Some people are lucky that everyone they know doesn't diss them for liking what they like. Others are not so lucky and yeah i do feel bad for them.
People younger than me liked Pokémon, my brother and I collected the unofficial cards and swapped some with a girl two houses down from us.
My first Game was Pokémon Yellow and I couldn't stop playing.
After Crystal I stopped and took a break and missed the 3rd Gen until I met my now partner who was obsessed with the cards , the games and even drew out his own. I almost "had" to become obsessed again.
We have constant discussions about biological theories surrounding Pokémon and the likes and try to make it just as mature as it were a "grown-up" thing. Why do you think people IV and EV train to make their Pokémon battle? 5 and 6 years olds aren't gonna understand that are they?
I'll be 26 in October and that doesn't mean a thing. Think of the 70+ year old woman who enters the championships, think of all the artists of the cards...game directors and Satoshi Tajiri himself, what age are they?
Yes Pokémon has a specific demographic, but not everyone falls into that, I have a Grandmother who still plays Pikmin and Legend of Zelda.
Most of my classmates at Uni who are 6 or 7 years younger than I talk about it as if it was the in thing when they were younger, but they were probably too young to remember properly. They still talk about the first gen...and nothing else.
People who make fun of others who are interested in something like Pokémon always have a preconceived idea about it, like it's childish and its for babies. If they understood most of the mechanics of the game they'd be surprised how grown up it can be. Most of the people who diss other people are the sort of folk who constantly play shoot em ups (no disrespect meant) or beat other folk, and what's so mature about that, picking on people and playing with guns? It's kinda the same and being in a war where most of these people end up (again no disrespect meant) which is just a big game of hide and seek...with guns.
And so I rest my case.
I do not transmit my love of the franchise but I will often put it in my list of likes on other sites or to people who ask.
It's just like me being a Céline Dion fan, not many people like her, although being one of the best selling females artists in history.
You have to be open to others, that's all, and not be afraid.
