“Gotta Catch Em’ All,” the Pokémon motto, seems to extend further than just the characters players catch on Pokémon GO. Since 1996, Pokémon has captured the hearts of an army of dedicated fans, and this year is its 30th anniversary. The vast community of Pokémon branches into multiple smaller focus groups, including the card game, the mobile game Pokémon GO and the many television shows. The national community of Pokémon has been around for over 30 years, and shows no sign of diminishing anytime soon.
Game Ogre is a local tabletop game store in Thousand Oaks that offers various types of trading cards and games, and hosts a large community of Pokémon fanatics. Adam Fiegener, an employee at Game Ogre, noted the wide range of options that Pokémon offers, illustrating a potential reason that Pokémon has succeeded in drawing in such a large crowd.
“There is the market and the trading aspect. There’s the game aspect. There’s people who are just collecting because they really like Pokémon, [and there are] the video games and all that. So there’s something for everyone,” Fiegener said.
The wide selection that the Pokémon franchise provides gives rise to an extensive age demographic. Fiegener highlighted the wide range of ages he has seen participating in activities at the store, demonstrating the reach of Pokémon and other tabletop games.
“You know, it’s a pretty wide age range. I’ve seen kindergarteners, like four years old. We have some regulars for Magic: The Gathering, [and] Pokémon who are [in their] 60s [to] 70s,“ Fiegener said.
The game Pokémon Go is very popular among tweens and teens, and offers up many of its own perks. Trevor Rice, junior at NPHS and Pokémon Go player, believes exercise and outside engagement is a major benefit of the mobile game.
“[It gets] people who don’t really leave the house out of the house…I just think it gives people something to do,” Rice said.
Outside interactions and exercise aren’t the only benefits that the fanbase offers up. Eric Kohler, manager of Game Ogre, mentioned the positive effects that participation in the Pokémon community has on the younger generation.
“For younger ages, I would say it helps with reading comprehension, [and it] helps with critical thinking,” Kohler said.
Between the fostering of social connections, beneficial mental exercise and the encouragement of outside activities, the Pokémon community offers a variety of positive effects on its fans.
“I would say showing up is the important part. You can learn the game as you go. You don’t have to be the best player to start… It’s okay to come in not knowing anything,” Kohler said.
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