Pokémon is for kids?

I feel like when I see people criticize Pokémon, more often that not it's not for any valid reasons, it's almost always to say they're "just 7/10 games", they're "made for kids", "it's not that serious", which like... really? Is that the most constructive thing you have to say about this?

You don't have to be a Pokémon fan to be able to acknowledge that for a long time, they were incredibly well-made and smartly-designed JRPGs with lots of unique designs and deep mechanics. They're fun and colorful and easy-to-learn enough that kids enjoy them, while also being mechanically complex enough that there are real challenges to be had, and adults of all ages enjoy playing these games and learning everything they can.

As a kid, I played Pokémon LeafGreen and just had fun with exploring and catching Pokémon. As a teen, I enjoyed Pokémon HeartGold and got deeper into the mechanics of the games. Even now, I still play DS Pokémon games a lot, because there's so much to do, and so much to learn about all the mechanics involved in making these games work the way they work.

I think this plays into the conversation about media aimed towards kids being degraded because it's "for kids", and no one actually cares about giving kids quality media. Why does something being aimed at or marketed to kids mean it can't be good? Why does that mean it can't be deep or enjoyable to a wide audience in addition to being great for kids? There's absolutely no reason that it can't be both. To that extent, there's no reason to denounce criticism or discussion of Pokémon games, both as kids media and as popular games of debatable quality.

I feel like I see a lot of people who consider themselves "serious" discussers of media, sort of brush off Pokémon as a whole with one of the lines I mentioned at the start, as though this series is below them or otherwise not worth their time to think about. It's fine for you to not enjoy them or not be a fan, but there's no need to put down the series and discussions about it just because it's not your thing. There is still value in talking about the dropping quality of the games over the last decade, about the braindead gameplay that makes them less and less engaging with each new generation, how the rising cost of consoles and games makes it harder and harder for anybody, kids or adult fans, to interact with the series.

I happen to like Pokémon a lot, and I don't just want good new games for myself, but for all the kids out there that are like young Alex, who might be inspired by the games and have years of fun with even a single title. I feel like that's worth talking about.

~ Alex Amelia Pine