Pokemon has been a steady fixture in my life since I was about 10 years old. When I was the same age as the man, the myth, the legend himself (Ash Ketchum), Pokemon Blue was the first game I ever managed to complete without bugging my older cousin for help. Since then, I've played nearly every mainline title in the series. Unfortunately, unlike Ash, who has been a seemingly immortal 10-year-old for over 20 years now, growing up has made Pokemon lose a bit of its sparkle for me.
Don't get me wrong, I love the games, new ones included (sorry, Scarlet and Violet haters); still, I often find myself skipping through dialogue, racing towards the end, and struggling to get that same level of immersion I did back when I was stepping into the pixelated Kanto region for the first time. But, after playing the new Switch 2 exclusive, Pokemon Pokopia, I've realised that growing up isn't my main issue with this series. What I needed was a world without humans, and I'm back to feeling like a happy kid all over again.
