Vol. 2, Issue 5 - The Time I Almost Lost My Charizard

In this issue, I look back to the time I almost lost my Base Set Charizard card. We also have the latest Pokémon news and more from the Johto Times mailbag

Welcome to Vol 2, Issue 5 of the Johto Times newsletter! Today I share a sad story from my childhood about the time I almost lost my Charizard Pokémon trading card. I actually wrote this back in February 2023, just as I began writing the Johto Times newsletter, but couldn’t find a good time to share it. We also have the latest Pokémon news, and more from the Johto Times mailbag!

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News

Drampa will make its Pokémon GO debut during the Lunar New Year event

This year’s Pokémon GO Lunar New Year event will take place between February 5th at 10:00 am and Sunday, February 11th, 2024, at 20:00 pm local time. It will introduce Drampa, including its shiny variant, into the game, and can be obtained through Field Research tasks.

Source: Pokémon GO

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Feature: The Time I Almost Lost My Charizard

My holographic Base Set Charizard card

When I was a kid, owning a holographic Charizard trading card was my dream. Among my peers, the powerful fire-breathing lizard was the most popular Pokémon of them all, so when I finally got my own, I was beyond excited! Unfortunately, I heard horror stories of cards being confiscated or stolen at school, so I always made sure to leave it at home with my other cards safe inside my folder. That way, I could be sure no one could ever take it from me – or so I thought.

One memory that is burned into my mind, as bright as Charizard’s flame, was when a so-called friend of mine decided to steal it from me! He was a childhood friend that I had known for years and would hang out with often. One afternoon, when Pokémon was at the height of its popularity, he came over and I showed him my trading card collection. As a kid, I couldn’t help but brag about the card I had in my collection, the one that literally everyone wanted. Until this point, I had no reason to believe that he would ever betray my trust: he was quite kind and friendly, and we never had a falling out prior to this. I guess my Charizard was too much of a temptation for him.

I must have turned my back at some point, because I recall that he suddenly said he had to go home. After I showed him out, I couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t quite right. Following his oddly sudden departure, I went back to my cards to discover that my worst fear was true: my prized Charizard card had gone! A lot of emotions raced through my head, but anger and betrayal were at the forefront. I ran down the stairs and out of the house to see him walking away down the street. I started screaming for him to give me back my Charizard, and he started to run.

I gave chase and quickly caught up to him, tackling him to the ground on the field just outside my house. I saw that he indeed had my card in his hand. I managed to snatch it back, but the card was bent in the process. Understandably, I was quite upset, but I was thankful it hadn’t been torn in two. I stood above him, thankful that the card was back in my possession, and angrily told him to never speak to me again.

Ten years passed, and by that time I had already moved out of my hometown. We reconnected at some point and met up for drinks and a catch-up when I visited back home, and for a brief time we were talking again. I never brought up what he did, and he never mentioned it or apologised. Not long after, we drifted apart again, and our conversations, and ultimately our friendship, died out for good.

Moments in our lives like this can change a person, and I was definitely a lot more careful with my belongings from that point forward. I learned from a young age about trust and how it can be so easily broken, even by the people who we are confident will never betray it. I still have that Charizard in my collection, and its scar is a painful reminder of when I was so badly let down.

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Mailbag

Want to be a part of our newsletter? You’re welcome to submit content including (but not limited to) questions, fan-created art, short stories, cherished memories, photographs from your collection, and anything else you think we would like to see. In this issue, Jim Roszel, who you may remember from his feature last year, sent over an email to us with an update on accessing the floppy disk he received from the Pokémon League Summer Trainer Tour 99!

Jim was able to retrieve the photograph from the floppy disk, which was originally taken in July 1999, and sent it to us!

As a follow up to Vol. 1, Issue 32 - Memories of the Pokemon League Summer Trainer Tour 99, where you published my memories about attending a Mall Tour stop for Pokémon, I was able to get into that floppy disk and get the picture of myself at 14 years old in 1999.

The picture shows off the giant Pikachu card as well as my especially cool style at the time (wearing a freebie Pokémon shirt I received from my first encounter with Pokémon: the Pikachu VW Beetle at the Cincinnati Zoo following the "Cheetah Run 5K" the previous August, and a Blastoise dog tag!).

One thing to note that I had forgotten about is that there were multiple booths set up to take pictures quickly, you can see another person lined up in the next booth also having their picture taken at the same time!

Jim Roszel, United States

Thanks for sending over this email, Jim! I am really glad you were able to obtain this photograph from the floppy disk! It’s amazing to think that data has been on there for a quarter of a century and is still intact. I’ve added it to the feature, which can be viewed here for any readers who have yet to see it for themselves.

I should disclose here that since we featured his submission, Jim kindly accepted an offer to help edit the newsletter (beginning in January 2024), which has been a big help. We have another feature from him, written in advance, that we hope to share in the near future!

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