Just some of my insight on why I posted this:

I mean. I was all over pokemon (not that extreme mind you) when it came out to the US. Heck, I was telling my friends about it before it was aired or even mentioned in the US (my older brother told me about it. I think he was reading it from WIZARD magazine). They all thought I was over exaggerating until it hit. Then my elementary school was flooded with how awesome pokemon was.

I loved it [Pokemon], but when I got Silver, and only at 7-8 years old mind you, I just didn't care for it. I got all 151 pokemon in Blue. Claim to be one of the people who got mew under the truck (I swear I got it!). Tried out the missing no. glitch. Even tried the Yoshi rumor with my brother. But when silver came out. I got bored of the same thing over and over and long battles a bit after I got Lugia or a little before the elite four (can't recall exactly). It was all fun and dandy, but what bored me was the droll battle system. It was too generic and mundane for me. I'm an RPG gamer and I played all the great SNES classics (too young for nes let alone comprehend the majesty of story telling and tactics): Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Evermore, Super Mario RPG: LOTSS, A Link to the Past, and Secret of Evermore (no Earthbound as I had not even heard about the game until Smash Bros. 64).

Even then as pokemon grew and expanded I did catch intrigue for the GBA versions. The dual-pokemon battle system intrigued me. I bought Ruby and played it till my pokemon were around level 40-ish. Again, It was the same thing, but battles felt even longer. Not much of a difference or even improvement. At this time I was playing even better RPGs for the Playstation and Dreamcast. Xenogears, Final Fantasy VII, Valkyrie Profile, Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Legaia, Grandia 1 and 2, Star Ocean 2: TSS, Grandia IIm Skies of Arcadia, etc... Pokemon just never bothered to change other than the number of pokemon and move-set. The DS then came out along with new pokemon games. I didn't buy any. I waited for them to appear online so I can download it onto my R4 and try before I buy this time. I got to level 35ish before I got bored with it. I tried to get back into it. I just have no appeal for the same gameplay over and over.

I'll never understand the big appeal to pokemon games honestly. I am aware however how my favorite RPG franchise, Final Fantasy, is basically the same thing. I can see how some people don't mind the battle system because they love the game, but I ask WHAT is there to love about? I find the capturing all pokemon and filling the pokedex too tedious and pointless. Maybe if the enemy trainers and you as a trainer yourself went past level 100 to train all your pokemon and have a unique battle experience for each pokemon team or pokemon in general, I could see that (to an extent). I understand that PvP is more fun over PvE, but even then there's not much to it to me. I have read in-depth strategies on how to raise pokemon, breed them for stats, skills to use, ability strageties, etc... Just it feels so limited. Non-the-less, it does provide something most other RPGs could never do.

I know a few people who saw pokemon as pets or friends because of being an only child or other personal reasons. Yet I wonder how many people have even got to that stage or point.

So, redditors. I'm just curious what the big appeal is in pokemon games? I can only think up of either: being sucked into the Pokemon universe where you feel you are a trainer, the PvP a portable game provides (heck. I love PvP. I play LoL and played a bunch of WoW and guild wars back then), the challenge of doing it all, nostalgia?, and I guess the story and characters (honestly there's nothing here for me).

I don't hate or dislike Pokemon. I just don't see what all the ruckus is for the game itself. Some notes about myself and how Pokemon affected me as a young lad. -I still tear up a little or inside when I see Ashe release Butterfree. -I still feel fired up inside and proud when I see the Magmar V Charizard fight. -I still tear up a little or inside towards the end of (not sure which) Mewtwo v Mew or Mewtwo returns when all the Pokemon are fighting their evil clones and Pikachu just takes a beating from his while tears shed (starting to shed a little myself as I type this).