Pokemon

At three years old, Pokemon was one of our boy’s passions. Pokemon is a cartoon series where kids, they look about ten years old, walk from city to city looking for creatures to catch. These creatures are called Pokemon. Ash Kechum is the main character with Brock, his sidekick, and their friend Misty, in addition to a number of other smaller role players.

Each Pokemon has unique powers. As the kids catch Pokemon they are then available for the kids to call on to help remedy the troublesome scenarios they face in each episode. The Pokemon are generally friendly to humans, though they resist being caught, and they evolve and get more powerful depending on their experiences.


Q1 2005

With his baby sister just a few months old the boy was insistent that we call her JigglyPuff. Jigglypuff is a Pokemon resembling a pink ball with feet, hair, and facial features. ‘When the baby is old enough to walk and talk,’ he explained, ‘she would become WigglyTuff,’ the evolved form of JigglyPuff.

As for the main character, Ash Kechum, the boy assigned this esteemed identity to himself. I was dubbed Brock, his sidekick, and Wife Klem was Misty, Ash’s ‘girlfriend’. [In the cartoon series both Ash and Misty clearly liked each other, but denied it at every opportunity. They were ten years olds.] Our dog was assigned the wild card status to play any role needed (i.e., any Pokemon creature or the bad guys from Team Rocket). Nice how he incorporated the whole family.


At his peak Pokemon interest, we were at the park one afternoon, the boy and I, and he was pointing to kids and yelling, “I choose YOU!” That is what Ash Kechum said when he called his Pokemon into action.

If I sound well versed in the doings of Pokemon, it is so. In his early years I’ve read many Pokemon books to the guy before bed. Plus, I’ve been on the receiving end of many related conversations.

In the words of the venerable Ash Kechum, “I choose YOU!”
-klem