2016: The year Pokémon caught us all… again.

Twenty years ago, Pokémon took Japan by storm and by 1999 the entire world was in an absolute frenzy. The formula of collating a library full of adorably cool, dangerous monsters that could live in your pocket was like freaking catnip for children.

I still remember the moment I was absorbed in the phenomenon: I begged my parents for a copy after seeing a friend playing this amazing GameBoy game, and that following Friday my hard work paid off. We went to Big W and I got to choose either the red one or the blue one. Of course, being a 10-year-old boy (in April, 1999 – told you I remember) I chose the red one with a big-ass dragon on the cover. Funnily enough, after Professor Oak introduced himself to me and offered me my very first Pokémon, I went with the bipedal turtle because he looked cooler than the others (I had no idea the game had a system where your monsters changed). While I had friends with PlayStations who played those “arpeegee” games like Final Fantasy, little did I know I was now playing one too. I was always a good reader, but never really sought out books; Pokémon Redon the other hand lead me into reading because I talked to every single NPC I came across.

I watched the show to better understand the game and the world of Pokémon. I traded with friends — especially those who had Blue. Prior to our grubby hands clasping our Game Boys with a copy of Red or Blue in it, disputes on the playground were settled with physical feats such as races. Instead, they became settled with Pokémon battles. My one friend with access to this Internet thing printed off pages and pages of cheats, secrets and glitches. My friends and I learned the Pokérap, and when one of them received the 2.B.A. Master CD for his birthday, he recorded it on cassette for a few of us. In September that year Nintendo had a touring event giving away free Mews at Toys R Us, and few of my friends and I grouped up so that my dad could take us. The next month I finished the Pokédex and had all 151 Pokémon. Closing out that year an even bigger group of us went to see Pokémon: The First Movie at the cinema.

Since that year I haven’t engaged in Pokémon at nearly that same level. Don’t get me wrong — we all still loved it to bits — but 1999 was the year the franchise made its biggest Splash (wink wink).

I still bought and played an entry to each generation of the main series as they came except for the Ruby and Sapphire. At that time, I was 14 and thought the series was too “kiddy.” When I turned 19 I came to my senses and jumped back in with Pearl, as more of a casual player with a fondness for the series.

Last year though, this happened:

Oh… Oh sh*t.

Once again, everyone who was 10 years old during the golden age of Pokémon wanted to be a Pokémon Master.

Things kept ramping up; in early January a video was dropped on YouTube via The Official Pokémon Channel:

Monthly giveaways of legendary Pokémon via mystery gift. Pokémon Red and Blue New 3DS models with their respective game pre-loaded. Special edition classic booster packs for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, also with monthly legendries. Digital remasters of the first three Pokémon movies. New, official posed figures. The aforementioned Pokémon Go. New Pokkén Tournament content. Dios mio…

That’s not even all to expect from this year.

Over a month later Nintendo announced the next generation of Pokémon games: Pokémon Sun and Moon. Along with an extended roster of new monsters, these new entries will be set in the Hawaiian-inspired Alola region. There will also be new temporary evolution forms – called Alola forms – that will affect a wide range of Pokémon, both classic and new.

Months went past and little was said since that amazing Pokémon Go trailer… Until early July, when the game snuck onto the App Store and Google Play Store causing the world yet again to erupt in Pokémania. Despite the game being ridiculously clunky, less representative of the trailer that announced it, and riddled with bugs and connectivity problems due to worldwide server congestion, pretty much everyone was outside wandering around catching ‘em all. Mainstream news outlets were quick to downplay the phenomena in typical fashion, touting the dangers of being outside with masses of people staring at their phones creating disturbances.

Shortly after the game’s release Nintendo’s stocks skyrocketed, only to plummet days later when investors realised the company didn’t develop the game. Anyone familiar with the game’s development (or even clever enough to notice Nintendo has no mention as a developer in the game itself) would’ve known it was really developed Niantic Labs and The Pokémon Company in collaboration with Google.

We’re still not done though. Just weeks ago, during the official announcement of the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2, Niantic took to Apple’s stage to announce a version of Pokémon Go for the Apple Watch, available by the end of the year. It will utilise the new watch’s GPS tracking to maintain a standalone, phone-less experience while outside walking – though you can’t use it to actually catch Pokémon. Outside of Apple’s event, the Pokémon Go Plus wearable accessory was released, working via bluetooth as a companion to the phone app by vibrating when a Pokémon or Pokéstop is nearby.

If games, toys and remastered movies weren’t enough for you, how about a whole new online anime series of bite-sized episodes? Again last week, an announcement video posted to YouTube via The Official Pokémon Channel unveiled an 18-episode series titled Pokémon Generations. This new web show will feature three-to-five minute long episodes re-imagining moment highlights of the main game series from Gen 1 through to Gen 6. The best part: the show premiered that weekend with the first two episodes out Saturday morning.

I’m trying not to hyperventilate.

Pokémon has achieved ridiculous amounts of success over its 20 year run. To make you feel really old, Ash Ketchum began his Pokémon journey on the day of his tenth birthday – he’d be 30 years old now. A lot of us have either reached that milestone or are close to it, but Pokémon still encapsulates all the wonder and excitement that a 10-year-old experiences when discovering something new and amazing. Many children’s fads have come and gone in that time (Digimon, Beyblades, Bakugan, planking, Gangnam Style…) but 2016 is the year that the Pokémon phenomenon pokes its tongue out to parents like mine back in 1999 and others who thought that it would be just another passing fad.