Carrie's Pokémon Memories
The memories of a Pokémon fan called Carrie, and her awesome Pokémon-themed birthday party in 1999
Carrie is a Pokémon fan who has loved the franchise ever since it began in the late 90s. She has fond memories of her time with the series, but there’s one memory that stands out to her: the Pokémon-themed birthday party from when she was ten years old, which she shared with her friends and her brother back in December 1999. Carrie shares that moment with us and goes on to describe more of her earliest memories of Pokémon.
December 1999 marked my 10th birthday and of course everything was Pokémon; not just my party, but the worldwide phenomenon that I happily got to experience. It was not lost on child me that Ash turned ten and set out on his Pokémon journey, so I was excited to “start” mine.
It wasn’t a joke that literally everything was Pokémon: the cake, plates, tablecloth and of course the presents as well. My best friend and I wore our favorite Pokémon shirts and everyone had on the little party hats with Ash and Pikachu on them. My mom got me some Pokémon cards and I eagerly dove into those booster packs from the Fossil card set. One of the packs gave me a holo Kabutops, a card that I still own! It was funny because after I pulled that card, my fifteen-year-old brother snatched the card as a joke and then had half a dozen ten-year-old girls chasing him to get it back.
Some of the other presents I got [were] a RoseArt set in a large Pikachu-shaped case, full of markers, crayons and pencils themed for Pokémon. I also got the Pokémon Monopoly set, which I have always loved because of the tiny Pokémon figures it came with to use as tokens. My mom had gotten some other little trinkets, like a small plush Pikachu purse, a Poké Ball keychain with Pikachu inside, and some small figurines.
It was such a memorable day, where we played Roller Coaster Tycoon on our humble living room computer, tried to play Pokémon Monopoly (but quickly got bored of it) and just ran around the house being kids. Nearly twenty-five years later, those memories of wanting to be a Pokémon trainer with my best friend are times that I fondly look back on.
In addition to her Pokémon-themed party, Carrie went on to describe her other memories of Pokémon and what the series meant to her.
I remember playing Pokémon Silver non-stop for two days when I got it for Christmas, only briefly pausing when I begged my dad for the strategy guide because I was stuck in the Mahogany Town Gym and needed help navigating the ice. The Totodile I got as my starter became one of my favorite Pokémon, and to this day I love seeing art that depicts him and his evolutions. When I got into middle school, I still played Silver heavily, beating the Elite Four dozens of times and actually completing the Pokédex through trades after classes. The moment I, a sixth grader, beat an eighth grader in a link battle, was one of the most exciting moments I had experienced by that point.
Through Pokémon, I met my childhood best friend. She saw I had some Pokémon cutouts that came from the back of a Lunchable box, so she decided to excitedly strike up a conversation. She loved Meowth, so I remember us learning the Team Rocket motto where she’d shout out his line at the end—to the annoyance of the teachers at school. Both my elementary and middle schools required uniforms, so the picture day where we could wear something else was the day I’d break out one of my Pokémon shirts. I remember my mom buying some Pokémon shirts for me and my brother while we were on vacation at the beach; however, we did not realize they were bootlegs, and so after we washed them, the designs melted right off!
There are so many happy memories with my Pokémon adventure; even during the high school years when I was more interested in other anime and video games, I still collected Totodile merchandise. I kept a poster on my wall depicting the first 150 Pokémon, and later I added next to it a nice little poster from GameStop that celebrated the 20th anniversary. Even as an adult, I asked for Pokémon Sword as a Christmas gift out of pure nostalgia. When my mom got it for me, I spent the holiday break playing and diving back into the Pokémon world. It was just like the Christmas I played Silver all those years ago.
I’m very grateful to Carrie for taking the time to share her wonderful memories of her party and of Pokémon. Those photographs were awesome and really share a window into the past of a very special day! It was great to hear what the franchise meant to her, and I hope that Pokémon continues to be a positive influence in her life for many years to come.