>>52837317>>52837333Pokemania was never about the games. It was about the anime, the movies, the clothing, the stickers, the merchandise. The Pokemon company has never made most of its money through the games. When pokemania first hit, arguably with the first episodes of the anime, the amount of merchandising you could see absolutely everywhere was absurd. Everything looked like a Pokemon giftshop from Japan, it was in pencils, pens, backpacks, socks, stickers, notebooks. People had plushies, toys, pogs, went to the movies, and religiously followed the anime. Most people did not, however, play the games. In fact, a great portion of the kids were unaware that the games in fact came first and were the core of the franchise. But it all revolved around Kanto Pokemon. Always. By the time Johto pokemon started to roll out, the fad was already on its last legs. The novelty was lost and the kids who grew up with the original series were now edgy teens desperately trying to move away from all the "baby" shit. The only two Johto pokemon that had any semblance of impact outside of its games were Ho-Oh, because it showcased in the first episode of the anime, and Lugia, because it had its own movie in Pokemon 2000 (that in hindsight is far less remembered than the Mewtwo movie, and it heavily featured the Kanto legendary birds). When pokemania first started you could see even shitmons like Odish and Jynx fucking everywhere. When it was ending, even some of the most beloved Johto pokemon were ignored, only riding in the coattails of Gen 1 like an unmemorable parasitic tumor.
People didn't suddenly wake up and decided they didn't like Hoenn. It wasn't a one day-night shift. It was a process and it involved the absolutely bland as fuck Johto dex that has always lived in the shadows of Kanto. Even to this day, the Johto starters get mostly ignored and get outshined by Gens 3, 4, 6 and 7.
People trying to attach Gen 2 to pokemania never fail to make me laugh.
