"Do I Have a Venomoth Card?"
A True Story of Action, Love, and Childhood Stupidity
Never has a single card created so much commotion in the entirety of my life as a collector. What was neither the cause, nor the final cessation of an extended day’s event, this card was nevertheless of great focus for the entire day that this story shall unfold to all of you.
I was 9 when the Pokemon games came out and were all the rage alongside the cards. My family has always been on the poor side and so my younger sister and I would never get our hands on the first games until next year’s Christmas. I had, however, been able to save my allowance to buy and trade Pokemon cards which I was just beginning to do around this time. However, what I deeply yearned for was to play the game.
And that’s when HE arrived.
I do not recall his name, but a slightly older boy from two neighborhoods down decided to visit my neighborhood. My neighborhood at the time had a lot of girls around my age and that is where he seemed to draw the most attention from. He would let all of the girls take turns to play Pokemon Red, and soon word ran around that he was doing it every day.
So, eager to play just a few minutes, I came to the gathering at the corner of my neighborhood and approached him, asking if I could play.
“No.”
This would be the answer I would receive every day for the next three days that I asked politely if I could play. On the fourth day, I called out his unfairness and still, he decided to only let the girls play. So I went back home and thought of a plan.
On the fifth day, I had done a bit of trading with a few friends of mine and got some cool cards. A few hours later, I saw the One Who Owned the Game, surrounded by two other girls and my sister. Once again, I asked politely if I could play, and once again, his answer was the same.
“No.”
And that’s when I took action and declared, “That’s not fair! You always do this! But if you don’t let me play that game at least once, I’m going to make myself pass out!”
You see, at a young age I discovered a way to make myself pass out within 5 seconds. The best explanation I can offer on how I do this is by saying I hold my breath and “strain my brain”. I do not know physiologically how I’m able to do this, but it works, and I black out, become limp, and regain consciousness within 20 seconds later.
But this boy did not believe me, and once again, his answer was the same.
“No.”
In retaliation, I held my breath, my face turned red, my face turned blue, and as my face turned purple, I took a step backwards…
Into the street.
And passed out.
The next part of what I’m about to tell you requires some context. Earlier on the day that I passed out, I had mentioned I had done some trading with a few friends. Much of it involved commons and uncommons, but I had almost completed my collection of my Jungle set and only needed a few cards, and so I was finally able to obtain a Holographic Venomoth card. I didn’t care much for the Pokemon itself, but liked the colors and Venonat, it’s pre-evolution, was a favorite Pokemon of mine. It felt like a victory and I remember continuously looking through my collection that I kept in a nice, assorted block (I was young back then and didn’t know the danger!) and finding the card, smiling, and returning it back in the middle.
And so, fast forward, I passed out.
When I awoke, I did not find myself in my neighborhood, nor did I question where I was, instead, I woke up, sitting in the hospital waiting area with only one question in my mind that I spoke out loudly:
“Do I have a Venomoth card?”
Not aware of anything else, I looked to my left and saw my stack of cards, sifted through it till I found my Venomoth card, put it back in the stack and back on the table, and fell asleep.
A few minutes later, I woke up and asked to no one out loud, “Do I have a Venomoth card?” and proceeded to once again look through my stack of cards, take the card out, and then put it back before falling asleep again.
I remember repeating this action 3 to 4 times in the course of waking up and falling back asleep in the hospital waiting area. After the 4th or 5th time, however, I woke up finally in a hospital bed as my family surrounded me, still completely aware of my previous actions in the hospital waiting room, my question now was, “Did I keep asking if I had a Venomoth card?” to which my family smiled, laughed, and confirmed that I had indeed.
They then proceeded to tell me what happened after I passed out in the street in my neighborhood.
Apparently I had regained consciousness after cracking my head on the pavement of the street about 30 seconds after passing out. The children surrounding me helped me back up and led me back to my house as my sister ran inside to tell my mother what had happened.
They sat me on the couch as I appeared completely awake and asked, “Are you okay?” My mother said I only had a little bleeding on the back of my head (I grew up with a thick skull in more than ONE way). However, I do not answer her question. Instead, I am looking straight ahead and after a few seconds, ask:
“Do I have a Venomoth card?” except my mom had my Pokemon cards in her hands, and I kept asking until she handed them to me and I searched for it, found it, and repeated that action 2 more times before my mother decided to bring me to the hospital.
All those times I thought I was falling asleep and waking up to ask “Do I have a Venomoth card?” in the hospital waiting room I was actually physically awake. My mother recalls that I never fell asleep, but rather just stared out into the distance and would ask that question about every 10 minutes. My mother said she would reply every time that “Yes, Devin, you have a Venomoth card” but I do not recall this.
So after hearing the full story, I had an MRI done and the results were that I had a concussion and minor amnesia.
So what was the moral of this story?
Pfft, well clearly that I should have done this sooner, because the next day, the boy who had Pokemon Red came over and let me borrow his game for the next two days in a row because he felt guilty.
As for the Venomoth card and what became of it, I sold it a long time ago alongside with some other cards, but will always remember it for this very UNIQUE experience.
And that’s the true story of me as 9 year old boy who was way too stubborn and just wanted to play a child’s game.
