Ashamed of Pokemon?

[IChooseUPikachu]

Now realize, this topic is for the more mature age-groups here. I have nothing against 10 year olds, but if you're that age, you really have nothing to hide. For the rest of us, it could be a problem, depending on your personal perspective. Which is why I'm asking this question:


(If you're 13 years old+) Have you ever been ashamed of your love for Pokemon?

Before I get a lot of "NOOO!!!! I Would never!11 Pokemon is life!1 It's awesome and there's nothing to be ashamed of1", think about it. Would you pull out your DS and play Pokemon D/P in front of a crowd at your high school? Would you go around wearing a shirt that says "I Love Pokemon"?
Has there ever been a situation in the past where when approached about liking Pokemon by a peer you were a little hesitant to fess up that you liked it?

I feel like it's kind of taboo to be a teenager and still like Pokemon.. If you do, it's kind of an underground thing that only other poketeens know about. If you are older and admit to being a pokefan, you're stereotyped as a "nerd" or a "geek."

In my case, I would gladly wear a T-Shirt that says "IChooseUPikachu!".. as a joke. At home. I have friends, fans of anime, that flaunt their anime shirts around 'till they fade. It's just not my style.

On the other hand, all of my true friends know how young I am at heart and have accepted that I play pokemon games. =) Some even do so themselves. It's easy for me to talk to the people in an anime club about me liking Pokemon (games); chances are, they do to. But I'm also a member of different social groups (let's not start a discussion on how stereotypes and cliques should be broken), and I would definitly not act the same around my more 'Seventeen-magazine' friends.

So it's your turn now. Do you have any personal stories that relate to this subject? Opinions?

 

[Razer302]

I am never ashamed of liking pokemon. I went into school on Thursday and took in my DS with pokemon Ruby in it. Noone was that bothered.

I tell people that i still like pokemon. I'm not bothered if they call me a "geek" or anything like that. It is a game that I enjoy to play so I will play it no matter what other people may think.

I know that some people hide the fact that they like pokemon because they are scared what people might think. But i think that if you like something then you shouldn't be scared by what other people may think.

 

[IChooseUPikachu]

I am never ashamed of liking pokemon. I went into school on Thursday and took in my DS with pokemon Ruby in it. Noone was that bothered.

I tell people that i still like pokemon. I'm not bothered if they call me a "geek" or anything like that. It is a game that I enjoy to play so I will play it no matter what other people may think.

I know that some people hide the fact that they like pokemon because they are scared what people might think. But i think that if you like something then you shouldn't be scared by what other people may think.

That's true in some cases, but it's not that I'm "afraid" of what others might think. I wouldn't pull the game out in front of my friends who are not fans of pokemon because .. they're not fans of pokemon. Not saying that just because they don't like it I won't either, but I'd rather do something they like when I'm with them, and do something my anime fan friends like when I'm with them. I'm not afraid of other's opinions. It's about whether or not they'd be interested enough to join me. If we're hanging out we might as well be doing something both of us like, right?

 

[Alter Ego]

Nyu, depends...I used to be very covert about my liking of pokémon as I really didn't feel like giving the people in upper elementary another thing by which to single me out like the ones in lower did. (long story of personal angst I won't get into) Most of my friends there weren't really into it either, so it never really came up as a topic. Back then, I certainly wouldn't have dreamed of advertising my likes. Nowadays...I'm a bit beyond caring. First off, I'm in the IB line here, which has been acknowledged as the geek line anyway on account of being tougher than the national. Consequently, everyone in my school (Not counting the national siders with whom I have very little contact) would probably be classified as 'nerd' one way or the other, anyway. I've quite openly accessed PC from the computer lab during skips and such and not really given a damn about whether someone saw or not (Mind you, I still try to avoid people peeking over my shoulder because it's just plain unnerving). So yeah. I usually just keep my pokémon intrest in the background, though, as there are so few pokémon fans here these days. The only one IRL whom I can really talk pokémon with (well, on the level that I like) is my little brother, sadly. The rest vaguely associate it with Pikachu and that's about as far as their knowledge reaches. It just doesn't make for very interesting conversation. xP

I do remember the brief time period when pokémon was accepted as a mainstream cool thing, though. I was in sixth grade, I think, but I remember the self-appointed 'cool' kids being into it too, which is always a nice thing to pull out when they now try to look cool by bashing it. xD

So yeah, slowly coming out of the closet. ^-^

 

[RYOUKI]

I'm a little ashame that i still like pokemon even though that i'm only twelve.

In my class only five of us like pokemon and i'm the only one who is a pokefanatic and the three of them enjoy pokemon games nothing more.Everyone around me is saying that i should quit Pokemon before its too late, I usually ignore them or never mind what they say, but It really bothers me that I'm going to be a teenager and i still like games like Pokemon, but no I don't regret of ever loving Pokemon EVER.

I enjoy games like this, so even though many people tell me to "Grow Up!", "Stop Being so CHILDISH", "Time to quit now!" or even "Time to Change your lifestyle" I will still love Pokemon at the bottom of my heart.Besides if i quit playing Pokemon now i'll never experience what's fun and what's not XD

 

[Zaffimitsu]

I play pokemon with my friends. We don't hate the games, just the show. Plus, I'm really muscular and do martial arts so they're not stupid enough to call me a nerd.

 

[Water Pokemon Rule!]

I never reali tell anyone cause someone's admitted in our form and has been teased ever since. But I am on of 3 secret players in our form.

 

[Raichu Guardian]

Not really. I mean as Razer said if you like something then don't care about others negative opinions about it.

I mean people have a good idea that I like pokemon. Either from looking at me playing it on my screen or making comments to others about it walking down the halls. I'm not ashamed at all.

People probally just try and make fun of people who play pokemon either for trying to kudos from their other friends or just some other reason that I have no idea why...

Either way, no i'm not ashamed to play the games or watch the series.

And Hoshiko does make a good comment about Yugioh though. XD;

 

[Gummy]

I tell my friends I'm a Pokemon fan but not a fanatic. Although I'll probably never watch the show again, I'll probably be the first guy in my classes to know when a game is coming out. When I first got Diamond, I was afraid to bring it to my high school but when I saw some of my friends (including the captain of the football team) bringing the game, I started to bring it too. I even play infront of my "girlfriend" (more like friends with benefits) and shes perfectly fine with it. So, all in all, I am a little ashamed of Pokemon.

 

[healberry]

I actually never really cared, most people in my school bring their DS or SP and play pokemon all the time. I was on the football team like until last March, so I've established so much popularity that nobody cares when I bring my SP to school. It's like the new fad at my school. Plus, I go to an all boys catholic school, so its not like there's anything else to do here.

Now on the other hand, if I was to join the anime club, then I would be ridiculed. =(

 

[SilverDragon]

Nope i dont feel ashamed of Pokemon cept the cards =/

 

[PikaRom]

I actually have been somewhat surprised with my feelings for Pokemon (ashamed isn't exactly the right word to use here). I have loved it since I was a small boy, yet as others grew out of it, I never did. Of course, I play the games without worry, for even those that say things like, "Pokemon sucks!" will still say things like, "Oh, that game rocks my socks." I would probably wear a Pokemon shirt at my high school every once in a good while, for there are plenty of people at my high school who are still into it, but it's all underground. When somebody goes around flashing a shirt like that at the middle school, which is where I am right now, everybody would act like they came out of the closet. Of course, I'd show off any other anime apparel, but when it comes to Pokemon, I get pretty nervous. It all stays under wraps until I'm hanging around in the parking lot or something with my friends.

 

[Astinus]

When it first came out, I wasn't ashamed. Aside from my lunch box (which had A.J. on it, thus making it the coolest lunch box ever), no one knew that I liked it. (I went to a school that required uniforms. D: So I couldn't wear a shirt that showed my love.) But I didn't care because it made me happy.

Around the time that I hit high school, which would be towards the end of the G/S period, I started to hide it a bit. I mean, I was in high school. But then I realised that the people in my high school would mock me no matter what I did, so I decided to forget them and go with it.

Now that I'm "adult" in age only, I really don't care. I'll take out my DS in the middle of class and play Pearl, or wear one of my Pokemon shirts, or wander around with my plushies. I don't care anymore. I'm happy, and that's all that matters to me.

 

[Hakeen]

I'm not ashamed of liking Pokemon... most other students at school know that I like Pokemon and accept it. Most of them used to play Pokemon-Crater but now they don't anymore. In class, if I have nothing to do, I take my DS out of my bag and play MD. Nobody is really going to ridicule me for liking Pokemon because they all did, and probably still play it in secret. Nobody from school besides me still watches the show, they're all into other anime that I don't watch. That's the Asians at least, the Aussie guys tend to talk about Pokemon, but only meantioning the origional ones like Pikachu.

Nan and Pop are probably more ashamed that I like Pokemon than I am. XD

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

I'm not ashamed, you shouldn't be ashamed of anything you like


:t354:tatsujin gosuto

 

[DragronWarroir2000x]

The only times I ever talk about it in front of my friends is to reminisce about being younger, and how dumb it was.

 

[PikaRom]

I'm not ashamed, you shouldn't be ashamed of anything you like


:t354:tatsujin gosuto

I agree. In fact, most of us ought to go around and talk about whatever you want to talk about without feeling ashamed/nervous. I'm gonna start showing my fandom for it again, it's not like you have to accept anybody else's opinion. I thought about this overnight and have come to the conclusion that I like Pokemon and I'm proud of it. Nobody but myself can change that.

 

[TwilightBlade]

I'm not ashamed of my love for pokemon but I do hide it from any of my fellow peers. A deep secret like that floating around in a high school... Well, that certainly isn't good. Everyone would tease me about it. So I just pretend I hate it to be like the rest of those retarded lifeless morons. ^o^

 

[Bomberman]

Eh, I used to be when I was 13-14. Now, I don't really care what people think.
In fact, I'm thinking about getting a Pokemon shirt to wear at school before it becomes popular with all the scene/emo/hot topic groups.

 

[xantor]

I dunno, I don't exactly publicise likeing pokemon. I've loved it since I first played blue version at my cousins when i was like 6 or 7, 10 years later I still love it just as much. My younger sister won't ever stop giving me a hard time about it. At my high school it's more of a tough guy kinda scene, those that can fight are the most liked.

Gaming is acceptable, only if your a microsft or sony fanboy, Nintendo is generally ridiculed because of what is generally aimed at a younger audience. If I publicised I liked Nintendo games like Zelda and pokemon I'd hear no end to it, stupid i know but that's how it is. High school is hard enough without causing youself extra problems IMO.

So yeah I don't publicise i like pokemon, mkaes life easier for me.