Vol. 2, Issue 44 - Jacob's Pokémon Halloween Memories
Vol. 2, Issue 44 - Jacob's Pokémon Halloween Memories
The memories of a Pokémon fan called Jacob, which include a special Halloween costume party in 1999, dressed as a Charmeleon. Plus, a recap of the latest Pokémon news, and more from our mailbag!
Happy Halloween, and welcome to Vol. 2, issue 44 of the Johto Times newsletter. On this spooky day back in 1999, a Pokémon fan called Jacob attended his classmate’s Halloween costume party, dressed as a Charmeleon. In today’s issue, he shares his memories of the day and recalls similar celebrations he attended. He also expresses his continued love for the franchise and shares a permanent tribute to Pokémon in the form of several different tattoos! We’ve also got a recap of the latest Pokémon news and more from the mailbag! So gather that Halloween candy, put on your costumes, ignore that ghostly hand on your shoulder, and enjoy this week’s issue!
News
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is now available to download and play from the App Store and Android. Open booster packs, collect cards, and play a simplified version of the Pokémon TCG! Two booster packs can be opened each day at no extra cost. For full details on the latest Pokémon app, be sure to check out the official website!
Source: Pokémon
A new Pokémon TCG set has been announced for Japan! Terastal Festival ex will be released on December 6th, 2024, featuring reprints of cards that were released in 2023 and 2024. The set will debut Eeveelutions as Tera Pokémon ex, as well as new Mirror Holofoil Poké Ball pattern cards.
Sources: Pokémon, Bulbapedia
Last week, we shared information about an upcoming interactive Pokémon experience coming to Outernet London. More information about the event has now been revealed in an official press release, confirming that visitors to the attraction will be able to take photographs with Captain Pikachu (Pokémon Horizons: The Series), open booster packs of Genetic Apex from Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket on a giant digital screen, and go hands-on with Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and Pokémon Legends: Arceus on Nintendo Switch consoles. Pokémon GO players can also find exclusive Timed Research and PokéStops around the event space.
There will also be a hidden 4 Diamond rarity Pikachu ex card somewhere in the digital experience event space. Visitors are encouraged to take a photo with it or show the card to a staff member to receive a code to redeem a Sitting Pikachu Poké Plush with an eligible purchase from the Pokémon Center UK store (limited to 2000 codes).
Source: Pokémon
Yesterday, Nintendo announced the Nintendo Music app, allowing Nintendo Switch Online members to enjoy Nintendo game music on their smart device. So far, the only Pokémon title that has been added is Scarlet & Violet. The app allows you to browse through ready-made playlists, hide spoilers for games you have yet to play, and extend tracks for up to sixty minutes, or loop them. You can even download music to your device, to listen while you’re not connected to the internet.
Source: Nintendo
Feature: Jacob's Halloween Pokémon Memories
Jacob is a Pokémon fan who began his journey with the series during the height of Pokémania. One in particular was when he attended a Halloween costume party in 1999, dressed as a Charmeleon! Jacob goes on to share several other memories, including his collection and a permanent tribute to a series that continues to be a big part of his life.
Pokémon has always been a love of mine. From my first time seeing all of the “Pocket Monsters,” I was totally enthralled by it. There’s a picture of me [dressed] as Charmeleon. I remember it was 4th grade, and I was almost eight years old. A classmate was having a Halloween costume party! My mom took me to the store and there was that Charmeleon mask in all of its splendor. I had to have it! No costume to go with it, but that wasn’t an issue. In fact, I can’t remember having any Halloween costumes that my mom didn’t make from scratch for my siblings and me. So in her own words, “I just made the rest of the costume in a day at the last second.” She has always been super creative at making things work in a pinch.
The actual party and that Halloween are a bit hazy for me memory-wise, but I feel like there were like three other Charmeleons at the party and our costumes were a huge hit as Pokémon was taking our school by storm! For me, it was literally my favorite thing; I had themed birthday parties and I loved the little Tomy figures, as well as all the stuff in like Pop Tarts boxes (also figurines) and Burger King toys! We really were lucky back then.
Of course, besides the games, which I still play to this day, my favorite thing was the cards. Man, it was such a big part of our childhood culture! Not only did we get cards from my parents, we would trade them at school, trade them with neighbors; heck, I used to even do chores for my friend's mom to be able to pick from a pack she would open. Somehow my brother and I only got energies while her kids were pulling Rocket’s Moltres and things like that.
In fact, there’s one story that sticks out to me. I was probably nine, my brother was 11 and my mom and dad needed us to watch our six-year-old sister for like two hours. So they “hired” said neighbor to watch her. She was [around] our age too, so all of us just hung out with my sister. Her payment was [that] she got to pull a card from a [booster pack]…and it was just a Raticate. Nothing special, right? My brother and I lost our ****! “That’s so unfair that she gets that card! We helped too!” Looking back, I always crack up about how emotionally distressed we got over that, lol. It’s one of my favorite cards to this day for that reason.
I still love Pokémon to this day! I’m nearing 33, have two kids of my own, and I still collect the cards [and] play all of the games that come out. I even have a huge Ho-Oh tattoo on my forearm! I think Gen 2 was my favorite. I remember when it got “leaked” or something and only a select few [Pokémon] were revealed. But at the time, the names were only in Japanese, so somewhere my brother’s journal has them all drawn up with their Japanese names written, lol.
I love that Pokémon has become multigenerational for me, and while my kids are too young for cards, they love having me play with the action figures with them, or with the plushies. My son, to the best of his ability, will even “play” Pokémon Go with me. I don’t ever see myself moving on from it. I still talk to my friend in that picture of my Pokémon-themed birthday about the cards, as he’s still a big collector, too. We were buying booster boxes back in 2014-15 for like $300+ just for nostalgia, and wow, what a great time to buy those.
I am thankful to Jacob for sharing his memories with us. It’s great to see how much the Pokémon series remains a part of his life, and I hope it will continue to bring him many happy memories in the years ahead.
Mailbag
To close out this week’s issue, we received something in our mailbag from an artist called Desja Rocket, an original mixed media artist who combines pencil sketch art with digital colouring. Desja has shared an awesome piece of artwork of Greavard, which is good timing for Halloween!
"Who’s a Good boy?" It was a late birthday art for a friend, Agent Compass from a Pokemon cosplay Team Rocket group. I remember having artist's block and asking one of the members from Discord what to draw. He asked for Greavard for his birthday. It was fun to draw this cute boy.
Desja, United States
Hi Desja, thank you for sharing this wonderful artwork of Greavard, just in time for Halloween! I love the pose (he’s very cute)! I also appreciate the colours used in the piece, which has made it feel quite spooky. Keep up the fantastic work!
That’s all for this week’s issue! 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!