Is Pokemon officially cool again?

[BorgyDudeMan]

Where I live (India), only the anime is somewhat popular and is treated as a cartoon. But, suddenly everyone's playing Pokemon go! And it turns out that most of them play Pokemon go (and some people even know of bulbapedia!).
It turns out that a student also plays the main series Pokemon games. He has a 3DS, and Pokemon XY and ORAS (I'm just too envious of him since I don't have a 3DS)

So, yes Pokemon is popular again here.

Same here in the Philippines!

 

[Bayleef Stardust]

Well, in the Netherlands, Pokemon Go was really popular in 2016. Now, the hype is gone here.

However, Pokemon in general was never popular again. When I tell people I like Pokemon, they instantly assume I only play Pokemon Go, and forget that there is more to Pokemon than just that phone game I don't even play. When I tell people I collect plushies, write fanfiction, draw fanart, play the games and watch the anime, I get laughed at, or at least get some weird looks quite frequently.

I know a quite popular girl who likes Pokemon (the Gen 6 and 7 games and cosplay, NOT Pokemon Go), but doesn't want to talk about it in public, since she's afraid she'll be seen as 'uncool' if people would find out she's really into Pokemon. I think that proves how 'uncool' or 'weird' people consider serious Pokemon fans.

Sadly, I don't blame that girl, since I've been bullied for liking Pokemon, and people still give me weird looks.

TL;DR: When people tell others they play Pokemon Go, that's considered cool and popular. When people tell others they are Pokemon fans beyond Pokemon Go, and that their interest is stronger than just nostalgia and that they know more Pokemon than just Pikachu, they get laughed at or ridiculed most of the time.

People think it's brave that I'm very open about being a PokeManiac. However, I do get laughed at, get weird looks and other shitty responses very frequently.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Well, in the Netherlands, Pokemon Go was really popular in 2016. Now, the hype is gone here.

However, Pokemon in general was never popular again. When I tell people I like Pokemon, they instantly assume I only play Pokemon Go, and forget that there is more to Pokemon than just that phone game I don't even play. When I tell people I collect plushies, write fanfiction, draw fanart, play the games and watch the anime, I get laughed at, or at least get some weird looks quite frequently.

I know a quite popular girl who likes Pokemon (the Gen 6 and 7 games and cosplay, NOT Pokemon Go), but doesn't want to talk about it in public, since she's afraid she'll be seen as 'uncool' if people would find out she's really into Pokemon. I think that proves how 'uncool' or 'weird' people consider serious Pokemon fans.

Sadly, I don't blame that girl, since I've been bullied for liking Pokemon, and people still give me weird looks.

TL;DR: When people tell others they play Pokemon Go, that's considered cool and popular. When people tell others they are Pokemon fans beyond Pokemon Go, and that their interest is stronger than just nostalgia and that they know more Pokemon than just Pikachu, they get laughed at or ridiculed most of the time.

Same situation here. There's a really [insert swear word here] person in my class who's basically the stereotypical "Gamer" or "nerd". He's my partner in class and whatever he needs to describe to me (for ex. recently some manga named Deathnote) he said "x is atleast better than Pokemon!"
I really want to kick him and show him how some borderline-comic book is 100x worse than this fandom.

I'm never leaving this fandom, and their kindness.

 

[FroyoDragon]

Eh, Pokemon isn't "cool" here, never been as far as I'm aware beyond the first generation.

People might give me weird looks for liking it or playing it, because it's mainly seen as something for kids.

Of course, I'm not "out and proud" about liking Pokemon because... Well, that's not something particularly huge about my life, so :B

 

[noworry]

When Pokémon Go came out, it was suddenly "cool" again, and even some of the shops in my really small hometown used it for signs and stuff. In the end people got tired, though, and now you're kind of a weirdo if you play it? I don't care though, I love pokémon, and most of my friends know that I have a weird amount of pokémon knowledge. A few people in my class also likes pokémon (we are an art class, I feel like people there are less judgemental then in Middle School).

I also think it varies with age. When I was around 12, people my age thought they were too old for pokémon, and would rather play games like cod or gta. When I started Secondary School, though, people were playing pokémon at school. Some even asked for my help, which was funny because my obsession with pokémon had been a secret until that moment.

I think it depends, the people I hang with think it's cool, while my little sister thinks it's lame.

 

[Bayleef Stardust]

I also think it varies with age. When I was around 12, people my age thought they were too old for pokémon, and would rather play games like cod or gta. When I started Secondary School, though, people were playing pokémon at school. Some even asked for my help, which was funny because my obsession with pokémon had been a secret until that moment.

I know those people... I got bullied heavily in high school for being a major Pokemon fan. However, one of the bullies who almost made me commit suicide wanted my help with Pokemon LeafGreen, on how to get Blaine's Gym to open, which meant he played Pokemon himself... I had to help him to prevent getting beaten up.

 

[noworry]

I know those people... I got bullied heavily in high school for being a major Pokemon fan. However, one of the bullies who almost made me commit suicide wanted my help with Pokemon LeafGreen, on how to get Blaine's Gym to open, which meant he played Pokemon himself... I had to help him to prevent getting beaten up.

Bullies don't need a reason to be cruel, and they are often hypocrites. I hope things are better for you now. One should never feel ashamed or get picked on because of an interest.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Pokemon briefly became "cool" again during the hype of Pokemon GO back in 2016. It got to the point where, pretty much every day, there was some story on the news about Pokemon or Pokemon GO. Even the 2016 Doctor Who Christmas Special had a brief reference to Pokemon GO, which, I think, is a good indication of just how popular the franchise had become in everyday pop culture.
However, the hype for Pokemon has died down quite a bit since then.

I think, over all, whether or not Pokemon is "cool" is more of an age thing than a global thing, though.
Younger kids love playing Pokemon games, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Somewhere around the early double digits (11-13ish), and into the early teens, kids become concerned that the need to stop liking "kids' stuff" since they're growing up, so it becomes "uncool" to like Pokemon.
But, in the late teens, you realize that this was a complete fallacy and that there is nothing wrong with liking the things you like, regardless of your age.

...at least, that's how it was for me. I was an avid player of the main series games and collector of the cards from RB to RS. I fully watched the anime from the original Indigo League through the Battle Frontier season. But, after that, I stopped playing for a few years. I missed FRLG, I missed Emerald, and I initially missed DP. I ended up watching a playthrough of Platinum on YouTube, because I was curious about what the franchise had evolved into, and I loved it. I haven't missed a generation since, and I do not intend to.

 

[FroyoDragon]

Hmm, maybe there should be a certain definition of what exactly is "cool". I think that definitely has an effect on it.

The Sonic franchise did start well because it was the "cool" alternative to Mario, but eventually it seems like the public wanted something "cooler" than that, and Sonic remained comparatively vanilla. Maybe mature forms of media are the "cool" things in this case but, if that were so, many, many family friendly series, that would normally seem uncool under this, wouldn't thrive, yet they do. Mario is a prime example of this, too, it sells a lot, and it's everywhere, but kids don't seem to look at it for the cool factor, yet there's no real shame in playing Mario in public...

Idk where I was going with this lol [/rant]

 

[DoctorWhy]

Wait, are you trying to infer that Pokemon was ever not cool?

Pfft, as if. Pokemon has always been rad


EDIT: In all seriousness, I think it just depends. Personally, I always stuck with Pokemon from childhood to my young-adulthood--i.e. I'm almost 21 and I've been a constant fan for over 14 years now. I haven't missed a main series entry since I started with Sapphire. I do remember when many of my classmates dropped out as fans. Several of them stopped playing Pokemon around 5th grade, basically a year or so after Diamond and Pearl were released in the US. Until 2007-ish, I had several Pokemon playing friends. But they started dropping like flies. By high school, I only knew one or two people who still played--yet none of them were as fanatic about Pokemon as me. I was a pretty open Pokemon fan, got teased occasionally, but it wasn't a big deal I guess. As far as I know, I was probably the biggest Pokemon fan in my whole high school (though I did live in a pretty small town where most people liked sports and stuff). It wasn't until Pokemon GO that I noticed a very strong surge in Pokemon's popularity. However, simultaneously, it was still clear that many people were simply casual, half-fans jumping on the bandwagon and saying "Pokemon is back!" when it was never actually gone. I know several people in college who play, but it's not a much different story than high school. I'm still one of the most avid fans I know, besides one or two people who do some competitive stuff on occasion. I don't think anybody I know is a member of any Pokemon-related forums besides me, but I suppose I could be mistaken.

 

[MizuTaipu]

Back in 2009-ish when HGSS came out I noticed a small boom of popularity in the franchise outside the main online fandom. I kinda tacked it on to college kids (born in the late 80s and 90s who were the target audience when Pokémon first came out here in '98) wanting to play the remakes of GSC for nostalgia's sake. For them, GSC was part of the end of the initial fad before it finally dissipated around 2002, right? It looked like a lot of them carried over to BW as well.

Then Pokémon Go came out last year and the franchise was popular again. People played it so much during that month of July. The app only had Gen 1 Pokémon and I highly doubt the app would've been as popular as it was if it had a mix of all 6 gens at its launch.

So I think Pokemon's only "cool" and popular when nostalgia is involved. It was nice that Sun and Moon sold well (though I wonder if a lot of those non-fandom buyers played the games completely) and I'm super happy that young kids keep the franchise going.

 

[Harryghost]

Well, in India, you can say so about the younger generation. Last I checked, the Hindi dub here was doing an appreciable job in getting young children hooked to the franchise, and I am actually glad (despite my hatred for the Hindi dub altogether) that it did, what it hopefully does to this day as well.

When it comes down to the people from the post OS era (back in 2005-06),!.! meh... As @PkmnTrainerV could relate, the hype for Pokémon GO has long died, and Pokémon fans are once again a rare sight here. What upsets and annoys me even more is that people often compare Pokémon fans like me to a Pokémon GO player, and the humongous franchise is often shafted to being represented by a mere mobile game, while I am left explaining to people what Pokémon is beyond that stupid game. *cringes*

So yeah, all most people know for Pokémon here is Pikachu, and an unidentified Pokémon species I know nothing of, which goes by the name of Bulbasaurus, and that's pretty much it!

 

[KaylaBaraonda]

Pokémon is'nt popular where I live, beside Pokémon GO. It's mostly considered something for little kids. This because it is neither manly nor womanly. The guys where I live are all about soccer stuff. They're more the people to hack a lv. 100 shiny legendary team to use in Pokémon Battle Revolution, than to actually play the story in the core games and end up with a team comprised of (for example) Torterra\Staraptor\Uxie\Mesprit\Azelf\Dialga in Pokémon Diamond, or Swampert\Swellow\Linoone\Dustox\Manectric\Groudon in Pokémon Ruby. The girls, they're all wannabe mothers and nothing more than that. They're the type of people that are going to get hopelessly devoted to their husband to the point they tattoo their husband's favorite soccer player's surname and soccer number from the back of the soccer player's soccer shirt to their own back, as a "symbol" of said husband.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

So yeah, all most people know for Pokémon here is Pikachu, and an unidentified Pokémon species I know nothing of, which goes by the name of Bulbasaurus, and that's pretty much it!

I think you forgot something called Charlyzard. And it's also illegal to use a thunderstone on your Pikachu. Punishment for crime: being thrown into lava so you're on your deathbed, and then hanged.

And also, PIKACHU ALWAYS DEFEATS DRAGONITE, Charizard defeats Blastoise always, and Ground types aren't immune to electric moves, instead they're super effective against them.

 

[KaylaBaraonda]

There aren't really any type matchups on PoGO it's just you catching them unless you have played enough to have one of those gym things. It takes Pokémon terms and misuses them. I bet some people actually think that Candela, Blanche, Spark, and Willow were or will be in the core series, instead of just being designs with no story\lore behind them.

 

[Pikochu]

I don't think Pokemon was never "uncool" from where I am. I mean, sure it faded away until Pokemon GO and then it crashed but it wasn't ever "uncool." I think it has to do with the fact that everyone got into Pokemon and understood the hype. So it was pretty understandable that there are still people who are "really into" Pokemon like myself.

Hell, people think it's cool that I reference Pokemon within my social network.

 

[ii kanji]

So it was pretty understandable that there are still people who are "really into" Pokemon like myself.

Hell, people think it's cool that I reference Pokemon within my social network.

Do you mind me asking where this is? People are a lot less open minded in Landan Town!

 

[Bayleef Stardust]

Do you mind me asking where this is? People are a lot less open minded in Landan Town!

Same in the Netherlands. Pokemon Go and a bit of nostalgia is socially acceptable, being an actual Pokemon fan beyond that is not socially acceptable.

 

[Pikochu]

Do you mind me asking where this is? People are a lot less open minded in Landan Town!

That would have to be the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

[Guzma]

The main series is fairly popular in the break room at my college, at least. Also I was in a mall wearing my Team Skull necklace, and a guy recognized it and asked me where I got it.