Pokémon Revisited

I’m a big ol’ nerd. There’s no denying it. As I type this, I’m surrounded at my desk by A Batman bobblehead, a pair of Star Wars action figures, a Jason Voorhees hockey mask and a Return of the Jedi movie poster, so it’s not like I’m trying to hide it.

Well, a few years ago, there was a cultural sensation that was sweeping the nation in the form of Pokémon Go, a smart-phone based game that encouraged you to get off the couch, go out into the world, make some friends and “catch” these little pocket monsters, like Pikachu, Squirtle, Jigglypuff and Charmander. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, just trust me kids and adults alike from all walks of life were all about it for the summer of 2016. It lasted well into the fall and even into the next year before a lot of folks got bored with it or just moved on to other things.

I made a lot of new friends. We spent untold hours running around town collecting all the Pokémon we could.

There was a huge Memphis Pokémon presence and even a few respectable-sized groups here in the Marion and West Memphis area. I stuck with it for a couple of years, got tired of it, got back into it for a little while last year and then gave up on it again.

Until now, that is.

With most of the things I like to do in my off time either off the table (like going to a ballgame or our annual trip to Six Flags), and with social distancing and staying in

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your bubble still very necessary, we’ve all decided to take up Pokémon again.

When I opened up the game for the first time in more than a year, I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of my Poke friends were either still playing or also back in the mix. There are now more than 500 different monsters to collect and we’re out there daily roaming the streets, either on foot, on our bicycles or a whole pack of us in the car.

It’s fun, it’s free and it’s something the whole family can do. If you’re looking for something to do, I highly recommend it!