The summer is officially at an end for me. I began yet another semester of grad school. It has been an interesting summer. When I left my teaching job and decided to take some time off, I said to myself that I was going to catch up on anime. I was going to binge tons of shows until my brain withered away into a dried prune. But that didn’t exactly happen. Yes, I have kept up to date with the new season; I am currently watching New Game, ReLife, Amanchu, Rewrite, The Art Club Has A Problem, Ange Vierge, Sweetness & Lightning, Qualidea Code, and Love Live Sunshine. This is a lot of anime, a lot more than I normally watch. But the summer still wasn’t the binge fest I thought it would be- countless hours of eye-burning in the dark as I glared at a bright screen, the air full of nothing but the high-pitched voices of female Japanese characters.

But instead, I played Pokemon. Tons of Pokemon. This has been normal for me in the past (I have been a Pokemon fan since 1999), but I haven’t really played as much for the past two years. However, I played and was more involved in Pokemon than ever this summer thanks to three things: Alpha Sapphire, Pokemon Sun and Moon, and, of course, the infamous Pokemon Go.

Author’s note: This post originally contained a review of Alpha Sapphire. This review has been recently republished as a new post.

Pokemon Go: Medicine For Jaded Individuals

I have also been playing Pokemon Go. I honestly had no idea this game was coming out and at first I was really confused. I was even more baffled when I downloaded the app and it didn’t work at all on my phone for two days. However, eventually I got it to work and I became just as absorbed as everyone else, running around in strange places trying to find Pokemon. In doing so, I discovered all kinds of new places, mostly nature trails and parks. As I explained in my adventure log, Pokemon Go has actually really helped me with depression and anxiety. Before it came out, I was stuck in my house all day, having panic attacks about my future career options.

Note: If you suffer from panic attacks, anxiety, or depression, please seek professional help.

Pokemon Go got me out of my house and out of my head. In a strange way, Pokemon Go has also made me more appreciative of where I live. For a while, I have been wanting to move away from my house in New Jersey. It is crowded, the economy is bad, and everything is expensive. I have been living with my parents for 24 years and I have been trying to get enough money to move out for two years, but to no avail. I have been just so sick of everything and so impatient to get away. But Pokemon Go forced me to revisit many places in my town and in the surrounding areas. Places I haven’t been to for years, places that hold bad memories, places I never even imagined could be near me. I actually became excited to explore my hometown. It made it fun again and gave me a new perspective on things. Do I still want to move out and eventually live somewhere else? Yes. But Pokemon Go has given me a tool and a way to make things more interesting and meaningful while I am still stuck here.

It’s upsetting that I won’t be able to play as much now that grad school has started. I am also going to be looking for a second job or full time job, which will also get in the way of playing. However, I will still try to play when I can, or on the weekends. And even if I am not playing, I plan to write more adventure logs on the places I have found that made good places to catch Pokemon.

It is disappointing to say that I haven’t caught any extremely rare Pokemon. I am just desperately trying to catch enough Pikachu so I can get a Raichu! But as of right now, I have 73 Pokemon, so I am about half way there (at least until they release more generations @.@).

It has truly been fun being part of the phenomenon. The initial explosion and confusion the game caused throughout the world, the rise and demise of the three-step glitch and Pokevision (I still disagree with this), and all of the adventures I had.

I didn’t really get to play in this area since my phone died, but here are some pictures I took on the Wildwood Boardwalk that shows the colossal impact Pokemon Go has had on American culture.

Pokemon Sun and Moon: Awesome Old and New!

Another thing that got me more involved in Pokemon has been the release of the new Pokemon in Sun and Moon. The majority of them have been really well designed in my opinion, but here are my favorites. (For a complete list of the new Pokemon that gets frequently updated, click here).

Rowlet / Mokuroo

Rowlet is definitely going to my starter. It is adorable and its design in based off a Barn Owl, which is one of my favorite real world animals. (They are beautiful, you should look up pictures!)

Komala / Nekkoara

Komala is koala and it battles while asleep! Can you get any cuter than that?

Pekipik / Tsutsukera

It is a tiny little woodpecker. It is perfect.

Cutiefly / Aburi 

As strange as this may sound to some people, I actually really like bugs and therefore I love bug Pokemon. This is little cutie (pun intended) is no exception.

Todogemaru

Electric rodents types are the best. Enough said.

Salamandit / Yatoumori

This little guy has the coolest ability in years. He is able to poison other Poison-type Pokemon! Other than that, he looks like a little thief! He is one of the cutest and cleverest Pokemon in a long time.

THE MOST IMPORTANT POKEMON

Other than the entirely new Pokemon, Nintendo has also released Alola Forms, where they re-envisioned some of the older Pokemon from the first generation. The Ice-type forms of Sandshrew and Vulpix are priceless. The Fire/Ghost Marowak is incredibly bad ass.

But the best by far, and the most significant, is Alola Raichu.

If it isn’t obvious from my  name and my About Me, Raichu is my absolute favorite Pokemon of all time. It has been ever since I was a child. As an avid Raichu fan, it has been very frustrating seeing Raichu get pushed to the side for all of these years. Pikachu is constantly in the spotlight. It gets all of the attention and what does Raichu get? Nothing. A couple appearances in the anime and in the games and that’s it. I actually plan on writing a post about why Raichu is seemingly so unpopular at some point. It may be more popular than some other forgotten Pokemon, but for a cute and surprisingly strong Pokemon, Raichu doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

Since the introduction of Mega Evolutions, I have been praying for the creators to make a Mega Raichu, so it could get some kind of attention. Here are two Mega Raichu ideas that I really would have liked-

My wish wasn’t answered in X & Y or ORAS, but it has finally come true in Sun and Moon. Raichu got a new form and it is ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. It rides on its tail- how cute and creative is that? And it is also part Psychic, which is sounds like an awesome and interesting type to use. You know what Pokemon is going to be on my team! 🙂

I honestly can’t express how happy I am, so instead here is some fanart of Alola Raichu for you to devour.

 

 

Who is your favorite Pokemon so far? If you want to talk about Pokemon, comment below or contact me on one of my social media accounts. I am also active on the PokeCommunity, which is a great and friendly forum to talk and connect with other Pokemon fans. My username is- shockingly- Rai (I haven’t been on the site for quite some time, though). I hoped you liked this blog post!

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