Have you ever quit Pokemon?

[JaBray]

I quit after Diamond and Platinum, but started playing again after I happened to have $50 to spend on HGSS's release date, so I bought it for the Nostalgia.

 

[chaos_Leader]

It was never really "quitting" as much as Pokemon just fell by the wayside in lieu of other things. It happened after gen 2 I believe, and I haven't really had any interest in returning. That was until my incredibly Pokemon-nerdy roommate got his hands on his copy of X back in October, and would not put the thing down. Eventually he lent me his copy of HeartGold, I got hooked again, and the rest is history.

 

[Peachy]

I've lost interest with pokemon before. If I play it for too much in a certain timespan I get bored. Which happens in every game I play. Right now I'm on one of my breaks because I played so much of X in the first month. And I want to play other things.

 

[henrymidfields]

Between 2002-3 and last year, yes I have. I was just about to start high school in Japan, and I had less time to play. But the main reason was because of the continuity reboot controversy, along with ditching some of the good things that went with the Johto games, for Ruby/Sapphire. That turned me off to the extent that I'm still not keen in playing the Hoenn games.

Shinnoh games came around, when I moved to Australia for high school and university. Again, still wasn't happy.

Just before finishing my Masters, Black and White came out. That started to arouse my interest, and I started following information a bit. The reason why I didn't touch it was because I needed to focus on study, and after graduating, on my first year if actual work.

Finally started playing Pokemon again since XY came out. I even backtracked and played Black. I'm in the process of asking my friend for her copy if BW2 that she no longer need.

Looking back...
Yes, I'm glad that I played the Kalos games; best region setting ever - loved the French inspiration!

Also glad that I played the Unova games - great story, cool/cute characters, and the very concept of making a region outside of Poke-Japan is just an awesome move by GF! Can't wait to play BW2 (although a bit sad that Wi-Fi's finishing so soon...).

Shinnoh and Hoenn, I'm still not a huge fan of. Admittedly, they do have some awesome Pokemon. (I'm setting my sights on you, Torchic, Blaziken, Empoleon, Riolu, Lucario, Kirila, Gardevoir) But I'm afraid I fail to see the magic of those two regions.

Johto/Kanto games have a special place in my heart, because they were the first games that I've played. And I loved how Johto had a connection with Kanto, with the two regions conceived into Poke-Japan, and that Kanto was re-visited, and given a story 3 years after!! And Kanto is the fictional counterpart of my hometown, and has many of my favourite Pokemon and characters I grew up with.

 

[Skittypaws]

I quit Pokemon for a while when I reached High School. As a freshman, I didn't even have time for my family so I just stopped Pokemon to be with my family.

Another reason is Black and White. I thought that was the worst title for Pokemon they could have created. I didn't even like the Pokemon that was in that Gen (except a few) and I realized that there was such a event called Mystery Gift. Didn't know about it till after Black and White came out, and so I never did get some Pokemon for Pearl like Darkrai.

Third reason was the lack of money. I have been sick for more than enough times and my mom had gotten cancer. I had no money after the bills was paid, and we were in debt. The last thing on my mind was wasting money on Pokemon Games.

What brought me back to Pokemon was the comercial for Movie 16. Never had been a big fan of the Anime, but I loved the first movie and Mewtwo has forever been my favorite Pokemon since. When I saw him transform, I was determined to watch the movie. Then, soon I heard of Mega Evolution, Fairy type, and the major changes in the graphics. I just couldn't resist.
I had used some of my birthday money for a 3DS and the game X.

Will I leave Pokemon? I will always be a Pokemon fan, but there will be a time when I have a family and I will have to grow up and act like a parent. X will probably be my last game, but I will try to get all Pokemon entries filled before I hit 21.

 

[Kano]

I dropped it for a couple of years during Johto, buuut Hoenn dragged me back into it, and I've been with it ever since then.

 

[PiPie314]

I usually stop playing after beating the games and finishing the post story, then I come back when they release a new game.

 

[LavenderTownGhost]

I don't like to say that I quit, I just took a long break from it. Back when D/P came out, I lost interest for a while. My interest rekindled around the time of the B/W release, and has stayed pretty strong ever since.

 

[Dorothy]

I suppose I also lost interest late gen III/early gen IV, but that lasted only until I found my old copy of Sapphire.

 

[Alpha71689]

If we can include the TV show, then yes. However, I've been collecting, as well as playing, the games since 1998.

 

[lucarioknight56]

I never truly quit Pokémon. But when the game Skylanders came around, I played a lot less. When I got Y, things turned better for me, as my pocket is nearly done being tortured.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

I have never actually quit Pokemon, but I've taken breaks from the franchise. For a short period of time between 2007-08 I was more interested in other franchises than Pokemon, such as Digimon among other franchises. Granted I was introduced to Digimon first around 2000-01 before being introduced to Pokemon by a friend around late 2001, but this was around Gen 4 (my favorite Generation believe it or not) that this happened. It's possibly because it was around this time I stopped watching the Pokemon anime and stopped collecting the cards, limiting myself only to the games.

I took another break from July to early October 2013 due to some of the changes announced for Gen 6 (the over-focus on the new Fairy type and older Pokemon over newer Pokemon because of Mega Evolutions being the main cause), but after X/Y came out I went back into the franchise. I've considered taking another break from the franchise due to finishing X and not having much to do in it now, as well as the fact that it took several months to finish the game due to procrastination and a focus on other things such as college and real life events, among other things. When the next main series game is announced I will probably get more interested again, but I am still with the franchise, just not as active as I once was.

The only thing that would actually make me truly quit Pokemon is if they made changes to the franchise that would really turn me away from it.

 

[Sylveon Lover]

I quit pokemon for 20 minutes after watching Youtube videos trying to explain pokemon. I cried for ten minutes, then came back and picked up the game, decided that they had to be wrong... and went back to my love.

ikr? this just started for me in my freshman year of high school :/

I only started pokemon three years ago... halway throught my fresshman year.

 

[Ice Tyrant]

For Pokemon, as big of a fan I was, I quit sometime after D/P, but regardless, I got Platinum when it was released, yet I was still sort of in a slump due to being unable to beat the Elite Four at the time. Cue HG/SS's release and I'm back for good in the Pokemon fandom, and with that, I learn how to properly train my Pokemon teams so that I'm actually capable of beating the region's Elite Four. Never did I leave Pokemon behind ever again afterwards.

 

[techitisJ]

When i was little i would only watch the anime do to not owning any of the ames and not really wanting to take the time to learn to play the ones i owned. but when the Johto season ended i stopped watching the show... i had sorta quit pokemon. although i did not enjoy the anime episodes anymore i still enjoyed the movie and got to see most of them around the time they came out. then a while after Diamond and Pearl came out, i got back into pokemon a little but still not enough to really start the games, only play around on my brother's save file on his Diamond game. then i stopped after a month. i actually stopped watching the movies and the anime. that lasted up until late winter/early spring 2012 when i started watching the anime again and that fall started to actually play the games on a retro gaming site. i have taken breaks from it but havn't quit on pokemon since.

 

[King Fissamé]

I just take breaks but not quit. The longest break was from 2007-2009

 

[Baby Seals]

I quit three times.

I first got into Pokemon when I was seven. The first time I quit was when I was about nine, when a lot of the other kids my age were losing interest in Pokemon. Fewer kids were buying the games, and not that many were watching the anime. My sister got Pokemon Gold, but I never got anything past Generation I. My sister grew out of it completely. I just grew out of it as well.

When I was 11, I found my sister's copy of Pokemon Gold. She had finished the Johto part of the story, but had yet to face the Elite Four. I successfully defeated the Elite Four, the Kanto Gyms, and even Red. Unfortunately, the copy broke later on, but by then I was busy on Pokemon Sapphire. I played Leaf Green afterwards. But eventually, the lack of post-game material made the games kind of boring, so I gave up Pokemon again when I was 13.

The next year, I heard about the hype for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. I wanted to get one of the games, but I didn't have a DS. I did continue to play my old GBA games. Sadly, I didn't get the DS, and by the time I was 16 I was through with Pokemon a third time.

Luckily, that Christmas I managed to get a DS of my own - I had asked my mother for it. When I was 17, I heard about Pokemon Platinum and I felt that I wanted to give Pokemon another shot. I bought a used copy of Pokemon Pearl and successfully completed it. This was also the time I started writing Pokemon fanfiction. During the hype for Black and White, I received a copy of Pokemon Platinum as a high school graduation present. And from then on, Pokemon has never completely left my life.

Black and White was a miracle for me. I finally saw a lot more people openly discussing Pokemon IRL rather than on the Internet, and a lot of the people who previously gave up Pokemon returned to it. My sister actually became a Pokemon fan again two years ago after so many years of not playing. I even traded with her a few times on the newest game - I hadn't traded with her since Red and Blue! Last year I got a copy of Pokemon SoulSilver and finally got to experience the Johto plotline for myself. I also pre-ordered Black and since then I've pre-ordered new games.

I do take breaks from playing, though - usually after a game got less exciting to play (like Black did in the months leading up to Black 2 and White 2) or if I had other fandom interests going on (I was reading lots of fairy tales in February, March, and April, and that kept me away from the 3DS). This is cured when a new main series game is coming out. I've returned to playing the 3DS these past couple of weeks due to the stress at the day program I go to.

As for the TV show, I quit watching it around Johto. I've only watched a few Johto episodes in their entirety - the one with the baby Lugia, the one with Morty, Eusine, and Suicune, the one with Lance, and the one with Misty and Poliwhirl entering a fishing contest. I watched parts of some other Johto episodes, as well as parts of some episodes of later seasons, but I've given up on the anime since it gets repetitive and predictable. As for the manga, I've only read Pokemon Special online and have never actually seen a copy in the stores (I don't really read manga - I never got into it), though I'm not sure where you can buy Pokemon Special outside of the Internet. I do recognize the characters and plots, though I haven't read much of it since I don't like it. I've never read any of the other Pokemon manga.

 

[Drey]

I've found myself quitting Pokemon lots of times. I always seem to come back one way or another, so I guess it's my destiny. :O

 

[Karpi]

Yes, I quit last year but am back once again! I have felt social pressure to quit before, but that was never enough to turn me away for good. Instead, what happened was that I encountered a deadly combination of videogames that matched the addictiveness of pokemon: World of Warcraft and Skyrim. Each of these games would have been enough for me, but both of them together just totally dominated my mind. (I can now safely say that there isn't anything special about Pokemon that makes it addictive to me; I just have a propensity for video game addictions)

My Skyrim addiction died when I accidentally broke my boyfriend's Xbox, though I did have a slight withdrawal and still wish I could play it sometimes. I'm still struggling with WoW. Right now I'm on a free account because that's a good way to limit myself, but the dangerous thing is that I started writing WoW fanfiction, and if I've learned anything from Pokemon, it's that fanfiction is the no-turning-back point for me.

So I don't think I'll ever quit Pokemon completely, since I have 8 years worth of writing (of the last 9 years of my life) in which I have these immensely complex characters that have grown up with me. That's a part of me forever, now. It will probably become less important to me as time goes on and I progress in my life, but I can never give up Pokemon and pretend that it never happened.

I tried to quit once while nearing the end of high school, where I gave away all my TCG cards and deleted all of my save files on my games, which I somewhat regret now. And I threw out my fakemon cards, which I definitely regret. I started new games not too long after, and I apparently never quit writing, so it was obviously all for nothing anyway. Oh well!

 

[Muur]

I haven't, always been watching and playing. I suppose when I go months without playing can count.