ONM Remembered – Pokémon Week, day 2
“Pokémaniac of the month”
from Official Nintendo Magazine issue 89 (February 2000)
Oh, the Pokémon sections. Judging from the sheer amount of reader-submitted content, it must have been one of the most popular features in the mag (though that’s hardly an accomplishment – I think kids everywhere were just seeking outlets for their letters of love or fanart. Even Viz’s translations of the various manga crammed a few pages of fan stuff into the back pages!). Even when I was a Poké maniac, I admit I found these sections a bit boring. Looking at the teams other people used in competitions was mildly interesting (if a bit pointless; the Pokemon and its level were all that was shared. the movesets are everything, man!), but I didn’t care to read about how cool Charizard was or how you put Pokémon wallpaper on every article of furniture in the house.
Every month a “Pokémaniac” would be highlighted; anything from kids with lots of tat, to mums, to babies, to cosplaying adolescents. Pretty humdrum stuff, though the littlest cosplayers were tempting to scan if just for the “har har look at that ludicrous hair” factor. I figured I’d spare them the embarrassment; I mean, I’m no better. I dressed up as a Worm for a birthday party once. The costume consisted of a headband and red pyjamas. It required a bit of imagination, to say the least. Or a serious lack thereof.
Dumb anecdotes aside, let’s celebrate the only publicly recognised chinchilla to have fallen victim to Pokémon fever. God speed, little critter.
(I wonder why its name wasn’t printed – don’t tell me the chinchilla wanted its privacy respected?)
