Obama Gets Pokémon Endorsement

I don't know how people decide which candidate to vote for in today's Pennsylvania primary, but I hope it goes something like this:

Just so you know, this doesn't necessarily reflect my political views.

An Elegy to the Pokérap

So last week, I was going through some boxes of old stuff in my closet and came across my Pokédex, seen on the left. Upon initially receiving this treasure for my birthday one year, I scoffed at it. Why do I need an electronic device that holds the names of all the Pokémon? I knew them all. I caught them all. At one time, in middle school, I could recite the entire "Pokérap." I also had a very full collection of Pokémon cards, some of which were Japanese versions that hadn't yet been released in North America, and named my character in the game "Ash" even though that's technically the bad guy's name in the Japanese version. I loved my copy of Pokémon Blue.

So after buying (and beating) Pokémon Yellow, the first game that I owned to utilize the glorious GameBoy Color, I sort of fell out of touch with the Pokémon universe. Like many things in a kid's life, it was an expensive habit. I was buying pack after pack after pack of Pokémon cards, and that adds up to about a year of college that my parents could have paid for. I kicked the habit, moving on to collecting records and books, having clearly learned my lesson.

Today, there are a documented 493 Pokémon. I think the genius of the game was how nearly endless it could feasibly be. Alas, time has jarred my memory and I have no memory of the original 151 Pokémon, with a few unforgettable exceptions, and there are an additional 342 that I don't know. They even briefly replaced Brock with some guy named Tracey in the anime. Sheer foolishness.

I am currently nostalgic for Pokémon. I suppose, good reader, that I need your help and your Pokéwisdom. I want to play Pokémon again, but have already beaten Pokémon Blue and Yellow. Where should I turn to? I have a DS and a GameBoy Color, so I'm open in both of those categories. I'd prefer a game that still gives me some Mr. Mime options, but I'm flexible.