How Far Do People Know Pokémon?

As I was making my way through the neighborhood for a few errands, I met a bunch of children that know me well because I played Pokémon Go in front of them, back when the game was at its height of popularity. A little later, I met another child who was wearing a Pokémon Go shirt, which looked a little faded. This leads me to consider the question for which this post is titled. The answer plays into a few considerations as well.

First up is related to what I call the "Go factor". Because of the recent past popularity of Pokémon Go, this becomes an important consideration. I recall encountering a few people in the past who had trouble telling apart even some of the Pokémon of the first generation, which are featured in the early days of Pokémon Go. This tells me that they were into Pokémon Go simply because it was popular, and that they don't know much about Pokémon in general, other than maybe Pikachu. The same could be said to be true of people who made Go-specific merchandise or even just plainly exposed to the hype of the game, for which the children I met seem to be in the latter case. So the "Go factor" may contribute to people whose Pokémon knowledge is lacking, in addition to those who are just briefly exposed through other means.

The world of Pokémon is a big and extensive one, and thus it may be plausible for people to know only a minor part of it. They may play only the non-main series games like the mobile games that are now present, for instance, or they may have played the main series games but not caught up with recent developments - I know several friends who are in this latter group, having only played the GBA games as best as they could, but not the NDS games onwards. On the flip side, there could be people who watch the anime or read the manga, but not play the games. Their knowledge is thus sequestered, not fully developed, or not up-to-date to what is known today.

And then there are the major fans, the ones who know the ins and outs of the Pokémon games and media. They know the workings of the main series games to a large extent and can apply its knowledge to or otherwise work out non-main series games to a more thorough level. They also know how to relate and differentiate how Pokémon appears in other forms to the games. This may not be flawless, but it is nonetheless cohesive and thorough. I tend to think of myself as belonging to this category, as well as a good deal of my friends who like Pokémon and do show signs of the above.

Thus like the monsters themselves, people may know Pokémon to variously different degrees. But it's not all bad; in any case, it just means that people who don't know much or don't know certain aspects about Pokémon can be invited to know Pokémon further and in more depth, becoming greater fans in the process. Who knows - perhaps the children I met earlier today may really be interested to know more about Pokémon to take up its games and check out its media beyond Go, to which they were exposed.