What in the World Is Pokémon?

Kids everywhere know all about Pokémon. Most parents are still scratching their heads. So what exactly does the strangely spelled word mean and why are people from ages 5 to 25 chanting, “Gotta catch ‘em all! Gotta catch ‘em all!”?

Here’s Pokémon in a nutshell. On a mythic world men dwell with exotic creatures of all shapes and sizes. While a few are familiar, much like the creatures we encounter today (foxes, turtles, fish, mice, birds and dogs), others are like nothing ever seen (fairies, sentient plants, living rocks, ambulatory sludge and mischievous ghosts). These are “Pokémon” and there are numerous varieties of them. They are captured and trained to fight by Pokémon “trainers” who pit their stables of creatures against competitors for honor and “trainer badges.” The goal of all trainers is to capture each and every Pokémon in existence and become a Pokémon master.

The concept might seem a bit underwhelming, but youth have been fueling the Pokémon phenomenon for three years, to the tune of $5 billion.

The Pokémon Phenomenon

Pokémon began in Japan with a boy named Satoshi Tajiri who liked to catch insects, save them in jars, and try to make them fight like giant B-movie monsters Godzilla and Mothra. One thing led to another until he formed a video game company and produced a game for the Nintendo Game Boy. Hoping that it would boost sales for its flagging game system, Nintendo released Pokémon: Red and Pokémon: Green in Japan. It promptly sold 4 million copies, breaking scores of records.

Today Mr. Tajiri’s video game has morphed into multiple versions for both Game Boy and Nintendo 64. The Game Boy versions alone have sold 12 million copies in Japan and 4 million in America. The popularity of Pokémon the TV show helped the WB network win the first Saturday of the 1999-2000 season among kids age 2 to 11. There’s even a feature-length film slated for release later this year. The current Pokémon marketing flood includes comics, plush toys, posters, stickers, T-shirts, collectable figures, model kits, stamps, coloring books, key chains, pencil cases, bandages, backbacks, sneakers, lunch boxes, CDs and even toasters which will brand characters’ images onto your bread. But amidst this glut, only one spin-off has truly achieved superstar status: Pokémon: The Card Game (TCG).

Pokémon: The Card Game

Interactive card games came into their own in America in 1993 with the inception of Magic: The Gathering. The medium was novel. Kids were getting out of the house, leaving video games behind, and playing with each other instead of with an electronic box. But these card games weren’t their parents’ games. Hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds weren’t part of the formula.

Pokémon’s co-creator, Tsunekazu Ishihara, saw the potential of these collectable card games and released Pokémon: TCG. Approximately 1 billion cards have already been sold in Japan. In 1998, Nintendo signed an agreement with Wizards of the Coast (creators of Magic: The Gathering) and commenced distribution of an English translation of TCG. The game’s popularity exploded. Soon after shipping began, Wizards of the Coast was forced to ration the cards due to the incredible demand. A trading card league sprung up in which players earn points and collect trainer badges. And the Pokémon Trading Card Game Tour travels from mall to mall across the country, drawing 4,000 at a stop. This past summer over 44,000 swarmed to the Mall of America for the Tour with lines stacked up 3,000 deep.

The frenzy for Pokémon: TCG has grown so great that many schools have banned it entirely from campus. In Milwaukee, Wis., Burleigh Elementary Principal Bill Zahn issued a principal’s proclamation entitled The Pokémon Dilemma which stated that “Pokémon cards have become a huge problem here at Burleigh.” Zahn also said, “Students are admiring their Pokémon cards instead of paying attention to their teacher.” Janna Russell, principal of Bill Elliott Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas, confiscates the cards on sight, keeping them until the end of the school year. The reasons cited by schools for banning the cards are a lack of attention in class, harsh conflicts resulting from trades gone bad, and theft.

Pokémon: TCG, A Discussion of Value

Controversy has swirled around Pokémon: TCG since its birth. Some claim it is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. “Recently, my children were given a set of Pokémon cards,” said DiAnna Brannan, a concerned mother. “I was instantly suspicious. . .” Others have no problem with it and view it as beneficial. “There is nothing sinister [about Pokémon],” says John Hooten, father of two avid fans. “It is a good activity. It makes them use their memories, it makes them put things in order, it makes them interact socially with other kids.”

Tammy, a mother and elementary school teacher, has no reservations about TCG: “I think it’s great. There’s a lot involved in it. First of all, the reading and the language is good for [kids].” She’s right. A consistent gripe of parents is, “My child just watches TV and plays video games all of the time. He won’t go outside and he won’t read any books.” With the advent of Pokémon: TCG, fans have disconnected themselves from electronic entertainment and run outside with cards and sourcebooks in hand. Strategic thinking is encouraged. Winning a game requires knowing the strengths and weaknesses of other Pokémon and playing the correct cards against them. To know the strengths and weaknesses, one must read various books and study the Pokémon. And to get the cards to win the games, one must either buy a lot of booster packs (which are randomly seeded with powerful cards) or learn to trade with others. Since most children will not have the money to buy scads of cards, they tend to trade, learning negotiation skills in the process. The downside to this is that there will be some who will get taken advantage of.

Even though Pokémon are pitted against each other in combat, none of them actually die; once they’ve been “beaten about a bit,” they faint and are out of play. The card is simply removed. There are no dramatic or stomach-turning scenes of graphic violence. The player simply pulls another card from his deck and continues playing. These cute little animals are a far cry from the rotting zombies, mangled motorists or butchered cowboys of video games Resident Evil 2, Carmageddon and Rising Zan.

All is not perfect in the Pokémon world, however. As just noted, the animals don’t die, but the idea of a dog fight is at the core of the game. It’s difficult to get around the concept that you are teaching your Pokémon to “smack the stuffing” out of someone else’s Pokémon. But once again, the violence is not explicit, nor is it displayed. When someone plays Battleship, for example, he generally doesn’t stop to think, “I’m firing at an enemy vessel, blowing it up, and killing thousands of men in the process.” He just puts a red peg in a hole. With Pokémon: TCG, a player puts a card on a table.

TCG also includes ghost and psychic characters, as well as the idea that Pokémon can “evolve” to higher forms. But in all fairness, these supernatural elements constitute only a minor portion of the game; the Pokémon universe has more in common with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings than it does with Vampire: The Masquerade. And while evolution is a part of TCG, it is not the same theory which is being taught in high school classrooms; this evolving is not a matter of random chance, but of conscious choice. Players can decide whether or not they want their Pokémon to evolve and they can actually devolve with the use of certain cards. Pokémon evolution bears as much resemblance to Darwinian evolution as a sunflower does to the sun—same general color, similar names, but very different things.

Addiction and TCG

Pokémon’s oft repeated motto states it plainly: Gotta catch ‘em all! The continually emphasized goal is to become a Pokémon master (which really means collecting each and every species of Pokémon, ASAP). The Pokémon Trading Card Game Player’s Guide states:  “You are a Pokémon Trainer. You have collected Pokémon for your use and must compete with rival Pokémon trainers in battle. You pursue that lofty goal of becoming the number one Pokémon master in the world. You will face many challenges in your quest. You may even falter on occasion, but your call to Pokémon Mastery beckons and you must not relent!”

Soon the collecting frenzy is due to expand even more; 100 new creatures are to be added with the introduction of Pokémon: Gold and Pokémon Silver for Game Boy, and these Pokémon will certainly be shifted over into TCG. Electronic Gaming Monthly put it well when it said, “The game programs you to collect things. . . . The average player’s probably pretty keen to get his hands on as much Pokémon-related gear as he or she can afford.” It’s not hard to realize that the golden rule of Pokémon (“Gotta catch ‘em all!”) is in tension with that which God wants us to “collect.” “Provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:33b-34)

Pokémon enthusiasts themselves readily agree about the compulsive nature of the game. Eric, age 13, told Plugged In, “It’s highly addictive and I think it’s fun that there’s a world out there with imaginary creatures that you can control and are highly powerful.” Justin, an employee at the Colorado Springs-based Complete Games and Hobbies, commented, “[The kids] are fans. They’re fanatics. There’s really no other word for it. . . . It’s like the Beatles.” When questioned about why his friends liked Pokémon, Travis Price, one such fanatic, replied, “Most kids get brainwashed into it. They really like [the TV show] so they start collecting the toys first usually, like I did, then, when they found out cards had come out, they start collecting those. . . . You get really obsessed with it.” His mother was quick to interject, “But you mean obsessed in a good way, wouldn’t you say?”

Pokémon and the Occult

Some people have connected Pokémon directly with the occult, saying that it is “entry level evil” and that the names of certain Pokémon are actually the names of demons. For example, the Pokémon Bellsprout, Weepinbell and Victreebel are said to be connected to the spirit world because the “bell” and “bel” sections of their names are similar to the name of the ancient Caananite god Baal. Of course, it may be that these creatures are named thusly because they are actually shaped like bells. Name puns are very common in the game. Two jellyfish Pokémon are named Tentacool and Tentacruel. Two turtle types are called Squirtle and Wartortle. The names of three psychic characters form an obvious, if not groan-worthy, joke: Abra, Kadabra and Alakazam.

This does raise an important point. While Pokémon: TCG itself may not be inherently occultic, many other card games are full of dark spirituality. And although claims that TCG is a ready stepping stone to these kind of games may be a bit overdone (Pokémon: TCG’s rules are quite different from Magic: The Gathering), there is some truth to them. Parents whose children are already fans of Pokémon: TCG should not allow games such as Magic: The Gathering, Legends of the Five Rings (L5R), Legend of the Burning Sands, Rage, or Vampire: The Eternal Struggle into their homes. These games directly embrace wizardry, channeling, demonic possession, sorcery, black magic and vampirism.

“Let Us Hear the Conclusion of the Whole Matter . . .”

So, should children play Pokémon: TCG or not? It encourages reading, critical thinking and social interaction. But it also contains a few troubling elements, can lead to other disturbing games, is very addictive and can easily cause strife between parents and children.

Caution and moderation are key. If your children are involved, look for warning signs of addiction (a consistent unwillingness to do schoolwork, disobedience when asked to leave the game to come to dinner, delving into other undesirable forms of entertainment because of TCG, etc.).

If they aren’t into the fad yet, weigh it carefully before buying them a starter set for Christmas. Consider your child’s personality, peer group, self-discipline and maturity. Prayerfully pondering your knowledge of Pokémon and your knowledge of your child should lead you to a wise conclusion.

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