I’m a 18-year-old girl and I take pride in my huge obsession with Pokemon

“Gotta Catch ‘Em All.” That’s the slogan that started it all.

While other people invest their time in sports, music, or other various activities, since I was a child, Pokemon was my obsession.

It started, like many other schools in my hometown, with trading cards on the bus in elementary school. As more games came out for the Nintendo Gameboy, it quickly became a staple for any kid.

In middle school I started playing more Nintendo games, especially the Mario games. I really honed my Mario Kart skills due to the sibling rivalry between my brother and I.

During the last few years, Pokemon, once again, made a comeback and grew in popularity. Retro video game stores sold older games soon after they came into the shop and Pokemon stuffed animals are now commonly found in stores like Target and Walmart.

Obviously that made my Pokemon and Nintendo video game obsession stronger than ever.

I used to feel insecure about my obsession because some people thought a girl who likes video games and owns video game memorabilia is just going for the “nerdy” image. I mean, heaven forbid I actually really enjoy playing video games and could even be better than a lot of guys.

After walking into video game stores enough times with my brother, it really was in a way similar to what you see on the Big Bang Theory – a girl walks in and all eyes go to her and, boy, do they stare. Normally I was the only girl in the store and needless to say, it was quite awkward for me. Even when going to GameStop by myself, I found that I would come up with excuses. Most of the time I said I was getting something for my brother and the guy at the check out or working the floor would just nod his head and move on.

When having conversations with other guys, some were accepting of my love for video games, while others just rolled their eyes and directed the conversation elsewhere. In high school, my friends loved Nintendo games like me, but otherwise, I rarely had conversations with other girls because even they were judgmental about it.

Eventually, a mixture of this stereotype against girls plus a competition with my brother led me to be pretty skillful at playing various games. I felt that I had to prove myself in some way, that if I could beat most of the people I played or could spew out facts that only gamers would know, that I would find some sort of respect. Now, not only am I able to beat a majority of the people I play at games like Super Smash Bros, but it also helps to prove a point that not every girl is just going for an image.

A recent surge in popularity for various video games has brought many girls, including myself, to be less afraid of being judged for our love video games.

Now, I talk more freely about my love for Pokemon which has led to many new friends. This feeling of acceptance allowed me to step up my confidence. I don’t use excuses for walking into the retro video game store or hanging out in GameStop, I don’t feel the need to over compensate knowledge for respect.

I even had enough confidence to take on an MIT guy at Super Smash Bros for the Wii U. I lasted quite a few minutes against him and, although I still lost in the end, I had a great time (and still beat all of my friends).

I proudly take my Nintendo 3DS with me everywhere and I play Pokemon Shuffle on the subway (warning, Pokemon Shuffle is very addicting). My newfound confidence even led me to meet Chris Hardwick when he was looking for Street Passes for his 3DS after one of his shows.

I’d say I won.