>>32011942I can't answer for why you or anyone else on this board likes Pokemon, but for me, it's two factors.
One - I got into it as a kid on release day. Growing up, learning about a huge range of different things from classical elements, creatures, numbering, organization, strategic planning, fossils, barter, sharing, teaching, etc. in a fun context in my free time in a format I could do in my free time was a solid fucking pillar in my life. Seeing it grow alongside me has also been a great experience, especially since Pokemon is one of the few (if not the only) franchise that has never "sold out" or done a wild 360 turn on anything it holds as a central tenet. Sure, it's retconned some things very infrequently but I'm more impressed by how solid the basic formula still holds up even when blended with new mechanics and monsters.
Two - I ended up becoming a character animator and Pokemon probably influenced that. Making categorizing 100+ unique fictional characters appealing on a purely mental level is no easy feat. I can't write a lot here, but long story short I believe that the concept of "character" is one of the most important aspects of the entire human culture, and Pokemon demonstrates that perfectly. Ask yourself - what IS Pokemon? Is it the games? No. Is it the TV show? No, not just those things. Pokemon is, simply, the concept, the ideas of all of these characters. The cards, games, plushes, TV show and all other media? That comes after. It's merely an expression of these ideas of character. All Pokemon merchandise could be spontaneously destroyed, yet those characters would still remain extant in the hearts and minds of us - those who know them in and out. That is what Pokemon represents to me.
