Photo credit- http://cartoonwallpapers.info/pokemon/deviantart-more-like-mega-latios-and-mega-latias-spoilers-by.html
When I was little, my mother didn’t let my sisters or I interact with electronics. This led to endless hours outside, in our spacious backyard, throwing the frisbee to our dog, pretending pirates with a chicken on our shoulder, accidentally falling into our small pond next to our porch, etc. Then came along the television. After begging our parents- I think I was three years old then- into letting us watch the bright, cartoonish shapes dancing on the television screen. I was mesmerized. Whenever my mother brought us to her friends’ houses to gossip and drink wine while shoving all of their children into their TV room to watch Dora The Explorer. All of the other kids multitasked and colored pictures, played on tiny electronic games while watching the TV, and there was I, my doppelgänger, and my ginger sister sat, intently watching the screen like it was an unfinished puzzle.
After all those hours in front of the television, one show struck me as intriguing. I think I was five or six then, and I had recently started watching Cartoon Network. I loved all of the cartoons, especially Pokémon. I was fascinated with the idea of a magical land where ten-year-olds embark on a never-ending journey to catch and battle monsters with superpowers. So, of course, I became obsessed (That obsession continues even to today). My mom got a bunch of Pokémon cards at a garage sale and gave one to my sister or me whenever we did something good, as a reward. I remember my first was a Charmander, a fire lizard/dragon creature. I loved it.
Whenever I went to Target with my mother, our first stop would always be in the game section to check out the latest Pokémon stuffed animals and toys. By my seventh birthday, I had already had 178 Pokémon cards (including 13 holo cards,4 legendaries, and 2 in different languages. I was so proud), a stuffed Torchic, Manphy, Piplup, Pikachu, and a Pikachu alarm clock. (My new addition is a Bulbasaur I got in London. (Bulbasaur is a word, get over it, spellcheck.)) I couldn’t do anything without them. They were my everything. Well, that, and my sister, Tess. But still.
