A pocket full of positivity.
I'm doing something a little bit different today. After vacationing in Japan for a couple of weeks and spending very little time thinking about video games or the wider world, I returned to an industry still besieged by rampant layoffs and CEO shithousery. It was a predictable and rather depressing plummet back towards reality. Combine that with the foul news that Hannibal Lecter's biggest sycophant will be returning to the White House in 2025, and, well, I didn't quite have the energy or motivation to write this column last week.
My initial idea was to break down why the perpetual cacophony of generative AI word chunder has filled me with despair, but I figured there's enough anger and frustration in the world right now. Instead, I want to talk about a wholesome series of events that shows how video games can send positivity rippling throughout the cosmos.
But first, some quick context: Pokemon TCG Pocket is doing the business right now. The mobile card battler has surpassed 30 million downloads in a couple of weeks and has likely earned a fair bit of brass by limiting people to a meager two free booster packs per day. I've yet to drop cash on the title, but I'm absolutely drinking the sugary sweet cool aid.
To ward off the insatiable urge to rip open virtual boosters, I threw myself into TCG Pocket's multiplayer mode. After building my own custom decks (I'm running a fast-hitting Pikachu EX setup), I got stuck in and to my surprise began racking up plenty of wins. I was, in my humble opinion, a latent tactical genius who's calling in life was to become the ultimate Pokemon trainer. Unimpeded by self-doubt or any notion of reality, I decided my recent success within TCG Pocket would justify a splurge on the real thing: actual, tangible, mouth-watering Pokemon Cards.
You see, in Japan, Pokemon cards were a dime a dozen. Pop into any konbini and you'll see booster packs loitering by the counter, begging to be taken home and tenderly torn asunder. Ideally while scoffing a custard bun and guzzling Pocari Sweat. I happily obliged. It's easy to succumb to such indulgent whims when you're half a world away.
Hard cut back to damp, miserable Blighty and I told myself it was over. I'd slide my Japanese cards in a binder and make a clean break. But before I could close the door on that fleeting fixation, TCG Pocket quickly pulled me back in.
And so, filled with purpose and a desire to see if I could replicate my TCG Pocket success in the real world, I ambled down to my local tabletop game store to ask for advice on how to start playing Pokemon TCG proper. I was told to pre-order a Surging Sparks Elite Trainer Box (which comes with competition-legal dice, a bunch of boosters, damage counters, and everything else you need to start battling) and the upcoming Charizard EX League Battle Deck. I was also told to head back down to the store on Monday evening to check out the weekly Pokemon League and learn the ropes. Good shouts all round.
Of course, inserting yourself into a new space without any kind of social support can be a nerve-wracking experience at the best of times. Would I fit in or immediately be outed as an upstart pretender. Fresh meat for the salivating, card-toting wolves. Eventually, I pushed my flickering anxieties aside and returned, but only after cobbling together a haphazard 60-card deck that I felt, at the very least, would be able to knock out a few 'mons before being overpowered.
When I arrived (rather sheepishly) on Monday evening, the players were already downstairs excitedly discussing their latest pulls, searching for fabled illustration rares, and partaking in a few practice bouts in preparation for the real thing. I wondered how to go about introducing myself to what seemed like a rather tight-knit group, but before that thought could become even remotely corporeal I was excitedly ushered into the fold.
Within moments of being initiated, I was made to feel like a part of the furniture. It was as if I'd been going there for years. A veteran player insisted I take some of their cards to bolster my deck (a quick practice game unearthed more than a few deficiencies) and taught me how to hone my approach and practice good tournament etiquette. During the tournament, each opponent I sat opposite graciously answered my flurry of (no doubt rudimentary) questions and took the time to carefully explain the minutiae of certain plays.
I was absolutely battered on occasion, but there are lessons in defeat and I was eager to learn. I played four games overall, losing two, drawing one, and winning another—with that victory coming at the very end of the evening. It was the perfect cap on a wholesome foray into the unknown. The small acts of kindness I experienced sent me home feeling marginally less cynical about the world, and that's a staggering achievement given just how utterly fucked everything is at the minute.
In an industry that appears to be sinking under a tidal wave of corporate and neo-political bullshit, it can often feel like we're slipping under the surface while blindly scrambling for a life raft. There's a lot to be cynical about right now—and that skepticism is vital in the face of an industry that appears to grow more uncaring by the minute—but video games can still manifest positivity and foster real connections, sometimes just not in the ways you might expect.
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