I don't think I'll ever truly hate pokemon, I just wish the games could manage to keep up with the reputation the franchise set for itself

Don't forget that pokémon is, for the people who own it, a product. They don't care about your memories and feelings, only how they can be monetized. They'll dangle nostalgia on your face like jingling keys just to keep you buying. Your love doesn't have to translate to financial commitment to bad product.

Fangames and some good spinoff games feel like they're the only thing keeping my love for pokemon alive these days honestly.

As an autistic person, Pokemon was one of my biggest special interests for years (alongside FNAF). And then one day it just -- faded. I looked at the flood of notifications from my favorite Poketubers, all about the newest generation of Pokemon, the DLC that was coming out for it. I just wasn't happy with it anymore. I couldn't keep up with all the new Pokemon, because I couldn't find the love that Pokemon had sparked in me. The past couple of months, I've felt that love returning, but I know it won't be the same. I love Pokemon, but I will never love it the same way. And coming to terms with that is difficult, but that's just how the tide flows. I find the newer games full of potential -- but that's not enough for everybody.

Top tear-jerkers in media: 1. First six minutes of this video 2. Opening scene from Up

This kinda summarises my takes honestly, x and y were fun but sun and moon really left me feeling sad about the fact I’ll never experience the “Pokemon” I knew and loved again, everything’s just so corporate. It pissed me off how pokemons newest games feel like demos more than full games.

Your description of love in a video about silly monster game for children did NOT have to go that hard

I feel so, so badly for the folks who waited for the Sinnoh remakes. I grew up during gens 1 and 2. When they remade my first games, they were slam dunks. Even ORAS taught me to love Hoenn, after RSE originally released during a time when I'd kind of (temporarily) outgrown Pokémon (I'd later get back into the series with XY, and eventually fell in love with BW shortly after). You guys deserved so much more from the Sinnoh remakes. It broke my heart, vicariously, to see that go down.

This video makes my heart ache. I understand the feelings you’re going through because I’m falling out of love with Pokémon as well, but I didn’t realise it until now. But my first game was Pokémon Diamond, so I’m still desperately clinging onto what I used to like. This video made me realise how invested I am in a franchise that doesn’t even care to listen to its audience. Thank you for making this.

This video spoke to me in such a unique way. My personal experience with Pokémon mirrors a lot of yours - using it as an escape from life's hardships, falling out of love with a lot of the newer installments, even details such as losing a beloved game (I lost my HeartGold copy years ago). Yet in spite of this, I never could move on from Pokémon the way you could. Maybe that has to do with me at least marginally enjoying BDSP and Scarlet/Violet and enjoying Legends Arceus, but there was something about the franchise that gripped me in a way where it could always sneak its way back into my mind. As weird as this sounds, this video made me appreciate Pokémon even more for what it once was, and to keep holding on to faith that it can someday recapture that.

Ever since iwata passed away, Nintendo hasn’t been the same

This video really is how I feel. You saying "back in my day there were 493 pokemon" drove it home. That's exactly the number that has always hung in my head. While I liked Legends: Arceus and will consider Z-A, SwSh and BDSP destroyed my love. Despite hearing great things about SV's story, I dropped it around Levinca. I just wasnt having fun anymore, and I've never gone back to it.

For me, the cutoff point is Gen 5. I have played more recent games, but don't really feel like going back to them. Tried Y and couldn't get past how annoying Pansear waving that tail in my face is.

Next month will mark two years since my mother passed away from chronic kidney failure. I still remember being in elementary school (30 now), and my Mom picking me up a little early from school, just for that day. When I got home, she gave me Pokemon Ruby. Brand new. Just released. Whenever I play those early, 2D Pokemon games, my heart fills with warm memories. Sunday dinners, family road trips, those deep conversations when you discover your parent’s hidden lore, lazy days of just relaxing and watching sun rise and sun set.

As a GenWunner 32-year-old I can tell you that your distaste for Pokemon is not due to hitting a certain age. It came from the specific lineup of games that you mentioned. We fell out of love at the same time in the same way despite being totally different ages.

I love how this felt like less of a video essay and more of a story being shared around a campfire. Thank you for making this video, I resonated with so much of it

I found a full odds shiny Stunfisk on the White 2 playthrough I just finished. That Stunfisk brought more joy than any new Pokemon release could ever dream of.

The real secret to bring a Pokémon fan is playing fan games and Pokémon showdown. Pokémon rogue just came out and it’s soooooo good

I knew I had truly fallen out of love with Pokémon when my Switch died and I lost all of my Pokémon that I had kept through time. I had a full living dex including ALL variations (all colors of Floette, Deerling, all regional forms, etc.), all of the teams I had used since X and Y, multiple boxes of legit shinies, multiple boxes of legit mythicals, so many rare events like shiny locked mons or mons with their hidden abilities that you can't obtain in-game. One day a few years ago my Switch died, and I wasn't using Pokémon Home, so I had all of my mons on the save files. Since the save files are stored on the Switch and not the cartridges, I just lost everything. Years of collecting... You can't back-up Pokémon games for some reason, so there was nothing I could do. But the saddest thing is that I wasn't even as sad as I thought I'd be. It was just like "Oh well that really sucks. Oh well I guess." I realized Pokémon just wasn't as important to me anymore, and THAT's what made me most sad.

I love Pokemon and always will. But I love it as a memory, as a concept. I listen to the soundtracks and reminisce on what it brought to me. I would still describe myself as loving it despite not playing any of the games for so long, and having no desire to. I think what the series did best was providing childlike wonder to the worlds, causing the games to be more rooted in nostalgia than most properties, and why I see so much more discussion about how great the old games are. I think the kids who grow up with the new games will feel the same when they are older too.

I remember my first exposure to Pokemon. I remember my mom getting me a Happy Meal at McDonald's and I sat down and opened the toy, to find a Buizel inside. I thought it was just a cute otter, so I brought it to school the next day so I could play with it at reccess. When my friends saw that I had something Pokemon related in my hands, I think they got excited. They began to ask me what my favorite Pokemon was and how many cards I had. I was a shy kid and started crying because I felt overwhelmed by being asked - what a 5 year old feels - is a lot of questions. And I also remember my kindergarten teacher taking the Buizel away because she thought it was a distraction. When my mom picked me up from school I told her all about how the kids made me cry and how the teacher took my otter away. And I think my 6 year-old self decided that Pokemon was this evil thing that I didnt like. For awhile anytime I heard someone talk about Pokemon I would hide or run away. Then one day, my mom dropped me off at one of her friends houses to sleep there for the night. I think it was because of a work trip or something. My moms friend had 2 kids. There was J'ren, who was about my age, and Tyler, who was probably around 8. I remember being really confused as to why people were still awake at 10pm because my mom imposed a strict 8pm bedtime policy. Then Tyler turned on the TV and flipped to Boomerang and started watching the Pokemon anime. I went to a corner of the living and started to sob uncontrollably, only for Tylers parents to reassure me that nothings wrong and sit me down with Tyler and his brother on the couch. I still cried for a bit until a fuckin Steelix showed up on screen and thought to my 5 year old self "wait nevermind this shit rocks". I nagged my mom to 'buy a Pokemon' for me. When she didnt have the money, I nagged my poor Grandpa for it, we went to Walmart and I got Pokemon Platinum because I thought the black and red colors looked super cool. And I used my blue DSi that I got as a hand-me-down to boot it up. And ive been in love ever since. Thank you Pokemon, for everything!

My first foray into the Pokémon world was _Pokémon Soul Silver._ Until that point Pokémon had simply been something annoying that I would see on t-shirts around town, but reading through my uncle's Pokédex got me interested enough to pick up a copy of the new game at Costco. I was about fourteen at the time, and therefore very into gold, what with treasure and pirates and adventures and whatnot. So it was hard for me to choose _Soul Silver,_ but the box legendary was just infinitely cooler than the big bird. I was a bit busy with other things, and didn't start the game that day. I seem to recall that I was very into _The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks_ at the time. Perhaps a week later, my dad called me and my theee siblings into the hallway. I knew from his voice that something was very serious. We congregated in the hallway. Mom was crying, and Dad informed us in so many words that our cousin was dead. He had been in an accident. I essentially had cousins instead of friends, we were a big clan. This particular cousin was thirteen years old, and always played Pikachu in _Smash Brothers Brawl._ I had never beaten him at the game, and now I would never do so. His dad (my godfather) was understandably devastated. After being informed that Mom and Grandma would be flying up right away to be with their brother/son and the rest of us would head up for the funeral a few days later, I quietly went back to my room. After processing for an indeterminate amount of time, I pulled out my red DS Lite and silently started up my first Pokémon game. My uncle and cousin had already chosen the cool one, CyndaquilI, so I picked Chikorita because he learned Synthesis. I named him Chibi, after the cute dragon from a weird but captivating backwards comic at the library. I drowned my sorrows for maybe half an hour and then went to bed. While out of state for the funeral, I played Pokémon and thought about death, played Pokémon and thought about my cousin. I found a Shiny Rattata on Route 30 and caught it within my first six hours of game time, which was exciting. I have always paced when I'm stressed or when I'm thinking, so the Pokéwalker was well-positioned. I logged at least 10,000 steps daily onto that thing while on the trip, and transferred hundreds of items and dozens of Pokémon to my game cartridge. On the plane home I pulled out my DS and looked for my copy of _Spirit Tracks._ I was at the boss of the Sand Temple, and wanted to give it another go on the way home. I couldn't find it. My entire case of games had somehow been left at the hotel. It must have fallen down the side of my bed, I virtually never lose things. Countless stamps in _Brain Age_ 1 & 2, near 100% completion in _Mario and Sonic at The Olympic Winter Games,_ hundreds of thousands of Rupees and hours and hours of progression and story investment in _Spirit Tracks,_ et cetra, all lost. The only game left to me was my cartridge of _Pokémon Soul Silver,_ which happened to be in my game system instead of the case. Time passed, and wounds faded. Eventually I reached the Veridian forest in the postgame, and caught my first Pikachu. I named it after my cousin. I still have Chibi, a beautiful level 100 Meganium. For being made of ones and zeros, he means lot to me. He's on my Pokéwalker with me right now. Thanks for sharing some of your childhood. It took me back.

This video really resonated with me. While I didn't fall out of love with Pokemon (in the sense that I did not love it for years upon years like you did), I did fall out of love with a property and the hobbies and fandom adjacent to it. I spent so much of my high school years enwrapped with said thing and it was so important to me and my development as a person, yet these days I don't have the energy nor will to sustain it. And it breaks my heart that this thing that mattered so much to me has no real role in my current life. I feel empty, in the sense that I haven't found something to replace it as my #1 hobby. So hearing you describe how you fell out of love with Pokemon was cathartic for me. Thank you.

This was enough to make a grown man cry. I never comment on youtube videos but this video moved me. As someone who grew up in the 2000s i will always look back at the memories of pokemon and be thankful that I got to experience pokemon at its best. Today's pokemon is a hot dumpster fire that needs to be completely reworked and gamefreak and the pokmeon company will never take the time or effort on them like they did with generations 1-5. Dollar signs burned into gamefreak's retna. Like you said in the video there are so many time restraints and pressure from the suits that the people working on the games couldnt even put care into the game if they wanted to. Game freak and the pokemon company are a shell of the company they used to be. Even going after youtube channels DMCA striking them and taking down multiple videos because they are using an emulator or modding them to add a breath of life to a game they hold so many fond memories of. Its sad when you realize that the people who literally MADE your childhood what it is dont care about you.

Sun and Moon came out on the exact same day I graduated highschool. I stayed up past midnight the night before to get my pre-ordered copy on release. Fast forward like 2 months and I'm (I think) 2 thirds through the game. I put it down one day and haven't played a single Pokemon game (that was released after it) since. I bought Scarlet because my brother wanted me to play it (he was the same age as I was when I got SM), I finished the tutorial area and closed the switch and never opened it again. I don't know if it's me or if it's Pokemon. The first games I ever owned for myself were Pokemon Pearl and Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon. Right after I put the cartridge for Scarlet back in it's cover I popped Three Houses out for my 5th playthrough, so I'm inclined to believe it's Pokemon

I've seen some really shitty and confusing excuses for the newer games. "The games are bigger and rendering Pokémon with random stats is hard, of _course_ it looks ugly and runs horribly!" Have any of these people played _any_ non Pokémon games on Switch? The Witcher 3 is less ugly on Switch _and_ it runs better. As a Pokémon fan, this gen has been incredibly embarrassing. TotK exists on the same platform. EDIT (04/11/2024): Read the comment chain under this comment and you'll understand why Pokémon continues to sell so well despite the games being complete dogshit all around compared to other games on the same hardware. This is the extent that people will go to to mindlessly excuse, deflect, undermine, and even lie to make Pokémon look less bad than it actually is.

I couldn't agree more. I used to be *the* person my friends and coworkers thought of in regards to Pokemon. Knew everything there was to know, had a ton of merchandise, could basically write an essay on any Pokemon if prompted, logged hundreds of hours IV breeding, EV training, and battling on each title...hell, I learned to draw *just* so I could draw Pokemon, practicing every day just for that. Then Sun and Moon dropped. It hurt, but I figured things would get better after that. And then they fed us the lie that they'd be giving us better animations and models. They haven't gotten a cent out of me since. I *want* to love Pokemon, and it really feels like I lost a part of myself. It really is a weird limbo of apathy and indignation.

Watching this (very well written) video made me realise that I too had given up on hoping that anything good would be coming out of Pokemon in the future, and that the only reason I didn't notice sooner was because I'd practically only been engaging in the parts that were still nostalgic to me. A different but all too similar disillusionment, one where you hide away in your bunker and pretend the world outside isn't real, so to speak. But you can only replay Gold, Snap, Ruby, Diamond and White so many times, only buy nostalgic trading cards for a vintage collection so many times, only escape into what WAS so many times, before the illusion breaks absolutely and the lights come back on. By trying to avoid apathy I over indulged in halcyon comfort, as if I'd found the source of a nostalgic smell, and devoured it I think I'm ready to leave the bunker now. Ready to search for newer, better gaming experiences, and to let my memories of Pokemon rest forever as simply just that: memories

The first pokemon i played was red, way back when game boys were battery powered bricks and i couldn't even read. My brother and i had to ask our mom to save the game whenever we stopped playing. Ruby was the first game i played that i could fully understand and experience by myself, and hoenn feels like a second home to me still. Pearl blew my kid mind with the step-up in graphics, it audibly made me gasp when i watched my brother boot it up when he got it for his birthday. Alpa Sapphire is predictably my favorite pokemon game to date. My love for the franchise began to fade with shield. I was uninterested in arceus, the diamond remake appaled me, and at long last violet became the tomb to my love of pokemon. Played three hours, then never touched it again. I'll come back to the games i did enjoy, a yearly replay of alpha sapphire is a tradition of mine by now. But i will not buy new games anymore. The heart is gone. I'm moving on.

This video summarizes the entirety of the 5 stages I went through after sun and moon was over and sword and shield came around. I’ve been numb to it ever since. I caught them all back during x and y. That was my challenge and I did it. All 718.

I watched this video and I felt so heartbroken I feel so guilty now, because I genuinely like the most of games Pokemon made and it just tears me apart that because of people like me so many other people lost something so important and cherished I've been with Pokemon for 9 years and I've turned 20 this year, and I feel like my love for the franchise is on its peak and Pokemon is, like, a half of my personality I feel truly sorry for all people who fell out of love with the franchise, I hope you all guys will truly be able to move on to something that may fill the void that Pokemon left in your heart💔

THANK YOU! Arceus was filled with so much busywork, and that is the WHOLE gameplay loop. It's good but it is not the panacea. BDSP is generally frowned upon but I know a lot of people that cope about SwSh and ScarVi. I WANT Pokemon to be good, I've always loved it, in a similar way to you, that's why the disappointment and falling short hits so hard to me.

I WAS alive in the 90s. I got in on the ground floor with RBY. I lived and breathed it, and it helped me immensely through a hard time in my life and connected me to my neighbors--my first new friends after a sudden move. I fell out of Pokemon in high school, then got back into it in college. The Black and White launch was such a great college memory... and then things declined, slowly but surely, as I was an adult, especially post-X&Y. I still like Pokemon in concept, but generally... I agree with you. And I echo the "not mad, just disappointed" sentiment. I want the magic my childhood self experienced on that tiny, un-backlit Gameboy Color screen or the magic of my stressed college self kicking back with HGSS and BW on the DS back... and I'll probably never get it. Such is the way it goes.

This video hits hard. 100%. I grew up with everything pokemon. From toys, cards, apparel, animated series to the video games on console and handhelds. The last pokemon series I enjoyed was gen 6 in 2013 as I was in college. I firmly believed pokemon fell off since. It just doesn't capture the essence and the emotional impact anymore not. It's now 2024 and I'm in my 30s. From time to time, I still go on youtube and listen to pokemon soundtracks and even hour long videos of pokemon lofi.

The last few gens proved that Gamefreak and the Pokémon Company don't care like they once did. The series peaked with Gen 5 and maybe 6

Honestly part of what made Pokemon special is simply the interactions with others growing up. Remembering who you fought with and played the games with is what made these special. I grew up and played all the way to series 4. I still recall who I played with in battles. Heck even my brother and sisters who were younger played all the way to 7th gen. If you have real life friends theres nothing wrong with falling out of the craze but Remember its the shared memories which you shouldn't throw away. Ironically I'm the Gen 1 generation and whenever I talk to people my age no matter what walk of life or how much of a dick a person is, if I ask about their Pokémon experience everyone has a fond memory(ies).

I'm so glad you called the battle system Pokemon's greatest strength. Not enough people realize that, especially in Gamefreak. The Gen IV games gave an illusion that we hate long battles, we just hate long animations that we'll see 1000 times. But they took that info and decided to make 90% of all trainer battles from Gen VI and on to have only 1 Pokemon on their team, 2 if we're lucky. The games got boring because they made the most fun part boring. They extended the animations to the point where we were barely playing for almost an hour straight in Sun&Moon and made all the battles meaningless distractions for the lame story that didn't even get the full attention it should've. Their method of the past decade has been to cut the battles and boost the amount of extra stuff nobody likes. It's not just being jaded, they actually legitimately destroyed everything the games used to be. There's a reason why I still only replay older games from Gen VI and back, and its because any of the newer games are unbearably boring, and totally different games. It's not what I want to play, so i just replay their old games, and don't give them any more of my money. The more new Pokemon they make, the less I care about the universe. I remember realizing that 1000 was not far away, I would've thrown a party for that pokemon and praised whoever it was for whatever reason. Now I'm at a point where I don't even care to know who it is, and this is coming from a consistent fan since 96. Only game I didnt touch was Scarlet and Violet. Feels so sad to finally give this up, and frustrating to accept that we never really will get a high quality Pokemon game ever. The old games were perfect, but they were cheaper games, they weren't ever really high quality for their time. I used to be hopeful that when it comes to console we will see it, but after a decade of disappointment, I know they will never turn that boat around.

I think this is one of my favorite video of yours, and really makes me want to reflect on the things I've loved and love, and put it on writing, since I was thinking about it anyways and falling out of things is something that I want to think about a bit more now.

Every experience you’ve said in this video is the same feeling I have about Pokémon. Glad I’m not alone

sword and shield was when my love for pokémon died. any time i try to go back to an older game to relive the enjoyment i had before, i can never finish them. they just don’t hit the same anymore

It is really good to see that I am not the only Pokemon fan who strongly dislikes Pokemon: Legends Arceus.

"That game sat for 10 months in a cabinet still in the saran wrap" OMG same, my brother also bought me Pokemon Violet and I also never bothered opening it... I tried to exchange it for a discount on another game multiple times, but no where would even accept Pokemon Scarlet/Violet for trade in.

At least we still have fan projects to keep the community afloat. Personally, my love for Pokémon will never die, but that love is given from the hands of a passionate fan base rather than the actual licensed games themselves.

Really enjoyed this. I've found myself at the same apathy, but for different reasons. I go back and play the old games, I feel nothing. I play the new games, I feel nothing. The logical part of my brain can see all the ways the new stuff isn't as good, but the numbness is equal. As I play more JRPGs, get into fire emblem, phantasy star, and steam's wonderful indie offerings, I start to think that the strategy of pokemon is just not enough for me anymore. I used to beat 4 or more pokemon games a year. Last year, not even one.

I don't share all of the same issues that other people have with modern pokémon for pretty circumstantial reasons, but it does make me sad to see a lot of the decisions they've made recently and how so many fans are falling out of love with it. Ever since the jump to 3D they've had a difficult time making solid games within their deadlines and they either need to slow down or get a larger team. That's really all they need to make a complete-feeling experience. Eventually they'll have to step it up again one way or another and I don't say that out of hope, that's just how business goes.

Very early, perfect to fall asleep to. Cozy way down memory lane.

During my parents' divorce, I had: little big planet 2, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Pokémon. They really helped me escape and I owe a lot of my sanity to this media.

i love your old pokemon plushies! they remind me of my little riolu. i (read: my mom at my behest) bought him as a gift for my best friend when i was in 4th grade... and then i couldn't bear to give him away and i kept him. To this day I haven't told her he was meant to be hers lmao. I had no idea where to get a riolu in the game, either - i never did iron island in diamond. so when i saw that that very same best friend *had* a riolu in her game, i offered her EVERYTHING for it in a trade. i even offered her my beloved kadabra, my favorite pokemon that I'd used and had carry me from the very start of the game (and that neither of us at that point knew how to evolve), but she wouldn't trade it to me. even though I eventually figured it out, Riolu's felt like such a special little guy to me ever since those days. nowdays the plushie is so color-worn and dirty, but I'm afraid to throw him in the washer. he's still soft, very huggable, and the space between his ears on top of his head is still the perfect size to kiss. I'm kind of halfway to falling out of love with pokemon too, but i love my little guy

the cries of a true fan. it hurts man. im here with you.

As many others have already said, thank you SO much for making this video. I'm an older fan (90s baby and 1st game was gen 2 lol), but gen 4 is my all time favorite. When I saw BDSP I pretty much knew I had to let go of this series, no matter how much I still love it and am thankful for the experiences it's given me. I was utterly heartbroken. Now, much of my enjoyment comes exclusively from Romhacks and fan made games at this point, but even then, I've realized that it's better to just take a cautionary step back, and remember that what I love about Pokemon is the memories, and the friends and community that's been made from it, not the product Nintendo/GF has been giving us. :/

For whatever reason, the 493 Pokémon count is forever burned into my memory, too. I think it used to be put on a lot of promotional material for the Sinnoh games specifically. You couldn't get me to tell you the count for any other generation.

Im going to be fully honest, this video is art. Its understandable to be sad when something youve grown alongside changes. But such is the nature of things, to always change. Im glad you still recognize it as a love once loved. I hope you find many more amazing interests to love just as much, if not even more deeply :)

PLA is a main series game. Any Pokémon game made by Game Freak is automatically main series and if it's made by a different developer (with the exception of BDSP), it's a spin-off.

I'm still madly in love with the idea of Pokémon, but it's... it's like... I'm in love with its potential. I would literally bawl tears of joy if they released a Let's Go Eeveelution! and I could pick a Glaceon or Sylveon and just hug them and love them to death. Holding "hands" with a sweet little Sylveon or brushing a Glaceon's precious fur while she smiles up at me would fkn fill me with happiness of a new sort I can only merely imagine. Integrate these with the game mechanics and make it different for every Eeveelution. Flareon's warm floof makes them extra huggable and snuggly, Jolteon's super playful with outdoor sports, Vaporeon loves swimming with the trainer and playing aquatic games, etc. These could extend into ways the trainer approaches the game and its progression toward collecting badges and catching new Pokémon. Idk, just... so much potential... So much wonderful potential, and imagine all this in a PLA-like open-world MMO-type thing. It's been my childhood dream. But I just don't know if they'll ever give that many fucks about us. They sure love to shut down the fan games that try to make this stuff a reality; I wish they cared that much about their own releases. It is one of the most heartbreaking and complicated love-hate relationships a player can have with a franchise their whole childhood was based on and that they still love deeply as a middle-aged adult.

Pokemon went from a soulful japanese series with a core target demographic to yet another "for everyone" soulless global product. I wouldn't even be surprised if I found out they relocated their head office to California, same as Sony.

Oh I fell out of being a big Pokémon fan around gen 4 I think. I can’t remember the last game I played, definitely none of the modern games. But I’ll always have a special attachment to those really early years with Pokémon, just seeing merch and content for them cheers me up even if I don’t participate in the series anymore. Great video, thanks for catching that nostalgia that many of us shared in our childhood

You actually put into words what i had been feeling for a while now, ever since sword and shield. I didn't like them, and i wanted to so bad. I remember playing X and Y with my brother and cousin on our 3ds' at our grandma's house. We couldn't figure out how to use the wireless feature to link trade. When we finally did, I remember we screamed in joy. I traded my Aegislash for my cousin's Raichu, and I still remember the grin on her face after we traded. My brother and I especially, fell in love with Pokemon. We played previous games too, and were both really excited for sun and moon. All three of us, my brother, cousin, and I, went to the Pokemon philharmonic orchestra. Pokemon brought us closer. The older Pokemon mystery dungeons were also games that helped me through a really tough time at the beginning of high school. Coming home after a long day at school to play something like explorers of sky, red rescue team, or pokemon super mystery dungeon was incredibly refreshing. I miss games with a soul and a story. Something about new video games, especially remakes and new Nintendo games, feel just, soulless? It's really exhausting to have your memories and feelings monetized, it seems like. I want to like the new games. I really do. But I just cant seem to keep buying $50- $70 games that make me feel empty inside. It made me feel guilty, almost, feeling this way, thinking that I was just being critical. I'm glad its not just me feeling this way. Thank you for this video. This was gut wrenching and really made me cry. I hope someday I play a Pokemon game and feel how I did when I link traded with my cousin.

I used to be a huge Pokemon fan too. My earliest childhood memories are of me re-watching the same couple of episodes of the original anime that I had on VHS. Gen 4 was my intro generation to the games and the franchise as a whole (I had red and blue for the GB but I was 4 and didn't know what I was doing) and ever since then I played every main line game and the entire mystery dungeon series, watching every episode of the anime every week it came out, and even tried the TCG but never really got into it due to my inexperience with card games at the time. I feel like everything you said on this video nearly perfectly describes my own journey with Pokemon. I think most older (like really early 2000s/Gen 5 and below) Pokemon fans also share a similar Journey and Gamefreak HAS to be aware if this and yet they continue to allow themselves to degrade. I too now only feel apathy and its a bit disheartening knowing such a huge joy in my past has now become such a disappointment.

Pokémon today isn't Pokémon from back in the day. There's different dev teams, the concepts have evolved beyond recognition. While the state of the new ones is sad, it could never taint what Pokémon meant and means to me. Love this vid.

I share a similar experience with Pokemon, StarWars, Marvel and D.C content. But here's the thing. Even if the new stuff is bad we'll always have the old stuff to remember. At least we got to experience the good and new comers can always go back to experience them as well.

Many of us have felt this way. Plenty of us have even flirted with the idea that maybe we just outgrew pokemon. In reality we could have had the great epic stories that pokemon could have offered with great improving gameplay each generation. Because of greed and apathy from the very company that holds our nostalgia we no longer live what we once did. I was not excited for x&y and scarlet and violet was hard to get through. It’s been a long time since the idea for the next game was about the pokemon fans themselves and it shows in the community sentiment. Beautiful video, thank u for summarizing what many of us feel in a direct and eloquent way.

This really echoed the feelings I’ve had of this series lately. I haven’t quite given up on the series yet, but every year since X and Y I felt that the games have been totally hollow. You really nailed it when you said that the old games had genuine polish and love in them. I remember reading an interview for Black/White 2 where a developer said they tried to squeeze in as many things as possible into the games, and their responses to interview questions had this really excited tone like they were making something from the heart. When I compare that to something like Violet, that passion just isn’t there unfortunately. There still are just enough glimmers of hope for me to keep playing these games, but I can see myself finally dropping it in a couple more years like you did 😢

As a 32 year old mom, I now recognize Pokemon as a soulless product, the magic is gone. The apathy I used to feel has evolved into a new kind of magic in the form of buying Pokemon products from yard sales and making Halloween blind bags to hand out to kids. I get the opportunity to experience Pokemon bringing my toddler's generation joy, even as a soulless product.

This very sentiment you expressed here is exactly what I've been experiencing. Even though I didn't really grow up with pokemon until I was 12 and gen 5 was ending, recently I just fell out of love with it. I still love the older games and characters, but it just doesn't feel the same anymore and I can't reignite that spark that it once had... beautiful video thank you so much

This is one of the best videos I've seen on this platform. I love how you tell your story alongside how pokemon games were developing over the years. Your story also really resonates with me personally because I had those same adventures with the pokemon games growing up. And after seeing what the games have become nowadays I had almost reached the same conclusion you have. But, I have always had one foot in the pokemon fan game community, so I simply turned all my adoration of pokemon towards the people that truly care and the passionate games they make. I don’t blame anyone at all for not caring about Pokemon... it's been a dying ship for quite awhile. But if you ever become slightly interested in Pokemon, I invite everyone to check out the Pokemon fan game and rom hacking communities. Because thats where the love for the pokemon games truly flourishes.

I can truly appreciate this video. Ironically, I feel the exact same about most of the franchises I enjoy, as if it was a curse that whatever I'm fated to like is ruined by a company's greed.

I love your storytelling. I personally have never delve too deep into the Pokémon games. I never grew up with them, but just hearing your stories about the older games makes me wanna actually play them for the first time.

31 here. Played since Red/Blue. Owned every single main series release (each version) through ORAS. My favorite generation is 2. I'm more or less an anti-fan of Pokémon nowadays with my interest in new games/content being gone via a death by a million cuts. Each generation added something extraneous starting with baby Pokémon (Gen 2) - or subtracted something I cared about (Mega evolution). For me, there was a lull in interest during Gen 5 for a variety of reasons. But, I was excited for megas and the interviews about plans for a mega for pretty much all of the legacy Pokémon. Pokémon like Arcanine would finally get a glow up. Milotic would be relevant again, etc. Then they announced z moves and no new megas. I saw the writing on the wall, and just didn't care to purchase gen 7. Then, I sat on the sidelines for the controversies with all if the modern entries. Thing is, Pokémon is too big. The games are primarily treated as a marketing exhibition for new Pokémon designs because the Pokémon company makes a ton of its money through merch sales. The target audience of children will never have enough expectations for quality to hold Game Freak accountable for making a good game. Nor will those kids necessarily have a clear eyed understanding of what did or didn't work in prior entries. Foljs that dip in and out for the nostalgia are also easier to please than consistent long term fans that want specific features or systems to return. So, it's a wrap. I moved on to other creature collectors that meet my needs better than Pokémon can.

You absolutely nailed the feeling I have with Pokémon recently the hope, the forgiveness and eventually the désillusion.. Diamond and pearl graphics was the knife in the heart

This is such a deeply relatable video. You captured my frustrations with the game & community perfectly. I fell out of love with pokemon after sword & shield. Seeing Gamefreak fail to deliver on the series' potential over and over afterwards made me care even less. I felt like a lunatic when I would see people praising all their horrible decisions. Recently and now in my 20s, I decided to check out the pokemon anime, I heard it ended recently so I wanted to watch it for nostalgia's sake. The episodes weren't particularly good, but it brought a tear to my eye seeing the end of a story I was so invested in as a child. So many memories of me as a kid, who was OBSESSED with pokemon, came flooding back. Flash forward to now, I'm beginning to love Pokemon again for the first time in years. In spite of recent releases. Albeit, not with the all-consuming fervour I once had for the franchise.

This video made me cry. As a child Pokemon was my whole life, it was the game that united me with my brother and my cousins. Everyone on the school would know about me as the girl who knew the name of every single pokémon (they were only five generations at that time). I would usually watch the movies and some of the anime episodes. Heck, as you whoever is reading this, can see my pfp is a Pikachu pixel art that I made it myself. When the national dex cut happened, something broke inside me. Right now, I understand why it happened and I think it was kind of inevitable, but at the right time, I was just profoundly sad. I was sad for the dex, sure, but I was more sad because, somehow, I knew that was an inflection point for me; in that moment I just knew that I... probably wouldn't like Pokémon anymore. Even if years later I would be playing Legend Arceus and enjoying it, I just couldn't find the joy that Pokémon made me feel in the past days. As time went on, I realized I didn't know the name of every pokémon anymore, I just forgot about lots of them. I would rarely watch the anime or the movies. And Pokémon wasnt the main focus of my drawings anymore. I didn't like Pokémon anymore; I don't like it anymore. Maybe it hurts because its attached to some kind of nostalgia for me, but well... it still hurts, lol.

In the UK, over the summer of 1998, I played Final Fantasy VII for the first time. For almost everybody in the UK, it was our first JRPG. This was not because the other ones were obscure and FF7 had very aggressive marketing, but because they didn't _exist_ here. FF1, as well as the "2" and "3" that were actually 4 and 6 didn't even make it here. Super Mario RPG's PAL release was cancelled. It was FF7 and Suikoden. And that was pretty much it. Pokemon was not only an oasis to some very thirsty new JRPG fans like myself, but it was mainstream popular, so unlike FF7 which was still a bit niche, liking Pokemon meant you could connect with people, and I basically had another FF game. I even used Pokemon as a gateway game to get younger players into FF, and JRPGs in general once we started getting them released here. What I therefore didn't accept back then was that the game... actually wasn't all that good. The campaign balance was a joke. The graphics were actually quite lazy. The mechanics had interesting ideas but weren't implemented with any proper challenge in mind, and half of them didn't even work. The trainer AI either selected random moves, spammed sleep (and would even "select" it if you woke up that turn) or spammed moves with a super-effective type, even if the move did no damage. Six years in development and that was the best they could do. I'm not joking when I say I've played RPG Maker games made by two teenagers in the space of a year that were better than that. (I know RPG Maker is a proprietary engine but that has the ability to let the user tweak enemy AI so it's not just acting entirely randomly, and these teenage amateurs would actually use that.) It took all the way until Sword and Shield to make me realize the series was really never all that good and I'd lied to myself about what it actually was. I used to be ride or die for this franchise. Now I don't think I could possibly hate it more. I resent the fact it's the highest grossing media franchise of all time, and I'm kinda disgusted with myself for ever supporting it. I am also convinced that FF7 was the reason Pokemon got that belated westward push. Bear in mind, normally when Nintendo made or published a game back then, they were already taking localization into account. For the most part, we didn't have to wait two or three years after the Japanese release to play a text-heavy game. And yet, well into the life cycle of the Game Boy Color, Nintendo put out an SGB game over a year _after_ FF7 had played such an integral role in the PSX annihilating their market share, and two years after R/G's Japanese release. Very convenient. P.S. Sorry, I deleted the first comment by accident while trying to copy the text :P

Maaaan, this hit. Pokemon was so much for me. It was THE big thing that improved my drawings via obsession after dinosaurs, it was my first videogame, it was the reason I was bullied relentlessly through middle school, it was the save space I could escape to during that same time. It was also the thing I spent my first self-earned money on (Diamond was bought from my first internship money) and it generally colored my interests in games (I vastly favor customization over everything else and I love fantasy creatures of all kinds). The first few notes of the original theme song still get an emotional reaction out of me. But yeah, I also fell out of love. The thing for me is, I view it less as gradually falling out of love and more like getting hit by the kitchen sink your angry lover threw at you. I think that made it easier for me. I actually still really like everything up to ORAS and I just enjoyed a replay of Sun despite thinking it was "the first bad one". I can point to SwSh as the first slap, to keep with the relationship analogy, BDSP the second and then SV as the kitchen sink, because that game is just broken on a technical level. I find it easier that way, because it's less "my fault" for growing out of it than Pokemon just doing it to itself. I also found a whole genre to explore thanks to Pokemon, so I'm not actually missing something I like. Sure, those memories and influences I mentioned at the top of this comment, those are irreplaceable, but in my opinion, they don't have to be replaced or matched. I had a good time while it lasted, I still have a good time replaying the old games (my faves are Crystal and White 1/2) and I think that's what counts. I'm glad I don't have to feel bitter about it. Thanks Pokemon SV.

I haven't finished the video yet but the title has definitely drawn me in, ive been feeling this way so much lately. I was obsessed with pokemon as a kid to the point my classmates made a song about me and pokemon. I bought plushies when i first had my own access to my bank card. But nowadays i feel nothing for it, the recent games are really such a let down. I've always been an extremely casual gamer, but man, after playing games like mario odyssey and splatoon, it really made me aware of how much pokemon had been lacking and how much its fallen off for lack of a better word. Every new thing makes me more frustrated than excited, i dread any types of remakes more than i could ever look forward to them. No more rambling, but im excited to watch the video and hear your perspective

I definitely relate to this. I played both pokemon black and pokemon sun/moon during the same time in my life and pokemon black slapped way harder for me personally. This is a very good video on how pokemon as a franchise is changing, and how things arent the same anymore

I understand your predicament. I truly do. To be honest I think the primary reason is that you feel as if you just dont have much do to in the games anymore. I had the same problem you do right now, and fell into a lull for pokemon, even having my cards stolen from me years ago. Growing up with Gen IV and V, i felt myself always coming back to them but still feeling...nothing. BDSP felt like such a large slap in the face. Just when i had almost written the franchise out of my life an old friend of mine dumped a few games on me that he didnt want. One of these was Pokemon Colosseum. At first i didnt think much of it, even not liking the game very much. I put it down and didnt look at it for a few months. It was also around this time that SirToasty uploaded a video. This video detailed him playing Pokemon Colosseum, and getting a shiny Scizor in order to obtain every possible ribbon on one Pokemon. I watched it and didnt think anything of it until i remembered i owned Colosseum. Its bizzare but that sort of lit a fire in me again. I looked up what pokemon could be shiny and settled on one of my favorites, Croconaw. I spent two months hunting but eventually got the croconaw to shine. I traded it out of colosseum and into my Emerald copy and from there i just started playing every game, and working to get every possible ribbon on this little guy. He started in Colosseum, then went to Emerald, then to HeartGold, Pearl, then to Black, and now hes in X, as im working on the Gen VI ribbons. Im not going to lie, this is the most enjoyment I've had playing pokemon in years, watching the ribbon page fill up more and more is making me feel as if the time spent playing the game is actually worth it. Now i know it's probably just me in the end, but still, I'd strongly recommend trying this challenge. it's not easy by any means. It's given me a great appreciation as well for each game he goes through. I never imagined something as simple as ribbon collecting would make me fall back in love with the games.

To be fair every pokemon game after black and white two has been a half assed Nostalgia baited cash grab. And it's gotten worse with every gen after. But I don't think it's necessarily Gamefreaks fault, I hope it's just the corporate overlords forcing them to come out with any POS title to sell during the holiday season to get a buck. That hurts a lot less then believing the developers just don't give a fuck anymore.

for me ive never really fallen out of love with pokemon because me and one of my friends go on a discord call every time we play a pokemon game so legends was really fun for us because the whole time we would banter so the empty parts of the game were never empty i really only get lots of joy out of the series by playing with a friend or booting up showdown

Oh wow, I remember growing up struggling financially, but my parents still gave me everything. I remember when Pokémon ORAS came out, my mom picked me up from school (normally I’d take the bus) and waiting for me on the front seat was a copy of Pokémon Alpha Saphire. Then she took me to get chinese food!These memories will forever be precious to me🥺🥺

i'm autistic and pokemon is my special interest, at the end of the day i don't think i could ever let it go

I miss the way how Pokemon games used to feel like...

Genuinely a really beautiful video

This video being uploaded on my birthday feels weirdly fitting with how much the details of your early life remind me of mine. I haven't played a new mainline pokemon game in over a decade and it's been even longer since I last enjoyed one but the memories Pokémon once gave me nearly defined my childhood.

Brilliant video, came right on time for a difficult period in my life. Weird that a pokemon video is what gave me a message I feel as though I needed to hear, but still. Lovely video! Thank you

While I have been really critical of the series (since gen 3) and fell out of love mostly for the games and merch, I think I'm starting to appreciate more and more the ideas and concepts the series was built from. Just that sense of adventure into the unknown and also being really interesting in insects as a kid like Satoshi really made me understand why I gravitated toward sthe series to begin with. Recently watching Pokémon Concierge, I realize Pokémon has a lot of appeal outside games and just battling. The series is still a goldmine of potential and new ideas I hope they keep experimenting like they have with Concierge and the Legends series.

The last Pokemon game i really remotely cared about were the Alola games and the Hoenn remakes. I played Let's go eevee and while i enjoyed seeing Eevee be a starter, i wasn't a big fan of the Pokemon Go aspect. And I wasn't gonna play any of the other Pokemon games on switch but my cousin wanted me to play with her so she and my aunt ended up getting me Shield and Violet. While I enjoyed Violet a lot more than Shield, I still didn't like it much. I wasn't a big fan of the dynamaxing in Sword/Shield and I wasn't too fond of terrastralizing in Violet. The only reason I even play Violet and Shield is for the new fave pokemon I liked from both games. (Hattarene, Galarian Rapidash, and Frosmoth from Shield and Fidough, Quaxley, and Clodsire from Violet).

Not gonna watch the video just yet but I love the premise of the title and this channel already makes great videos so I know it's gonna be real good

this feels like one of those rants you get into on a long shower

Excellent video! I’d been with Pokemon since the first. But I found white so unenjoyable and boring that I stopped there even though I loved diamond and pearl. I skipped a few and then bought Pokemon sun hoping for a hit of nostalgia but I never made it past the 3rd gym as the game was so boring and linear. Felt like a 4 hour tutorial. Shame

Trust is very important, I remember when Mob psycho season 2 and 3 came out and I was so excited because I knew it would be amazing, the same feeling for Pikmin 4.

I haven't played a new pokemon game since 2016, but I certainly carry the love for its world with me to this day. I did a university exchange in Hokkaido, and throughout the summer I'd go biking on the mountain roads, imagining I'm on a journey to become Sinnoh's champion, with my starter sitting behind me on the bicycle holding onto me in the wind. That connection with the true feeling of childhood pokemon - the adventure, the outdoors, the characters, the monsters, and the journey of the road in front of you, it can still be found anywhere you decide to look for it. Even if the games themselves don't really make me feel that anymore, I can appreciate the legacy it left.

Man I can relate to a lot of what you said here, this was truly a well made video. Also, if you want a one night stand to rebound from your breakup with Pokemon, I strongly recommend Cassette Beasts.

I don't really understand when people allow new content in a franchise to ruin their entire enjoyment of the series. Like okay, you don't like the new Star Wars movies but love everything before Disney took over. Watch read and play the old content then? There's no rule saying you have to even acknowledge the new stuff. 5 generations of pokemon is still an insane amount of content to enjoy.

The downfall since XY and i agree 100%..fell out of love for the series at sun and moon.... its sad to see so many others accept an empty shell with a Pokemon logo on it. A positive for me is that my falling out has only made me love Gen 1-5 even more ❤

This is the first time I watch a video from your channel, but man, this video made me cry, right now I'm having a bad time, I made a lot of mistakes and my best friend told me he doesn't trust me anymore and he probably will close the friendship with me, I cried for days, yeah I can still adjust the situation, but I'm scared that I can't do it, and that I'm going to lose the only person that appreciated me for who I was. All this story of trust and love you felt for the game and the amazing phrases you said, this made me think so much. I know that talking about emotions in a KZfaq comment is stupid, but I had to talk about it somewhere. Thank you for this amazing video❤

I’m very impressed when people who’ve been playing since the franchise started claim the modern ones are just as good. That they “feel like a kid again” with the switch titles. Like for real? Yeah you can enjoy the games and good for you; but just as good as playing as a bright eyed innocent 8 year old? That’s impressive.

God I resonated with all of this so fucking hard.

Finally, someone that shares my opinions about Pokémon. Someone that can see through nostalgia and see what Pokémon has become. I really enjoyed this video, because all my friends are mindless zombies for Pokémon and none of them say a single bad thing about the franchise. It's scary, in a way. To this day I enjoy gens 1 to 7, and Colosseum and XD too. And after having played Shield, I felt I was wasting my time. That game was the reason I gave my Switch to a cousin. It was that bad. I don't want to touch BDSP nor SV because I'm used to what Pokémon used to be. Finding a video by someone whose opinions are very similar to my own opinions is very refreshing. Amazing video ♡

i really appreciate the frank honesty, man. i went through a similar falling-out-of-love with pokemon, and also star wars, and that de-coupling from childhood and identity was something that seems so silly but still felt very heavy.

It's so validating to finally find someone who feels the same way about Pokemon that I've been for years. I hate to generalize, but sometimes it does seem like the majority of Pokemon fans don't acknowledge or care about the decline of effort and care put into the games. When I hear news about Pokemon, its usually about a new product they're selling. Pokemon isn't about video games anymore, I believe they're closer to a company like Sanrio, where the main profit drivers are products containing their characters, and any other media is just an afterthought. Pokemon doesn't need to make good games because either way, they'll still make a profit.