Why yes, it has been quite some time, and no I don’t have a reasonable excuse as to why the Focal Point strip has been so lax in it’s updates. Even so, today’s comic isn’t entirely new, and is yet another Redux of an older strip, but one that works incredibly well considering the timing of the Pokemon Anniversary. I did, pretty much, entirely re-draw the strip, and used updated verbage…so it’s far more redux’ed than others. Enough apologizing, let’s talk Pokemon!
In the several years I’ve been running this site, I think it’s been made clear how big a Pokemon fan I am. I’ve played just about all the games since the originals hit two decades ago (and now I’m starting to feel old). The thing is, Pokemon has always been a solitary experience for me. While I had a handful of friends who also played the games over the years, we lacked the ever important transfer cord that would allow us to trade/battle.
The whole concept behind releasing two games at the same time is to encourage interaction between others; so you can imagine the problem I’ve had. While I’ve mostly grown content with this, and continue to enjoy Pokemon as a solo experience, being able to do everything online now is a real treat. This is especially true now that my boys are old enough to have their own Nintendo handhelds and also love playing Pokemon. By and large, however, when I’ve needed something from the opposite Pokemon title, I was out of luck, unless I bought both of them (which I’m too cheap to do).
It’s also no secret that my girlfriend, Holly, is NOT a gamer. Sure, she plays some games and plays certain games (she’ll hustle you in Mario Kart 8) far more frequently than she ever used to before we were together, but she’s not a gamer. It’s not a big part of her life. That’s a big part of why this strip makes so much sense in my life dynamic. It’s even better that when I showed her this strip as I was re-working it, the first thing she said was, “What the hell is a Charizard Y?”
While there is no actual “to-do” list in my household (I’m not that presumptuous), if I ever made one, I could safely say Pokemon would be on it. In the meantime, I’ll have to trust in my seven and eight year old boys to cover my Pokemon trading needs!
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Focal Point Facebook Page and check out some of the newStar Wars themed prints I have up on Red Bubble.
-Jordan
