Recently (within the last month?), my kid has become absolutely obsessed with Pokemon. Before this it was Transformers, and before that it was Spidey and other superheroes, but this time it feels a bit different. I don't know if Pokemon has a special draw, or he just loves how many cool powers each Pokemon has, but either way it's all he wants to watch on TV and hear stories about at bed time.

Seeing the original seasons through his eyes has been so heartwarming, and it's definitely rekindled my love for it as well. We already finished Kanto and Orange Islands and now we're into Johto, and I'm also showing him some of my favorite games I played back in Gen 3 and 4. He doesn't really seem engaged by the 2D games at all, but Pokemon Channel has been a big hit, he loves getting to watch TV with Pikachu.

We've watched a few of the movies as well, starting with the first one. That shit is so heavy for a movie aimed at kids, but it's definitely still a classic. My wife's favorite is Pokemon the Movie 2000, and mine is probably the third one with Entei. I thought I really enjoyed Jirachi - Wish Maker as well because Groudon is my favorite legendary, but on a rewatch I don't think it holds up to my nostalgia. Kiddo loved the Movie 2000 as well, he loved watching the legendary birds go at it.

Coming back to the first few seasons, I either forgot or totally missed the absolute banger soundtracks for Kanto, Orange Islands, and Johto. Especially the opener for season 2, but honestly all of the openers for the early seasons rip. I remember having a CD with songs from the first movie when I was a kid I think, but I've found 2.B.A. Master and Totally Pokemon recently and they're just entirely iconic. There's something about the Y2K era hip hop and R&B that just works. I'm definitely going to have these on repeat for a few weeks and try to teach kiddo the Poke-rap.

Capping this off with a bit about going back to the classic games after falling off about every other Gen or so, the last Pokemon game I completed was Sw/Sh, and I played a bit of Legends Arceus. I started a new save on Platinum and it's been great. I do like the streamlining in the newer games where everyone in your team gets EXP at the same time even when catching wild Pokemon, but I also kind of missed building up a good team one by one. I love this gen, the legendaries are awesome and Sinnoh is a fun region. I don't usually pick the grass starter, but this time I went with Turtwig and I love my tree turtle son. I'll likely write more about this playthrough as I go, but as of now I'm two badges in and just trying to get a good team going.