Vol. 2, Issue 32 - Carrie's Pokémon Memories
Sharing the memories of a Pokémon fan called Carrie, and her awesome Pokémon-themed birthday party in 1999! Plus, a recap of the latest Pokémon news
Welcome to Vol. 2, issue 32 of the Johto Times newsletter! One of the things I love the most about this newsletter is when I can share the memories of Pokémon fans who express how much the franchise meant to them growing up. I’m delighted to be sharing another one today from a fan called Carrie, who talks about what Pokémon meant to her, and highlights one very special birthday party she had in 1999!
Before we get to that though, there’s also been a tremendous amount of Pokémon news this week which I’m going to try and recap!
News
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team will be available on Nintendo Switch on August 9th, 2024, as part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service. The game was originally released on the Game Boy Advance on November 17th, 2005, alongside Blue Rescue Team for the Nintendo DS. Please be aware that you must maintain a subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service in order to access this title.
Source: Twitter
The next Pokémon TCG set to be released in Japan has been announced as Paradise Dragona, and it launches on September 13th, 2024. It will include cards such as Latias ex and Tera Alolan Exeggutor ex. The total set will have 64 cards, plus secret rares.
In the West, the latest Pokémon TCG set, "Shrouded Fable", has just been released, with products including an Elite Trainer Box, Booster Bundle, and Illustration Collections. Cards include Pecharunt ex, the Loyal Three, and the Duskull evolutionary line designed by former Game Freak graphic designer and Art Director, James Turner!
Nintendo have updated their Top Selling Title Sales Units information, which confirms that Pokémon Scarlet & Violet have now sold 25.29 million copies on Nintendo Switch, up from 24.92 million in May. This makes them the fastest Pokémon game to hit the 25 million mark. The games were already confirmed to be the fastest selling Nintendo games in company history when they achieved an incredible ten million sales in just three days after their launch! Also, Pokémon Sword & Shield have sold 26.35 million, up from 26.27 million in May. It is likely that other Pokémon titles have also seen an increase, but the data has not been revealed by Nintendo.
Source: Nintendo
An upcoming event in Pokémon GO, Adventure Week: Taken Over, begins today, with an opportunity to save Shadow Cresselia from the clutches of Team GO Rocket and its nefarious leader, Giovanni. During the event, players will encounter Team GO Rocket more frequently at PokéStops and inside balloons. Shadow Pokémon such as Timburr, Tirtouga, and Archen can be saved from grunts and leaders. Shadow Lugia will also return during this event, appearing in five-star Shadow Raids over the weekend on August 10th and 11th.
Source: Pokémon GO
A list of activities taking place during the 2024 Pokémon World Championships has been announced this week. For those fortunate to have a competitor or spectator badge, they will be able to enjoy activities at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center, such as the History Museum, a curated exhibit celebrating the history of the Pokémon World Championships. There's also a sneak-peek experience of the upcoming Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, scheduled to release this year. There will also be autograph sessions, Genji Ball Making, a Collect & Trade Corner, and the Illustration Contest Gallery, featuring the top 100 semifinalists of the 2024 Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest.
Even if you don't have a badge, there's plenty to enjoy at Trainer Town at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It's a complete fan experience that provides Pokémon meet-and-greets, the chance to learn how to play fan-favourite Pokémon games, and a special one-of-a-kind Pokémon drone show!
Source: Pokémon
Feature: Carrie's Pokémon Memories
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.
That’s it for another week of Johto Times! As always, thank you for subscribing and taking the time to read what I publish each week. If you enjoy what Johto Times provides, be sure to share our newsletter with your friends and loved ones to help us reach even more Pokémon fans. For Discord users, you’re welcome to join our server for the latest notifications from our project. We are still open to sharing your mailbag entries, so if you have anything you would like to share with us, drop us a line by visiting this link to contact us directly!
This is so sweet! I also remember being stuck in Gold Version on the ice puzzle until I could borrow a guide from my cousin. And I also own and love pokemon monopoly, I think it would be the same version since I had it at least by December 2000. (It had the slightly rubbery pokemon tokens of Blastoise, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Mewtwo, and Clefairy). Thanks for sharing!
That must've been an awesome birthday party! Pokémon everywhere as far as the eye can reach. Glad to hear that people love the mini figures from the Monopoly set, they were so colourful back then. Thank you for sharing those wonderful memories.