Since when being different was such a big deal? Since always. But let me tell you what; it doesn’t matter. At all. Your little perks and preferences are what make you, you. But media stereotypes and social stigmas still hurt like hell. If you’re too much of a fan of something; of maybe you’re not fan enough. If you enjoy cartoons or “childish” stuff, you’re instantly a target of mockery and non-sense.
And yes, we all pushed through the rough times and all the bullying. But more than labeling ourselves as survivors, we should be proud of our authenticity!
Let me tell you a story, back when I was in Elementary School and I all could think about was Pokémon.
We’ve all been through a 'Poke-obsession' at least once in our lives, right? Well, mine was obscene. When I was a kid, I spent any time I could doing some Pokémon-related activity. And when that wasn’t possible, I just took the 'Poke-obsession' with me. It went like this: I woke up, and had the Pokémon Special Edition cereal for breakfast. I went to school with my Pokémon backpack. I took classes with my Pokémon school supplies. During recess, I practiced the fine art of drawing the original 150 creatures from scratch. And when that wasn’t happening, I was playing TGC or dealing “tazos” (those little disks that often appeared on Lays). Man, I lost so many “tazos” because of my poor negotiating skiils.
Coming back from school, I watched Pokémon while doing my homework, and afterwards played some more TGC or any of the OG versions for GameBoy Color. During the weekends, I gave my biggest efforts to fashion home-made Misty cosplays (Psyduck was, and still is, my favorite); everywhere I went, I carried my GB Color with me, and of course, my Poke-figures alongside my Pokédex which I still own, and still works! I even got to watch the original movies in theathers (don’t even try to guess my age!)
As I told you before, I had a huge 'Poke-obsession'. And I enjoyed it so damn much, I didn’t have time to care if anyone else thought it was weird or “too much”. I was a proud Pokémon fan who was able to do the PokeRap flawlessly. One of my dream jobs was (still is I guess) to work at The Pokémon Company.
Later in life, I found out many “friends” made fun of me behind my back and even walked away from life beacuse of how geek I was. But that came during the abominable teen years, when creating an mature identity and being cool was a lot more meaningful. And not even then I stoped loving Pokémon. I stopped cosplaying for a while, I had other plans too, but my geekness prevailed, and I’m sure that’s why I became so fond of people that today I can still call friends.
And now, I enjoy Pokémon games and fandom with another perspective. Lovingly for all the fun it has given my all these years, and all the good times I still get out of the franchise nowadays. I’m not gonna lie, I can’t PokeRap anymore, and now that there are more than 700 of them, you’ll have to pardon my memory. But I am still proud to be a Poke-fan, and I love that there are new movies, series, and games ready to receive new kids and welcome them to their 'Poke-obsession'. Becase when you don’t care what others say, your authenticity is kept safe.
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