So imagine this, you come back from school, all tired after a long day of spending time in those boring lectures (some were fun but we don't mention that) and you reach home, with the bag hanging off the shoulder and our uniforms in disarray...That's when you turn on the TV and hear that theme, that beat that put energy into your soul and made you jump around singing at the top of your lungs! Yeah, that's the feeling, that amazing bliss of waiting to reach home so that you could turn the TV on full blast and annoy your parents all the while watching that amazing show that sucked you into a world full of wonder and amazing creatures.
I have always loved Pokemon, it has been a very big part of my childhood, starting with the games on the Gameboy to trading cards to the anime on our TV. While the games will always be very close to my heart, when speaking of Pokemon, I cannot leave the TV Show and Movies out of the conversation.
The TV Show introduces us to Ash, a character who became more than just a character to millions of kids all around the world. He became a friend, a companion who we went on an adventure with. He was our gateway into the world of Pokemon and along with him came everything else, from Pikachu to Professor Oak, Brock, Misty, May, Dawn, and everyone else!
The feeling of adventure, our interactions with the different Pokemon of that world, it was all through this TV Show and we always had Ash and Pikachu on our sides, laughing with them, crying with them and jumping in joy when we won battles, fought in the Pokemon Leagues and even met legendaries on that amazing journey... It was everything my 7 or 8 year old heart could ask for.
I still remember the day I first saw this series, when Ash got his Pikachu and their struggle to form a bond, in the beginning, it was precisely in this episode we saw Ash go to amazing lengths to protect the friend he had made even though they weren't on great terms at the moment and it was also this episode where we heard Ash utter the words 'I Choose You'. Those words, simple as they may be, felt like they were directed towards me as if the world of Pokemon was telling me something I kind of always knew deep down... It was truly beautiful.
It's been many years since then since I first experienced the world of Pokemon with my own eyes and got enamored by it and I have to say I am still as in love with it as I was all those years ago!
To be completely honest, I actually decided to go back and watch the entire series from the start again in 2012 and see what had been happening and I actually ended up watching about 13 - 14 seasons of it, well at least watched it till the end of Black and White and then decided to drop it before the new season began.
It was weird because even though I loved the series, the Black and White saga left me wanting more, I remember being very excited at the end of the Diamond and Pearl saga (the saga before Black and White started), they had done a great job fleshing out the lore of the Pokemon World, setting up Ash's team and making the Pokemon League exciting, even though it was sad to see Ash lose once again, it was still very well done but when they started the new season, it seemed as if everything was back to square 1.
Even though they mentioned that Ash had gone to all these different regions before and had taken part in many leagues, it seemed like Ash was back to being a novice Pokemon trainer and didn't know how to battle properly, which made me apprehensive with the season in general. I still decided to watch the entire season in hopes that things would improve but sadly it did not... The supporting characters were okay, Ash's team seemed weak and really young, and everything throughout seemed very... I guess not well written more than anything else, and that really made me feel disappointed.
So, it got to a point where I was like I cannot continue watching this and then left the series there, though I continued to enjoy the games and everything else around it, the series for me ended with Diamond and Pearl, that is until I heard about the newer seasons... I saw buzz starting to pick up about how Pokemon was back to its original quality and about how the story was really well written!
The more I saw that the bigger my smile got and it got me craving to watch the newer seasons again... Especially when I heard that the company was deciding to end the Pokemon series in 2019 and start a completely new and in a way rebooted series called Pokemon Journeys where we would have Ash and another character by the name Gou as the main protagonists.
Turns out, those rumors were true, the series we know and loved ended in 2019 and it definitely ended with a bang! To put a spoiler here, Ash won the Pokemon League in this final season! Our boy finally did it! It made me so happy to hear that, and proud of our friend, our companion, and our fellow adventurer with whom we started this journey all those years ago!
I might not have watched these newer seasons yet, but you can bet on it that I am definitely going to do it now! I want to see my friend achieve his dream and I can't wait to celebrate with him when he does! After all, Pokemon chose us all those years ago, so I have to do my part and complete this journey with them now!
If you Sheeples want to go deeper into the lore and nostalgia of the Pokemon TV Show, then join us on our podcast where we talk all about the series and everything around it! It was definitely a lot of fun to record that episode and we genuinely laughed our butts off reminiscing about the times we had with this show!
You can listen to our podcast right here: https://bit.ly/pokemon-adventure
This is 1000Minus7 signing out! Until next time!