Are you a hardcore Pokemon fan?

[DarkHero21]

I've been a fan since Red and Blue. I used to be way more of a fan than I am now. I used to watch the anime, play the TCG, buy the other merchandise, and link and wireless battle a lot. Up until Generation IV, I was a pretty hardcore fan. Now that I'm in college, I don't have as much time anymore for everything. Pokémon is now my escape from the stress of school work and the general struggles of life. The only aspect of Pokémon that really interests me now are the games, though I'll occasionally watch a few episodes of the anime. The world of Pokémon still truly fascinates me. It's simple enough for a child to understand yet so intricate when you actually delve down, and I'm not just talking about the battle system. And there's still the unbeatable feeling of playing a new Pokémon game. I haven't bought a 3DS yet, but now that X and Y have been announced, I plan on getting one soon!

So, yes, I'm a huge fan. Just wish I could be a bigger one!

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

I would like to think of myself as one. I try to battle competitively (I just go to tourneys to have fun. I couldn't care less if I lose), I have been around since Red and Blue came to America, and I spend a lot of my money on overpriced merchandise. So yeah, I like to think of myself as a "hardcore" fan. Still, I wouldn't rub that in anybody's face, though. I mean, I don't really care if you had been around since the beginning or are a competitive battler. XD Just have fun!

 

[Team Gaara]

I consider a Hardcore Pokemon fan someone who has been around from the beginning, someone who battles competitively, or someone who considers Pokemon as their favorite series and devotes the most time to it.

Well, I have been around since the beginning. I can't even remember when I started watching Pokemon, I was so young (I remember having Pikachu slippers at age three and wanting a Cyndaquil toy for Christmas one year. I also drew and colored a Charizard every Christmas to fly around the Christmas tree). I was too young to even get the games, but I was around. It's just always been the #1 thing I've been interested in.

I don't battle competitively, but I do EV train teams so that I could if the opportunity came. I've also used PO a couple of times.

It is definitely my favorite series, even if it isn't as awesome as it used to be and I do devote most of my time to it.

I would certainly say I am a hardcore fan.

 

[G50]

I'd say I'm a hardcore Pokemon fan. I've been a fan for a very long time. I've collected cards, figures, plushies, played all of the games, follow a lot of the different Manga (though I have catching up to do), have seen all of the Pokemon episodes that have aired.

Most of my life has been spent on Pokemon.

 

[spatterdock]

Well, I've been surrounded by pokemon since it came out. I've played every main series game, and a couple of side games. I had (and still have) obsessions of certain species of pokemon every now and then (I'm in my Cobalion phase). I'm a hardcore collector, and everything I have has pokemon all over it. I made friends through pokemon. When life turned topsy-turvy, I relied on Pokemon as my security blanket. Pokemon has made me more environmentally conscious. Pokemon has influenced my future (which is to be a wildlife biologist/game warden). Everything I have done is related one way or another to pokemon.

So in a sense, I'm a hardcore fan.

 

[PerseusRad]

This is most likely my favorite series, and I dabble in competitive battling, but I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore fan, just not a casual one.

 

[Harryghost]

Umm...okay! So, I have been associated with Pokémon since 2004 (the year the franchise came in my country), do not play competitively, catch any random Pokémon that catches my interest in the game, do not care much about stats and nature (I believe every Pokémon is useful if used in the proper way), am up to date with the anime (dub, that is) and am pretty much into Pokémon fandom. Also, Pokémon returns me to my senses when Fairy Tail makes me wish for things like being able to use Magic. So, I would say I am kinda intermediate between the hardcore and the casual fan, according to the criteria set by the original poster.

 

[Soki]

I do consider myself a hardcore Pokémon fan. I've been a fan since Pokémon became a thing in my country, though I wasn't able to play the games until Diamond (just watched the anime and collected TCG cards). I've played pretty much every game Pokémon game since then (excluding Gen I and II of which I've played the remakes), I have collected a living dex, I breed competitive Pokémon and I join many of the GL competitions. And of course I'm on this forum every day

 

[Life]

Definitely not. Though I really like the games and the whole concept, I don't spend time or think about them much at all. While in the past I would have said yes, Pokémon isn't something I'm super crazy about anymore, and the biggest (if not only) reason I'm still in it all at all, I would say, is because of the forums, which keep me involved through all the different forms of the fandom.

 

[Osprey]

If your criteria of "hardcore" includes "has been a fan since the beginning," then I don't count. I kinda wasn't alive back during Gen I.

I haven't kept up with much besides the video games in a long time, and I'm no serious competitive player. Still, I've visited every region, created a living Dex, understand how mechanics like EV's and IV's work, and could talk your ear off about the subject. I'm not quite as crazy about it as I used to be, but I still know a lot of stuff by heart that a casual probably wouldn't.

 

[Chibster]

Hmm I guess. Although I've been a fan since I was 3 or 4, I really don't care for competitive battling, I stopped collecting the TCG a long time ago, and I don't really watch the anime much besides for older episodes, but I still consider myself a proud fan. I also kind of stopped playing the games for a while so I could play other series of games but I will say I'm excited for Sun/Moon. The only things I really purchase nowadays other than the games are plushies and other merch.

 

[Poke Trey]

Yes all the way! Pokemon is pretty much my fave franchise ever next to Ratchet and Clank, Mario, Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, ETC. I always enjoyed Pokemon through the games and especially the show which was where I was 1st introduced to Anime in general. Later on, I still loved the series even when the show was going through the changes (talking about the Dub here) and when people were saying the series was getting stale, I still hold on to Pokemon for dear life! Now that SM is coming soon this year, all I can say is that it should and can live up to the hype because I believe

 

[Tactician Karina]

I wouldn't consider myself a "hardcore" fan, I've played the all the main games from gen. 1 to now, but side games I don't play as they don't really interest me like the main games do. I sometimes watch the anime, but not as much as I did when the original series was around, I used to collect the cards but not as much now; I still have them though, but I don't play the card game either. As for competitive battling, not into it, I don't care about EV/IV or any of that stuff, I do the breeding and shiny hunting only when I'm bored not for anything competitive. I still consider myself a fan since I do keep up with information on the main games and I do check back on the anime from time to time. Though I am more into collecting Pokemon plushies now, so there's that.

 

[Boss1708]

I am absolutely a hardcore fan. I know the games inside and out, and my passion for the franchise is bigger than ever.

 

[dragon_nataku]

I don't know what you'd call me. I started watching the anime with the original run and had some Pokemon VHS tapes (yes I'm old, get off my lawn if you're not gonna mow it). However, I grew up in a third world country and didn't even own a handheld console (and only vaguely knew of their existance) before Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories came out (whatever year that was) at which point I got a GBA SP. I didn't know Pokemon video games existed until 2011, at which point I started with Blue on an emulator but quickly abandoned that idea when I couldn't trade Pokemon between ROMs.

I then proceeded to scour the internet for every single Pokemon game I could feasibly play and ended up with FR/LG and SS (which is the first Pokemon game I actually ever finished). Then came HG, D/P/Plat, RSE, B/W, B2/W2, and X and Y when they came out (and ORAS too of course), not really giving a crap how much they cost. Also acquired Pokemon Colosseum, and have been known to stay up til the sun rose in the morning several nights in a row playing Pokemon. I have some sort of obsession with literally catching them all.

However, I only have a vague notion that this is called a "living dex," I don't know very many fan terms, I don't do competitive battling, and I don't know what EV training even is. I do breed for IVs but I don't really have a good grasp on HAs and natures and am completely clueless on what "egg moves" are. On the other hand, I have so many Pokemon plushies that you can barely see my couch anymore, let alone sit on it. I also bought one of the jumbo Mudkip plushies for my 3-month old nephew so when he grows up he can brag to his friends "Oh yeah? Well, I got my first pokemon when I was THREE MONTHS OLD!" ^^;;

So. Feel free to decide for yourself what kind of fan I am. ... besides "a weird one" anyway

 

[Misty the Water Princess]

I'm not much for a competitive battler or so, I play the games for enjoyment and catch which Pokemon I want to raise. I have owned every game from Gen 1-Gen 6 (own multiple console and side games as well), own three pairs of Pokemon socks, two pairs of pants, countless shirts, a pillow, countless plushies and have well over 1,000 cards. I have completely watched all of the anime from Episode 1 through to the last of AG, have watched quite a bit of DP, all of Black and White and maybe 10-15 episodes of XY. I have seen movies 1-9 at least three times each and from there I believe I have seen all of them at least once. I have been an avid fan ever since my first experience with Sapphire in 2004. I consider myself quite the fan

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

I'd say so. I use Showdown a lot, I've been around since Crystal (granted, I was four when I first played it, but still), and I roleplay as three different Pokemon characters on Tumblr. So... yeah.

 

[MrMeowPuss]

I play Pokemon regularly but not competitively. I'm now 28 and been watching the anime and playing the games since the series first started so does that make me a hardcore fan?

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

I consider a Hardcore Pokemon fan someone who has been around from the beginning, someone who battles competitively, or someone who considers Pokemon as their favorite series and devotes the most time to it. Either of the 3.

I fall into two out of three of those categories neatly.
I've been a fan of Pokémon since RBY, and I devote most of my gaming time to Pokémon games.
I've been trying my hand at competitive battling. It was going relatively well, but I took a long break and now I'm hesitant to start again just before Gen VII, which will introduce a whole new slew of 'Mon and moves to the metagame.

 

[BorgyDudeMan]

I could consider myself one, since I am quite addicted to Pokémon, to the point where it is interfering with my social life (which I usually don't care about)