Pokemon Essay, Research Paper
This kids phenomenon began as a hand-held video game and exploded across the globe, from trading cards to becoming the number one
rated television kids’ show on the popular cartoon programming Kids’ WB! The TV program is drawn in the manner of the old speed racer
cartoon with similar type voices. It began showing in syndication in September 1998 and within a few months shot to the top of the ratings
chart for children’s programs.
The Pok?mon phenomenon began in Japan in 1996, with Nintendo inciting a national craze when it introduced software for its Game Boy
portable video game system called “Pocket Monsters.”
The name Pok?mon, is short for POcKEt MONster, each have there own special fighting abilities. Pok?mon is marketed as a creative
strategy game based on mythical creatures. Sounds like fun but its more than that, much more. You work your way to the top, perfecting
your skills by using your Pok?mon to fight against other Pok?mon trainers. The Pok?mon game does get the kids to think, strategize and use
their memory skills. But thinking on what is the question that needs to be asked.
” Pok?mon are incredible creatures that share the world with humans,’ says Professor Oak (on the program), the leading authority on these
monsters.” There are currently over 150 documented species of Pok?mon. The professor says “We need to deal with poke’mon as
individuals just as we deal with people.” Pok?mon frequently take on the characteristics of the human who captured them.
The Pok?mon song and mantra is heard on the program and written in the materials. “I want to be the very best like no one ever was, to
catch them is my real test to train them is my cause .”I will travel across the land Searching far and wide Each Pok?mon to understand
the power that’s inside. “Gotta catch them all!” Its you and me I know I know, its my destiny.” Just about every child has
memorized this stanza.
The last line of the Pok?mon mantra, “Gotta catch them all!” is used over and over again to have the kids desire and crave for collecting
more Pok?mon paraphernalia. Whatever the creators of these Pocket monsters come out with the kids want they are hooked. Between the
TV commercial breaks a Poke’mon comes flashed in a shadow shape and they all say in unison “Whose that Pok?mon.” The kids are to
recognize the certain character by its shape. Now remember there are over 150 of them so to do this takes quite some time to familiarize
themselves with the creatures. This becomes a whole new education for them to learn of these mythical creatures.
A Look at The characters
The story revolves around a 10 year old boy named Ash Ketchum (a boy and his friends). He is energetic and determined to become the
world’s greatest Pok?mon Master.” Ash’s goal and your child’s is to become the greatest trainer in the world by collecting and raising
pok?mon. His pet is Pikachu who looks like across between a cuddly rabbit and a rat. He has a lightning bolt shaped tail. (Raichu also has a
lightning bolt tail)
Misty a girl who is Ash’s friend is described as “headstrong and stubborn . . . constantly quibbling with Ash.” She is always giving him a
hard time, they are constantly arguing. Ash says she’s always putting him down. Then there is the third member of the adventurous trio,
Brock who has uncontrolled hormones. Brock who is Ashes trouble making partner is girl crazy, he is infatuated with their perfume, dress
and shape. Every girl he sees he is in love with. Brock’s fascination with the opposite sex often gets him and the gang into trouble. Brock
also has a temper (have you seen your child develop one?) and sometimes will hit Misty, who is his friend on the head, as in one case
because she wanted to reveal that he loves a certain girl.
Competition drives Ash making him obsessed with catching all the Pok?mon. But it is not that easy he has enemies, Team rocket. A boy girl
team called Jessie & James (Jessie James remember him, the outlaw). Meoth is a Pok?mon on team rocket who are the enemy are the
nemesis of Ash, they want to steal all the Pok?mon’s from the people and trying to steal Pikachu from Ash, and at times they do, but Ash
always gets him back. “Prepare for trouble, make it double…. Jessie, James . . . they are an evil gang following Ash and friends looking to
steal rare Pok?mon. Jessie and James are stuck up, fashion conscious, trouble makers. Jesse the girl is dressed in a scanty short skirt.
These characters do not portray good values much less moral that the Bible asks us and our children to have. Yet they are the villain’s in the
story. They have a song they often sing that is quite revealing, “To protect the world from devastation to unite all peoples within our nations.
To announce the evils of truth and love to extend our reach to the stars above.” To unite the world and reach the stars was the goal of the
tower of Babel. To announce the evils of love and truth make this quite a deceptive, evil message, even from the bad guys of the cartoon.
The Bible says, to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21. To “… Reject that which is evil; hold to that which is
good.” If you are a Christian you know the invisible war often times can become visible and you can be engaged in it. This one has touched
our homes and it happened very quickly. In some respects it came under the radar screen of many parents. We do battle, but not with
creature against creature. Behind these creatures is a spiritual power trying to influence the children. We are in the midst of a battle going
on for the hearts and minds of our children, and this has become an all out assault. Consider that Pok?mon” is the sixth most-searched-for
word on the Internet and is the fastest-selling Game Boy game.
The video game has sold more than 4 million Nintendo Game Boy games in the United States, with the Pok?mon game cartridges topping
all others in the first and second best-selling slots. In Japan were four versions that are not found in America, yellow, green, silver, and gold,
yellow was recently released here. There are lots of Poke’mon that haven’t been seen or captured, nor made by Nintendo, But they will be!
Why stop such a good thing?
“Pok?mon has since become the largest children phenomenon of the decade, Since the Pok?mon trading card game’s debut in January
1999, over 2 million copies of the game have been sold in North America.” Nintendo, its Japanese creator, puts the total retail value of the
animated cartoon, Gameboy video games, promotional toys and cards at $1 billion in the U.S. and $7 billion worldwide in just one year.
Other merchandise to put your money into their pockets are: comic books, coloring books, videos, compact disks, etc. Instead of the phrase
“gotta catch em all” it should say “gotta take all your money” because that?s what they are doing as people are pouring hundreds if not
thousands of dollars to quench the desire of their kids to “catch em all.” This fad does not come cheap, as there were originally 150 now the
number is increasing as they see they can offer more to the na?ve children. Pokemon #151 is Mewtwo, who is psychic Pok?mon. The
“holo” (shinies) cards are the rarest to catch and collect since there is a limited quantity of each set of Pok?mon cards. Each is printed with
the symbol which shows the cards are first-edition cards from that set. The cards may have future reprints but never with the symbol which
assures that first-edition cards will maintain their value! The cards are of the highest quality with artistic pictures and information on them.
On the cards they describe the creatures by their genetic type, weight, and height, such as haunter who is a gas Pok?mon, length 5′3”,
weight 0.2 lbs. He is used to hypnotize his opponent. On the upper left hand corner of the card it will tell you what stage of evolving it is in
on the right hand corner grass, fire , water lightning etc. At the bottom it shows it weaknesses and resistance. This is a complicated strategy
game that introduces one to a pantheistic worldview and the child is exposed to the power of the occult.
This has become very big money and not just baseball cards are counterfeited anymore. In July, Customs seized $250,000 worth of
counterfeit Pok?mon products at the docks in Elizabeth, N.J. They seem to be counterfeits surfacing everywhere. Genuine Pok?mon cards
are made in the United States and can be worth $50 each for the rare first editions.
Most parents can spend at the least $100 to over $1,000. Cards can cost From $3.50 to $7 for a single pack, theme packs can run up to $25.
Prices can get really high, the rarest cards run anywhere from $100-$400 on the Pok?mon black market.
The news reports that Parents of two kids in L.I. are suing Nintendo for “conspiring to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity” and
“engaging in an illegal gambling enterprise.” They seem to believe Nintendo that offers rare cards in undisclosed packs and prompts the
kids to “catch em all” going on a buying spree to get the rare card and resell them to the collectors for a greater markup. So they are
accusing Nintendo of promoting gambling. They do have a point. However the parents have spent, thousands of dollars on Pok?mon cards.
Now anyone who has seen how these children act that are into this fad can sympathize, but somewhere along the line the parents need to
take control and put their foot down. Better to be before, than to deal with it in the middle, losing money and your children to Nintendo’s
toys.
The goal is to “catch em all. And the kids seek these cards in sometimes an aggressive fashion. They have been stolen from school to
homes. One child I know had his whole card collection stolen, it had to be worth a couple hundred dollars. The children get into fights over
the cards? Some parents and educators say kids are becoming obsessed, even brainwashed. The Elementary aged children are being
manipulated to crave and beg for more Pok?mon paraphernalia, they don’t know how to stop. Many of these Pok?mon creatures look like
they came right out of your kids nightmares, but now they want to carry in their pocket. A few examples Himonlee, Jolteon, Pincer,
Golbat, Gastly all look like Holloween refuges at best, at worst like little demons from horror films.
Students in school are not able to leave their playtime outside the classroom, they are so engrossed with the game it captures their attention
which the teacher has to compete with during class. Because of the activity of the kids, some schools have banned Pok?mon from the
premises. It has become an epidemic among the children and not a good influence. This can come from the TV program where we find
things like Misty is asked to fight over a Pok?mon who Ash and her both saw at the same time as to who will capture the Pok?mon first.
This fighting is a consistent foundation in the game. Ash is also in competition to catch more Pok?mon than Professor Oaks grandson Gary.
When Ash sees a new creature he refers to his Poke’dex, a small hand held computer which immediately identifies it. They certainly are not
learning zoology from this game but about mythical creatures. (all the imaginary creatures are in it so there is no educational value in
learning of them, but lots of learning about these fantasy creatures to help in Pok?mon fights). Now if our kids were this serious in
remembering and identifying the real animals and creatures they learn in school, they would literally be geniuses.
The Pok?mon: morals and ethics
Pok?mon Game Boy game and watching the TV Pok?mon show gives the kids the basic ideas and goals of the trading card game. The
interactive, role-playing game of Pok?mon offers young “trainers” a chance to an ever-increasing number of collectible species and engage
in Pok?mon battles with other trainers. The trainer’s goal is to increase his status through battles with other trainers until he earns the
ultimate badge of honor by becoming “The World’s Greatest Pok?mon Master.” To capture a Pok?mon they throw the Pok? ball at them
and sometimes it gets teleported to professor Oaks Lab.
In the complicated Fable world of Pok?mon, each creature possesses its own special powers and abilities based on its association with
certain elements (earth, wind, fire, water). Trainers must know their creatures problem using solving strategy skills to win battles. To do this
they need to commit to memory a list of arcane knowledge which will fit the battle. Which creature will they use, what they decide can
mean victory or defeat. Trainers are also encouraged to teach and care for their captured Pok?mon in order to become more successful. The
kids are told to Carry your Pok?mon with you, and you’re ready for anything! You’ve got the power in your hands, so use it!’
Captured Pok?mon can evolve and become even more powerful. As they immediately evolve, morphing (changing) into another
creature. In Pok?mon, the monsters transform the old self and evolve into a new more powerful Pok?mon when they win. The Pok?mon
evolve and take on new characteristics and one can evolve into one of two completely different Pok?mon, indicating a complete change.
Caterpie who is a caterpillar evolves into Metapod who evolves into Butterfree a butterfly. This is the teaching of eastern religions, the
Shinto beliefs have evolution and re-incarnation, these are the ideas presented in Pok?mon. We live in a post Christian era in America, and
what is coming in is the old paganism, with a vengeance.
There are different cards used in the game for ones warfare; They can resemble a supernatural chicken fight. Machop, Machoke, Machamp
are all fighters. Machoke is the final stage of evolution for Machop.There are 151 Pok?mon (Pocket Monsters) that must be engaged in
battle and defeated. Many of these evolve, some to the fourth level, into other creatures more powerful than the original Pokemon. They
possess different levels of power and can become more powerful with the use of crystals, thunderstones, and other evolving techniques
Evolution cards are played on top of your Basic Pok?mon (or sometimes on top of other Evolution cards). They make your Pok?mon
bigger and more powerful.
Energy cards are attached to your Pok?mon to give them the Energy they need to use their attacks. Basic Energy card: A Grass , Fire ,
Water , Lightning , Psychic , or Fighting Energy card. The “Energy cards” “make your Pok?mon bigger and more powerful.” They draw on
natures elements – Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.
Trainer cards are one-shot cards that do something once and are then discarded. Its all about fighting, intense competition and being
numero uno.
In the song “Each Pok?mon to understand the power that’s inside” Each Pok?mon exhibits its own supernatural powers, so we need to ask
what is the source origin of those powers?
An introduction to the occult worldview and participating in it
Are occult practices or New Age symbols found in the characters and cards? Yes for both. Ash the main character who is wanting become a
Poke’mon master has a -Z- lightning bolt across both his cheeks disguised as cheek indentations. The Lightening Bolt is used as a
Satanic symbol representing the gods of thunder (Thor, Set, Zeus, and Jupiter). Satanists use the lightening or thunderbolt, It is destructive.
Meoth learned to talk a long time ago so he can say his full name (most Poke’mon cannot) For example Picachu says P Chu Charmander
says Char. In the game and the cartoon the creatures can only say their name or part of it, so they chant their name over and over – chanting
is a form of self hypnosis and shuts down our conscious mind opening one up to suggestions. Sometimes they will say their name to point
out something like a barking dog would, other times they say it over and over before they enter battle.
There are a few cards are used that have familiar magic terms, Alakazam who is the final stage of Abra is a psychic Pok?mon with an
intelligence of 5,000. There is Abra, and Kadabra. Abracadabra is a familiar word associated wit the occult magic. Webster’s dictionary
defines it this way – 1) a word supposed to have magic powers and hence used in incantations, on amulets,etc. 2) a magic spell or formula. It
is listed as a word under sorcery.
The American Heritage Dictionary states ?Abracadabra was a magic word, the letters of which were arranged in an inverted pyramid and
worn as an amulet around the neck to protect the wearer against disease or trouble. One fewer letter appeared in each line of the pyramid,
until only a remained to form the vertex of the triangle. As the letters disappeared, so supposedly did the disease or trouble.” The word
“abracadabra” is associated today with gibberish but it has always been used in magic and conjuring
I don’t think it is a coincidence that the two Pok?mon called Abra and Kadabra are psychic cards with magical powers. On the Abra card it