Suppose Pokemon came out in 2026. Given your current age and life circumstances, do you think that you would be interested in it?
Not many adults in their 20s-40s became involved in Pokemon beyond their children’s interest in the 1990s. However, social media and influence culture is much different now than it was back then.
When labubus took over the world, I thought of this question.
A lot of the understanding of fundamentals that I have, I have BECAUSE of PkMn… So if I’d not been in it, I either would be completely uninterested, or I would be completely carried away by the hype. “Oh! They’re making all this money with crypto!” “Oh! They’re making all this money with Pokeeman!”
But then, if Pokemon had not come out in 1999, would it be as successful today?
Is pokemon’s success, due largely to the time in which it released, and how?
Did they? I have heard but an echo of Labubu in the last few months.
No.
The only reason Pokemon is so important to me is because of those childhood memories I had with it.
Collecting the TCG, Trading pokemon through a janky link cable, the anime TV shows and the Movies. All of these things plays a part into why I still enjoy it now.
Like if you take any IP that started in the past year like any hype cartoon or tv show, I for sure have no idea and pretty much don’t care. Pretty much all IP’s that I cherish are from my childhood e.g Legend of Zelda, Paper Mario, Pokemon, Neopets, YuGiOh, etc etc.
Ash and his gang was very important in my life. As he made his way through the various regions and gym leaders I felt a kinship so once he was retired from the show, I kind of lost interest in the subsequent generations. I still enjoy the cards and the cool art but I am not as interested as I used to be. (Maybe a sign of slowly leaving the hobby 
)
Maybe if I had a kid who enjoyed pokemon I could get into it but it for sure would not be as important as it is right now.
Short answer is no. Slightly longer answer is probably not.
Probably not. When I started collecting again it was in a different landscape and mostly for nostalgia, so without a meaningful connection I doubt I’d get into it (although not impossible, especially if introduced by friends).
On top of that, I’m fairly minimalist when it comes to my interests, so without some special attachment to it, I’d say Pokemon and card collecting would likely be lumped together with other recent trends like Labubus or similar.
No. And that’s all I gotta say about that
Would I be interested enough to play the video games? Yes, definitely!
Would I form a lifelong obsession at the ripe old age of 29/30? Probably not.
Since I’m a fan of other monster collecting games like SMT, Persona and Digimon I would probably check the Pokémon games out. I might find them to be fun, dumbed-down games in the genre but I doubt I would go much further in the franchise than that.
Pokémon really thrives on being a multimedia cultural phenomena.
No way. The game and TCG design would be a turn-off compared to the other options available today.
Not a chance. There have been a few monster hunter series that came and went in the last few years, and I wasn’t tempted to even bat an eye in their direction.
If Pokémon came out for the first time now, it would look completely different to what we know anyway. The animé would be 5-10 min hyperactive flash cartoons and the aesthetic/designs would be pandering either towards similar older brands (assuming Digimon etc still released in 1999?) or the current brainrot meme child demographic.
Most of the merch would be tactile toy based and the tcg would probably be nothing more than basic AI artwork cards that come packaged free with squishies. Shudder.
Id try it, but if it took 30 extra years from now to get to the size it is today then it wouldnt be on my radar at all. There wasnt many games and toys back in the 90’s that was as big as Pokemon. Younger kids these days have access to sooooo many more games, toys, and shows than ever before. I would probably be too engrossed with the other fandoms Im having fun with to notice. Similar to Labubu I completely ignored them, and walk past them at cons without a care in the world, however anything Pokemon catches my eye so quickly.
I could probably get into the anime if it started out like it did for season 1 but with upgraded animation (Kalos quality). When it comes to the games, probably not since my time is more limited now.
Just relating to the TCG, definitely not right away. I would have to have some type of fondness first for the show or games, before collecting physical items.
No. I’m sure there are many new toys and IPs coming out in 2026 and I absolutely don’t care about any of them.
no
I doubt it, I have essentially zero interest in any other TCGs or anime franchises that have been developed more recently. If I hadn’t experienced Pokemon first as an 8 year old I probably wouldn’t care now.
no. the only reason i’m in it today is bc on my birthday like 6 years ago, i had a random urge to open a pack for nostalgia sake, and then started looking up old cards to buy.
This is a great question!
If Pokemon came out today, it probably wouldn’t be on my radar. I haven’t played a main series Pokemon game since Diamond came out. If I hadn’t collected the cards as a kid, I probably wouldn’t have gotten back into collecting several years ago. So I might not be into cards at all right now (although I was playing/opening yugioh before Pokemon). However, assuming I somehow got into cards despite Pokemon not existing, and was already playing One Piece when Pokemon came out, I’d actually probably have a decent level of interest in it - mostly to play though rather than collect (though I mostly only collect right now).
I think to some degree I would, but I do not think I would be religiously playing each new mainline series on launch w/o the growing up with it factor.
The turn based system I think I am heavily biased toward likely simply due to growing up with that gameplay.
lol. SO true! The way society treats people today (not saying if it’s good or bad… but it’s bad) they would not have the attention span to develop the deep interest and connection with a property like pokemon…
…Or would they?
…Perhaps the nature of pokemon would make it just as popular, and keeps it’s popularity alive today.
It’s very different than many entertainment franchises: Collecting and having creatures and a cards that persist instead of simply being a digital fleeting asset, or a short run-of-the-algorithm video that has little feel-good value and can’t be revisited easily. It’s also something with depth like many great fandoms, unlike Labubu, NFT, etc.
Am I interested in paw patrol? Am I interested in [insert any current kids show that is targeted at 8 - 10 year olds]?
That settles it!
