How open are you about Pokemon?

[Firox]

I'm mostly open about it, not many around me know what Pokemon is
I do have my collection out in the open, I wear my shirts at times out in public

 

[zoo3891]

Not a fan of merchandise, but i wouldn't wear it anyway. I do have a Psyduck plush from who knows when which i display in the open, not that many people come around here, but i wouldn't mind if they did.

A few years back i actually made friends with an older kid who i'd been afraid of (wrong crowd in a sketchy neighborhood) because another friend and i were talking about how cool Absol was. Turns out he'd logged more hours into Pokemon than either of us combined. -- Wouldn't do that today, I've lost the charm i had as a kid, but it's pretty cool how easily one can bond over pokemon.

 

[Itcheeee]

I'm 100% open about it. Especially buying merchandise, as over the last few years since XY, really the merch has been everywhere, they don't expect to sell that while making fun of you at the same time. :P
I always carry a Nidoking key chain, which I recently switched out for the tomy Piplup plush key chain Hot topic sells. Most people don't know what it even is, but when they do you know they actually know Pokemon somewhat.
My only thing, is that I won't wear/carry Pikachu things or things with the English logo, especially rather large. The things non-fans know in an instant, and usually these are the ones you don't need comments from. I'm not a fan of either, and it's just asking for that older cashier to say something rude. :/ Yeah, pretty sure she doesn't know what the heck my Arcanine shirt is at all.
Pikachu shirt with logos and it's all "Aren't you too old for that?" right off the bat.
I've had many an instance like that with an older cashier anywhere, from Dairy Queen, to the bank with 'things to say' about that, so that comes from a lot of actual experience. What series I like really shouldn't be something to criticize your customer over, but that's just how it is. No reason to over advertise it either.

 

[Lyrica]

I don't mind chatting about it with the employees at my local game shop, and I've stopped a couple of passers-by who are clearly playing Pokemon Go and asked them how they're doing with it, but I don't really go around advertising it. I'm not particularly ashamed of it, it's just years of habit of keeping it to myself really. Mentioning Pokemon from the third gen onwards when I was in school would get you socially lynched, and it's only recently, and as I've gotten older, that I've been more comfortable talking about it outside of the internet.

 

[Thepokefansophia]

I am pretty open about liking pokemon but I dont exactly show it off. Im much more comfortable on the internet talking about my love of pokemon honestly.

 

[Luzu]

Most of my regular shirts are Pokemon and I used to have a Pikachu sitting at the front of my car before I got a new car where Pikachu wouldn't stay put. So I'd say that I'm pretty open about it. Perhaps not as much simply because I have less time/places to show it off but I'm not going to hide it either. Hiding it I feel is simply pointless. If someone wants to judge me for liking Pokemon at this point good for them I honestly don't care.

 

[Palamon]

I have a Pokeball and Bulbasaur on my bag that I carry around with me everywhere. You could say I'm quite open about Pokemon, and why hide it? I'm a proud nerd.

 

[JJ Styles]

I'm not the kind of person to initiate any dialogue about Pokemon to other people despite me being a hardcore fan of the whole franchise/series of games/etc. But I'm the kind of person who wouldn't mind walking around with some fashionable Pokemon related merch such as accessories.

Its just the "safety thing".

 

[Jessie]

I'm 100% open about it. Pokemon is an important part of who I am, I'm not ashamed of it or scared to hide it! :)

 

[Reunilu]

I'm pretty open about it. I mean, I don't go flaunting every single piece of Pokemon merchandise I own and the kind of Pokemon I've caught in my games, but I wear a surfing Pikachu pin on my lanyard and I'll talk to anyone who can talk about Pokemon openly.

 

[pastelspectre]

I'm pretty open about it. I mean, I wear tshirts and have a bunch of stuffed animals of Pokemon and if I see someone else wearing Pokemon I'll usually initiate a discussion with them about it :3

 

[AleXShi1]

Im very open about pokemon.
Im not even 0.00001% ashamed of liking pokemon, if someone asks me like "what games do you like?" No matter who it is my immediate answer will be Pokemon (as well as other games ofc).
Im not the guy to just randomly talk about pokemon unless im with people who like it too but im not ashamed to talk about anything i like or dislike no matter how childish it sounds to others
Sadly i dont have alot of merch and i have no pokemon clothing, simply because they dont fit me that well, but i have some pokemon stuff hanging around the house and when someone comes to my crib i have no problem showing them.

 

[Raichael]

Being quite new to Pokemon, I don't have any merchandise (yet.) I would probably put Pokemon pin badges on my backpack (maybe of a more obscure Pokemon, rather than a Pikachu or a Pokeball. But then again, Pokemon Go is quite popular at the moment)
I definitely wouldn't bring Pokemon up in a random conversation with someone, but when I'm talking to somebody who I know does play Pokemon, I'd definitely be very eager to talk about it and learn more.

 

[Gandhi Savage]

I used to be very seclusive with my love of Pokémon for the longest time. I used to hate how people used to make fun of me for it when I was younger. When I was 7, SEVEN, people a few years above me in school used to openly mock me and laugh at me for playing Pokémon still. Repeat, I was SEVEN!!!

As I got older I still kept my cards close to my chest when it came to my beloved little pocket monsters. When I turned 16 I kinda stopped caring about what other people thought of me 'cause I was kinda getting bullied in school but at the same time was making friends and getting popular with people out of school and it helped me grow my self confidence.

When I was going to college a few years ago I decided to pick up a Pokémon case for my phone and people would talk to me about Pokémon and how they loved it when they were younger. It made me feel way better about liking Pokémon still!

All this being said though; this summer was pretty funny at one stage! I was getting a ride with my best friend and his sister one day and she was talking about kids in her class (she's a teacher) still like Pokémon and Dragonball Z and wrestling and he burst out laughing and said I still like it all too. She thought he was joking because "nobody is still into that." Hahaha, it was pretty damn awkward.

With the release of Pokémon Go though I think it's as acceptable as ever to be a Pokémon fan in public and that is just great!​

 

[UltimateUmbreon]

I'm not ashamed at all of the fact that I love pokemon, but I'm still very quiet about it. It's just my personality, although I definitely wish it was not. I'm the same way with my career, religion, favorite sports teams, etc. Just very quiet and to myself in general.

Anyway, ever since the release of GO, I've talked about it a lot more with my friends, whether they were playing GO or not. I even got a few friends and my wife into GO, and none of them would've even thought of playing it otherwise.

Generally though, I would not bring it up in conversation but would gladly talk about it if someone else mentioned it, which happens somewhat often since I do play GO a lot and sometimes play my 3DS as I walk or bus to/from work. It is kind of sad though because I do hear people comment when they see me playing GO for example, muttering under their breath things like "Jeez, how old are you?!?" Granted I only heard that on one occasion, but I'm sure it occurs more than that.