Is Pokemon the Peterpan we always wanted?

Hey Pokefam,

Here I am again with another discussion question haha. When I was in elementary and middle school, Pokemon was a huge part of my childhood. Half way through high school, my dedication to Pokemon dwindled, and I didn't start picking up my excitement for it until my sophomore year of college. Playing Pokemon put me into a whole new world, and as a creative person, it fed my imagination. I always thought of Pokemon as the Peterpan that would take me away from reality. As I got older, I found myself sacrificing my time playing video games with my time trying to finish school and build a career. It makes me wonder, has anyone else had similar experiences, or have most just stuck with the game since they began it? Will we ever grow up?! IDK haha. Also I'll post a poll up as well, because I'm very curious to what age group dominates pokecommunity! I've seen mostly people in their 20's, I use to game on here when I was in middle school, and mostly everyone was over 18 predominantly.

Yeah Pokemon was always sort of a 'Peter Pan' for me, it allowed me to escape into a completely different world and I really enjoyed it. It's not quite the same anymore, but I still love to get away from everything when playing Pokemon.

I certainly hope I'll never grow up, haha. Video games have been a great escape for me and Pokémon is definitely the game series I've played the most of by far. I don't really think it's changed for me either, it's still a nice way of escaping the world and I hope it'll stay like that forever (:

I wonder what gives Pokemon such a Peter Pan effect on all of us, no matter the age, the level of nostalgia it gives is overwhelming

colours said:

This is going to sound cheesy, but there's a reason why I continue to play the games again and again and hardly ever lose interest in them.

Pokemon gaming, for me, is actually "magical", as it were. The fact that, after a long day, I can unwind by playing Pokemon is incredibly destressing to me. I can chain shiny Pokemon if I wanted, I can EV train if I wanted, I can battle if I wanted, things like that. I get to explore a world in which the game focuses on "me" and "my" journey as a trainer throughout (insert region here). Pokemon delivers this I think better than most JRPGs could; Game Freak does one hell of a job getting in touch with people's inner childhood for the most part.

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I think Pokemon evokes this sense of journey that we all wanted to embark on as children. Raising, breeding, and battling with virtual pets does something mentally to us as we develop as human beings. I think some may even say, pokemon taught us a lot about caring and value. When a game brings out life principles, I think it'll stick with you forever. That's what makes pokemon such a valuable franchise and idea. Its never ending.

colours said:

This is going to sound cheesy, but there's a reason why I continue to play the games again and again and hardly ever lose interest in them.

Pokemon gaming, for me, is actually "magical", as it were. The fact that, after a long day, I can unwind by playing Pokemon is incredibly destressing to me. I can chain shiny Pokemon if I wanted, I can EV train if I wanted, I can battle if I wanted, things like that. I get to explore a world in which the game focuses on "me" and "my" journey as a trainer throughout (insert region here). Pokemon delivers this I think better than most JRPGs could; Game Freak does one hell of a job getting in touch with people's inner childhood for the most part.

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I completely agree with this. Pokémon is different from other RPGs because it focuses on my story, my journey in this world, and not some protagonist's. There is all the room and opportunities to do whatever you want with whichever group of Pokémon/companions you want, and I feel that freedom makes it very easy to see yourself actually be there. I don't have to worry about someone else's fate or whatever - this story is about me. I think that's what makes playing Pokémon so different from other games.