>>49446949For America, unironically 9/11.
Regardless of whatever sort of status the craze was, 9/11 completely fucking shot everything in America's culture that let Pokemania work so well, because it was so reliant on kids being able to free roam for one reason or another with minimal necessary supervision (Gameboy/TCG Meetups, merch exchanging, anime hangouts, etc.) and significantly reshaped how both the adults and youth of the country would act henceforth, which ultimately led to adults being more protective and scared of the outside world, and children becoming a lot more isolated and muted as to not overstep the new boundaries of fear their parents were basing their lives on.
There wasn't "biking down to your friend's house" anymore because there was a fear of criminal activity, schools got a lot more strict to make sure no one was doing any shady shit or anything that could detract from the education process, and ultimately a lot of other forms of media (the internet, the Star Wars Prequels, the PS2, alternate monster collecting franchises, etc.) all started popping up and proved more appealing to the more sheltered youth, whereas Nintendo and Nintendo products were swiftly becoming antiquated and critiqued for remaining in their childish bubble when 9/11 basically told parents they need to get their kids to "grow up and NOW, because America's enemy is coming, and they need to be aware of the danger on their lives".
