Snowflake Challenge 2026 #3

[bedes]

Challenge #3

Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

I hate to use the exact same fandom twice in a row, when I am a multifandom girlie at heart, but I feel like this couldn't be for any other fandom but Pokemon. You'll understand why thanks to the contents of the letter itself.

Dear Pokemon,

You have been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. It was you that introduced me to fandom in general, and you that remains just as important to me to this day.

I fell hard and fast for you after catching the second Pokemon movie on TV one morning, after hearing about you from a friend. I was in Kindergarten then, and you were just about all I could think about.

I had never been very invested in getting my own video games before (despite my interest in video games generally, my parents had only ever bought “boy's games” for my brother, which left me nothing that piqued my interest to play), but I begged my parents for a DS and Pokemon HeartGold that Christmas after playing a bit of Whitney's Gym on my friend's handheld when I stayed over. I actually ended up getting Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (a different fantastic Pokemon game), but it was, nonetheless, your involvement that began my lifelong passion for video games, which remains as my favorite storytelling medium that I'm extremely passionate about.

I always had liked drawing, but I began drawing more seriously, thanks to your variety of creature designs, which is now my freelance job. It was through you that I discovered other early fandoms, such as Tokyo Mew Mew and Sonic, through you, as well. I met countless friends through you, and continue to meet countless friends through you!

It's truly a butterfly effect. I don't know what kind of person I would be today if I hadn't you at that age, because countless core parts of who I am originate from that exact thing.

I feel like I'm supposed to hate you now, though. The internet at large seems to be on a general Pokemon hate-train which began with Sword and Shield, and has only briefly lulled once with the release of Legends Arceus. I've had many people directly tell me, quite frankly, that I should feel bad for enabling Nintendo's greed, and that it's people like me to blame for the poor graphical quality of the games recently. (I think that the story quality has only been increasing recently, but, based off of the amount of people I hear flippantly snark, “who plays Pokemon for the STORY?”, I guess most people don't really care about that...) It feels like it's been especially bad after the release of Legends Z-A — maybe worse than it's ever been. It feels like I'm a teenager again, where my dad would call you “crap” to my face, and ask when I would “get over it”.

But... while I understand people's concerns (I wish as much as anybody that they'd let go of that yearly release cycle, and give you some room to breathe), I still love you a lot, Pokemon. Yes, even the new games! Perhaps even especially the new games. You have been an important part of my life since I was a little kid. Being so knowledgeable about such a popular franchise is a big part of how I connect with others, and it has so much to learn about and explore. I'm still learning new things every day.

So, thank you, Pokemon, for everything. I hope you will be by my side, as my one true fandom, for many years in the future.