Lessons from Pokemon

I really despise trying to make introduction posts, I find that they often are wordy, either overly self-praising or overly self-critical, and never an accurate portrayal of anything important. 

Or at least, that the way all of my attempts have felt.

So instead, I'm going to tell you a little anecdote, and if you aren't a gamer I apologize, but perhaps you will enjoy it anyway? Or maybe you'll like my future posts? Who knows?

Anyway, here goes.

Before parting ways with my brother for the summer, he handed me a small rectangular case.

“For after you graduate,” he told me.

Inside the case, I instantly discovered a small red cartridge: Pokemon Ruby.

I cannot attest to how happy I was about him lending the game to me. Even though the battery has since run dry.

You see, although I self-proclaimed as an avid gamer, I have never owned a Pokemon game, or a gameboy for that matter.

It isn't because I am against them! Not at all! Quite the opposite, I always wanted one, but I guess it just never worked out. Instead, I made due with the hand-me-ups of my younger siblings. Which worked fine for me, except when it came to 1-save-file games like Pokemon.

ANYWAY.

I told several people about my acquisition and one good friend of mine posed a very good warning to me.

“Rose,” he says. “Now I know you love fire-type Pokemon. But I am warning you now, the first gym is Rock type. Fire is not going to help you. You really should go with one of the other two. Okay?”

“Sure!” I told him.

If only I had remembered...

***BEGIN DRAMATIC RETELLING***

“OH NO!!” I shouted, in a voice that probably startled my fellow residents as the person I had been searching for was attacked by some strange creature in the tall grasses near home.

I was only 10 minutes into the game, but I was hooked. I was so utterly engrossed in the beautiful, heart wrenching storyline that I had forgotten myself for a moment, and if it wasn't for the horror of the situation I might have been embarrassed for myself and my unnecessarily alarming outcry.

Still within those ten minuets, so much had happened!

First, I had to travel in the back of a poorly packed moving truck, fearing with every bump the tumbling of some deadly object upon my poor 12 year old head.

Then, I saw the two biggest men I had ever seen in my life moving our things into the house, only to discover that they weren't men, they were Pokemon!

I already knew about Pokemon, so luckily, the realization was quickly set upon my immature brain. My mother and I had moved out here because of Pokemon, well, because my father was a Pokemon trainer, actually, he was Gym Leader, and personally, I was more than a little eager to follow in his footsteps.

Maybe that's why, the moment I had set my clock on the wall I ran to the Professors' lab.

The next dramatic thing that happened was being told that I had to go and find the Professor myself, all alone, at 12 years old, in this strange new place.

But I did it anyway and now I was shouting in fear for the Professor's life!

“In my bag, get a Pokemon! From my bag! Hurry!” The Professor cried out as he dodged the attacks of the wild beast before him.

I looked at the three Pokeballs inside his pack, knowing that I should carefully consider every aspect about them before making my selection and instead grabbing Torchic because fire is awesome and potentially much be powerful than the other two against the grass/bug/creature/thing that the Professor was currently fighting.

My rescue was, by sheer bravery and skill, a success, and as a reward, I was teamed with a beautiful partner who I named Phoenix.

From there, I trained long and hard.

I collected all 14 of the Pokemon available to me before the first Gym.

I acquired the Cut HM so that once I received that first badge I could cut down all the trees that blocked my way.

I fought and defeated every trainer I crossed paths with, in the interest of strengthening my Pokemon.

And after 7 hours of game play, all 15 of my Pokemon averaged level 10.

Finally, I entered the Stone Gym and successfully defeated the two lackeys inside only to be utterly massacred by the Gym Leader Roxanne in a matter of seconds.

My lesson to you?

DO NOT START THE GAME WITH THE FIRE POKEMON.