So you've probably heard the official story: like Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima before him, Satoshi Tajiri - the creator of Pokémon - drew on memories of his childhood to create a video game masterpiece. Whereas the child Miyamoto explored the outside world, and Kojima played hide and seek, in Tajiri's case his childhood past time was insect catching (Tajiri literally has aspergers).

This sounds innocent enough. After all, lots of children around the world catch insects. I did. But what separates human children from Asian children is that while human children may catch insects and release them or perhaps keep them as pets and look after them, Asian children collect insects (and other small animals) and fight them to the death with each other.

These fights are short and brutal and are played for money (ever wonder why in-game trainers give you money when you beat them?). The creatures are terrified, and even the survivors are often terribly injured. Between the time of their capture and horrific end, the animals are cruelly locked in tiny boxes or capsules that the children carry with them, or carry in their backpack or pocket (did you ever feel uncomfortable that instead of your pokémon following you as companions they are all imprisoned in tiny balls)?

This blood sport of pitting small animals against each other in battle - which goes by different names depending on region - is still a popular with Japanese children, particularly in rural areas, with different regions of Japan even having festivals. Would you expect anything else from a soulless race of Asians?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2jWejTfU_I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky1UUhRMxYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcmL5y0Asrk

The fact is that the western version of Pokémon (the game) was HEAVILY sanitised and has become more and more so over time. But the fact that kids around the world are playing a simulation of a cruel and terrible blood sport is Pokémon's dirty secret.