floatzel. His moves weren’t even that spectacular, but I enjoyed having him around and levelled him up to formidable proportions. It’s early days with X, but I feel like I might form a similar bond with my Fighting-type Pancham… who is a goddamn panda, which is about as cute as you can get.

They just have that special something

X and Y succeed as nostalgia trips, but also as excellent games in their own right, balancing gorgeous graphics with thoughtful and strategic gameplay. The most crucial element, though, is less tangible. They just feel as if they were made with love and care. For a series that’s this many sequels deep, that’s an impressive achievement.

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Alasdair Duncan is an author, freelance writer and video game-lover who has had work published in Crikey, The Drum, The Brag, Beat, Rip It Up, The Music Network, Rave Magazine, AXN Cult and Star Observer.