NOTE: This thread is not for bashing Pokémon or commenting about the new generation. You WILL be infracted if you do that.

I've been experiencing a fall in interest regarding anything related to Pokémon recently. Before the release of Pokémon Black and White, I was super excited about their release and couldn't wait to buy them as soon as they got released. After playing through the main plot, I've lost interest in continuing the game and didn't even open it since at least one month. I'd like to point out that this is not the first time this happened to me; except for Platinum (which I used to play for competitive battling), I have forgotten about all the Pokémon games which I bought.

The thing which is confusing me is that I myself don't know the reason behind this decreasing interest. While some of the more recent announcements got me excited, the spark quickly faded away and I found myself almost indifferent towards any news. I have absolutely nothing against Pokémon nor do I hate it or think that Game Freak is 'losing ideas'. However, the appeal of the series is becoming more insignificant to me as time is going by; it's something uncontrollable and unexpected, since I always thought I would grow to be one of the old, loyal fans of Pokémon.

I'm probably going to get excited again once a brand new title (maybe one on the 3DS) gets announced, since it will be fresh. But, I'm afraid the excitement will be only temporary. I'm starting to fear that this flicker in interest will affect my attachment to Victory Road (or any forums); while I know that there are many active members who don't play Pokémon any more, I don't think I'll be able to do that. I think will eventually feel out of place and left out which will (sigh) drive me to leave the forums.

So, my question is: why am I coming into terms with an unexpected fall in enthusiasm when it comes to Pokémon? Is it because I am 'growing out' of it? And is any one of you experiencing the same feeling as me? I made this thread because I felt that you guys will be the most help to me, so I hope that you will offer me the support I need.

This happened for a period for me too, it mostly occurred during HeartGold/SoulSilver, but was quickly rectified. It may be that you are feeling a lack of challenge when it comes to your competitive battles, personally when I choose Wi-Fi in Gen V, I am disappointed at the lack of availability to choose how many pokemon you send out, but I view the limitation as a pre-emptive challenge of wit.

During my HeartGold/SoulSilver empty period, it was mostly because I didn't have any team I was working on for competitive play. The moment I went and found a pokemon I wanted to use in a team, an ability I liked, or some move that fascinated me, I got to work. Even now I'm making a triples team despite how uncommon the battle type is.

You may be lulling away from pokemon, but for a competitive battler it's very hard to leave it entirely. The thing that helped me get back into pokemon the most was actually pushing myself away from it, I actually didn't touch pokemon at all from HG/SS to Black/White for about 6 months just to get myself amped up for the new possibilities.

Try and see if there's anything that invokes a curiosity in you in 5th gen, ability, move, or pokemon-wise. Otherwise, maybe you just need a break.

I haven't played since I beat Black, and before Black I hadn't played since last summer when I was playing HG for 100 hours, and before that...yeah, I only play when the new games come out and lose interest after that.

At this point I'm on VR for you guys, because I love you all. But I rarely play Pokemon anymore.

I know exactly how you feel. My falling out period was during Diamond and Pearl before Platinum came out. After I beat the main story, I felt like I had no reason to play it anymore. Once I discovered competitive battling, that changed for the better.

I feel as if I'm experiencing it right now, although not in full blast. I still love to battle, but I get really lazy if I have to raise it on the DS. Right now, I'm trying to get a VGC team together for July 8th, and I have almost nothing done. It's just a matter of getting off my lazy butt and doing something. I also think a Nuzlocke challenge would get me a bit more interested too.

I generally have mixed feeling about Pokemon. Some days I like it the next day it just bore me especially the anime and the games. I feel like the anime is wayyy too childish that it could be aired on Nick JR or some other Pre-K program. It wasn't as childish as it was back then. (But, then again I was pretty much a kid myself. ) I really enjoyed it till the Hoenn arc. I usually watch the anime nowadays when Ash catch a new Pokemon. For the games, I feel like it's the same plot to every game. (Collect 8 gym badges, Fight Bad guys, Beat the Elite 4 then game over.) I enjoy the games but for once they should do something we never thought of them doing like travel to other parts in the Pokemon World and challenge Gym Leaders from the past (I think that would be fun.) But, now I'm more interested in other anime/games like Naruto, DBZ, One Piece and Bleach.

I'm actually also losing interest in Pokemon, and gaining interest in all that other crap that teenagers do. But since you guys are great (and SK is more active, and he's always happy), I stay on VR.

I do still like Pokemon but personally Nintendo need to improve the games, because after you beat the Elite Four there is nothing to do. I feel everybody here still like Pokemon in there hearts but sometimes get bored of it. It seems like everybody is just losing faith and that think Pokemon is bored, I personally think it just some kind of depressed thing instead of losing intersted and that it will be gain back as soon as the person lose there depressed phrase. I also think if they make Pokemon Gray, it will bring more people back as well. For you guys to get out the stage, try to replay your games for fun that help me sometimes. I think you guys are losing interest too because people make fun of you for it and I know that is it for a ton of people. Also you guys founded you new thing you like than drop the other thing. Shadow maybe the departure of Spirit is hurting you and you miss him which is making you get depressed. Since he like Pokemon that is probably why you are feeling this way.

That's just the way things go, Shadow. It's part of growing up--you start feeling like all the fun things "lack purpose", or that there's no point. That doesn't necessarily mean you're "growing out" of it. As you get older, your life is going to get busier and you'll have more things to deal with, so it's actually a bit of a good thing. I went through the same thing back in August. If I still spent four hours a day egg grinding, I'd have no time for anything else and my grades would suffer. However, I do still enjoy coming up with battle strategies--I just don't use them myself. KrayzeeGuy and AuraKshatria seem to think I'm pretty good at it, and I have a lot of fun doing it.
Don't see it as "I'm not as excited as I used to be, so I have to drop it completely". Just see it for what it is: you have other things you want to use your time on. Enjoy the times you do get excited about it, but don't be upset you're not excited about it all the time. VR isn't just for pokemon. I have friends here that are irreplaceable, and that's really the point of any forum: to bring people together who have a common interest. The intensity of that interest just varies a bit from person to person.

I really only come to this site so I can sprite, show my remixes, and hang out with you guys. I play pokemon, but I'm not that interested in it anymore.

I've gone through consistent patterns of loss of interest for the franchise (starting just after Crystal was announced), but I quickly began to gain interest again with each new main-stream game (Ruby shocked me when I first played a friend's version of it just to train his Pokes).

I've played Pokemon since Yellow and the first Stadium and have done so with many friends involved. When it comes down to it, I tend to play Pokemon still because I think back to those times when everybody was into playing with Pokes and I felt special because of my games (despite the fact the fanbase is there today, you do kind of outgrow the things you loved about the series in the first place; those things you could only enjoy as a kid at 10 to 12).

I know I won't be playing Pokemon at 30 years of age unless my children do (and even then to a much lesser extent). I'm 20 and it's fine I still enjoy the little critters. But I know at some point it'll all start not meaning as much to me. And yeah, I'll have those periods too in the short term like you're saying is happening to you now Shadow. But it'll always have a special place in my heart (insert cheesy "aw" here).

My point is that Pokemon (and just about every other mascot for Nintendo) will always have my attention, even if it's just the occasional visit to Serebii or VR. I may be caught up in other things (school, work, life in general), but I'll always have that urge to pop on my DS and look at all the little guys I worked so hard to train.

I lost interest in the franchise fairly early in its existence. GSC wasn't a very good time for me. Then RSE came out and I was like FFFFFFFFFFFFYES. And then it continued on with DPP, and HGSS brought my interest back in the 2nd generation, and Black and White are now up there as my favorite part of the series.

I associate my interest in the franchise now with the fact that it died for me early on and then quickly revived itself for me. I also don't see video games as a whole as being childish; if that's the case, then to enjoy any form of entertainment is. I will continue to play Pokemon as long as I still have hands and eyes to interact with video games with, because I can't grow out of something that's one of my favorite hobbies.

I started losing interest after I beat White. I feel like it's the same old mechanics, and sooner or later it'll get old. It's the same ol' plot all the time. Pokemon is still fun at times, but maturing as a teen gave me new interests. Now I'm into all that CoD, cool kid, next gen gaming.

I still hang around forums for the people I meet and befriend.
Don't get me wrong, Pokemon is still cool, but until they end up releasing a new game, then I'm not gonna be that into it.

This happens to me from time to time. However I eventually watch a video about Pokemon or something else like that and I end up regaining interest.

this sounds a little bit like me and crystal monsters and my addiction to it....

I could say that I'm losing interest in the gameplay of Black and White as a whole. It's always the same thing, I get bored of going to <insert> gym and getting the next badge. This is why I'm learning to battle, and with a win/loss ratio 23/11 I won't be quitting anytime soon.

I'm just sad that the only way I seem to be enjoying Pokemon is by the competitive aspect- it's like all I want to do is win, win, and win some more. I'm kind of disappointed and satisfied at the same time, because completing the Black and White story line up until the ending felt more like a chore then anything.

I want to take a break, though, and play other games but I just don't have the money. I have to do with what I've got. So Pokemon it is.

Ahh, you guys most certainly are not alone. I have also noticed a similar fluctuating pattern in my life as well. I started with Silver at the very end of 2002, played some Red, and then got Sapphire. During much of 2003 and some of 2004, I played the Pokémon games like mad. However, by the time I had cleared LeafGreen, I felt little urge to play any Pokémon games until late 2006, when the first pair of Mystery Dungeon games came out. In fact, I have almost no Pokémon files on my computer from 2005. From late 2006 through around the time I "completely" beat Platinum in early 2009, my interest in the series had peaked again. Since beating Platinum, other than a few random surges, my interest in the series as not been as high as it was.

As awesome as Black and White are, I just don't really play them that much unless I'm out of the house. Heck, those long bus rides a few weeks back were nice for my BW playing. Given that school is out, I likely won't be playing much until next semester. Compare that to Pearl, which I played every single day for nearly five months, enough that I was confused when I eventually saw the journal appear after putting it down for a day. This also explains why I came up with the idea for the MemberDex: to give me something to do in Black after beating it.

Y'know, I think I know what it is. I don't have many real-life friends to play the games with. I'm not stuck on a bus for an hour and a half in the afternoon every day after school anymore like I was during that 2006-2009 surge. I don't really have much sitting-around time that isn't at home, and I guess the ease of access of the computer has taken over. I associate Pokémon with outside of the house. Maybe I need to go outside more?

I do hope that soon I will find a new interest in the series.

I guess I can feel for you guys here. I pretty much have lost quite a bit of interest lately, too. It just gets repetitive; new game announcement, excitement/hate, finally play the game and love it, beat the game, lose interest. Mainly the loss of interest is that once the storyline is over, all there is to do is complete the Pokedex [which is long and often times boring as it gets repetitive] and/or battle other people. But seeing that there aren't any people I know that play Pokemon, nor do I ever find the time, or remember to, setup Wi-Fi, I don't do that. So yeah, I guess my reasoning is a little different, it's the fact that there /isn't/ a challenge anymore [even though B/W had harder trainers, gyms, etcetera, it was almost too easy to train Pokemon at times].

I am probably one of those people who will never tire from Pokemon... same with a lot of other things. I'm those of people who, once they get attached to something, they never let go.

HOWEVER, I have experienced this some-what, in my own way. What I normally do, is just take a break. And I mean a COMPLETE break.

For example, one of my breaks from Pokemon was an entire week of doing nothing but hanging out with IRL friends, outside of the house. Meaning, I had no video games, no internet, no TV, or anything that could possibly lead me to even LOOK at a Pokemon.

When the week was finally over and I picked up one of my games, I felt completely refreshed!

Everyone is different, so there are hundreds of other ways other than mine to get over this problem.

However... you could very well have simply grown out if it. Most gamers, once they become expert at a certain series, they dub that series in a certain category (example: easy), and they may want to move on to something new, or more challenging.

I really don't know. ^_^;;

i think the show is rubbish now but the games are still good.

I started to lose interest during Diamond & Pearl. The Pokemon Series, for me, started to get old. Same old storyline. Gym Badges. Defeat trainers.

I still love Pokemon as much as I did when I first played Pokemon Sapphire. I don't know what it is about it, but I love it.

Relax bud, your not growing out of it, trust me on this one.. :/
It'd suck to see another fan lose interest. Hopefully my strange story will stir your thoughts a little.

After the release of Fire Red and Leaf Green, I completely forgot about Pokemon. For about half a decade, the thought of Pokemon didn't even cross my mind. I met someone in 2009 who slowly (untentionally) helped me regain interest. She would mention and quote the anime and games in some MSN conversations and every time I would think: "Wow, Pokemon, its been.. like.. fricking AGES..".



So then it started. I grew increasingly curious about what the games were like now, how much I missed and how the anime was going. I would watch an episode from season 1 every other week just to  relive 20 minutes of nostalgia. Every other week turned into every other day, to every day to chunks of episodes every day. I finally reached a point where I started looking on eBay for entire season DVD sets. I found a dude selling every single episode up till Galactic Battles for a few hundred bucks. Instantly, I blew a huge chunk of my savings off to buy it.



It felt amazing holding that box of discs. My childhoods past (season 1) and the future of it (season 11) within a little CD case. After finishing half of the Johto season, the drive for Pokemon in me grew larger and larger ever day like a bad addiction. Wow, I'm sure dramatizing this a lot aren't I? 



Anyway, continuing on.. The nostalgia in me gave me humongous surges of euphoria. It was like I was finally reuniting with something I lost long ago. My life was pretty empty at the time. I wasnt sad or depressed, just bored. It was nice having something to occupy me. The fact that it was Pokemon was a great bonus too. I wasn't just content with just watching the anime anymore, I needed something deeper. Looking at my hobby, I realized: "Hay, wait a minitt..  I'm a friggin semi-pro gamer, what the hell am I doing?".



Then it started. I went from reading little bits of info about DPPt on IGN, to spending hours upon hours every night on Bulbapedia  just researching the games. I remember one Saturday night, I was on my laptop till sunrise just reading up articles on the latest DS system and the latest Pokemon games. Every day I'd ponder: "Am I REALLY going to buy a DS to play Pokemon? An entirely new, very expensive console just to play Pokemon?". Eventually, I grew sick of thinking about it and decided that I'd get a DSi together with Pokemon and not look back. I started bringing my own food to school every to save up lunch money. I'd do housework for my neighboors just for a few bucks. Within a month or so, I saved enough to get a DSi and Platinum. Ahh, I still remember that life changing day. Thursday, October 29th. After getting back from school, I didn't even change out of my uniform when I went to take the train the train to town.  



I arrived home at about 8pm. I was sitting on the chair in my room, staring at the DSi box and Platinum game card like an idiot for about 5 minutes. It was make or break. I wanted to play it really badly, but at that time, I'd been hearing alot of the whole "Pokemon died in 2001,Pokemon is ruined, Pokemon sucks these days" talk. Little did I know at that time that those people were just idiots. After already having gained so much enthusiasm in Pokemon, I was wondering if I should risk the dissapointment. "Dude, you're being an idiot, just stfu and play it" I thought to myself. So I did, I popped in the game card and set off on my latest Pokemon journey since 2003. 



1 hour in. Still the same old same old. Rivals, usual bird Pokemon, gyms. 

3 hours in. A gym badge or two, this feeling is pretty familiar, I'm starting to remember the elemental type match-up charts I had painstakingly memorized by hard as a kid. 

5 hours in. Hey, this is pretty fun. Its gonna take forever to memorize the names of the new Pokemon though. (Oh lol, how wrong I was, it took me like  3 days) Still, I should'nt keep my hopes up though, I wonder when I'll reach that "dissapointing part" people keep talking about.

10 hours in. What were those guys online talking about? This is actually really fun. Am I missing somethihng?

20 hours in. GIRATINA. Okay, y'know what? Scr*w those dudes online, I friggin love this!

Oh my god.. I've missed so much.. Ah well, I'm back.



At that point, I was near my peak. I realized that once again, in love with this amazing franchise. I'd often wonder: "Am I getting too old for this?" "Am I just a werido". After these strange bouts of semi-self loathing, I decided: "Screw this. Wierdo or not, I don't care. I'll live my life however the hell I friggin want to". For hours everyday, I'd surf bulbapedia and other Pokemon related media on the net. I'd look at discussion boards and forums. I realized that there was a surprisingly large number of people older than me talking about Pokemon online. Then it hit me. The complexity of the battle system, the math involved and the immensely deep strategy incorporated into gameplay. Pokemon isnt just for kids anymore. In fact, it never was. Why did I ever think such in the first place?



I realized that: "Hey, I'm not weird or anything, other people that hate the franchise are just idiots that don't see the beauty of the game". I know that statement sounds rather arrogant and elitist, but the more I think about it, the more true it sounds. I'm usually not one for pride and elitism, but I made an exception that once Pokemon. After seeing the true inner beauty of how the game worked, it bugged me for ages that so many people hate on the franchise just cause it looked kiddy. (I love the anime and all, but for the record, I still blame the anime for the large number of haters Pokemon has)



I started joining these discussions, studying strategies of players and immersing myself in the vast Pokemon community. I even found a nice little forum called Victory Road, check it out some time, there are some nice people there ;D. I still longed to discover more of this franchise. From watching the anime, which was great, to playing the new games, which was also great, I felt like there was an awesome surprise every corner I'd turn in this  franchise. It wasn't long before I started reading pages of the Pokemon Adventures Manga. Upon seeing the episode where Blue gets stabbed in Lavender tower, my thoughts were confirmed. "Damn.. Oookay, Pokemon is REALLY not for kids only". For the record, the manga, too, was great.



So here I am today. I've played every single game released since Platinum. Even got myself a special Japanese edition of Black when it came out in September. I follow the Pokemon Adventures manga closely and I follow the Best Wishes/Black & White anime closely too. I like remixing the game soundtracks and I even play the Ranger side games too. Sometimes I wonder what I'd be like today if I hadn't met that friend of mine. But never mind my personal dramas. 



I'm proud to admit I'm a year away from 18 and still loving this wonderful world to death. I've sworn to never lose interest in this franchise till, well, the end of never. My point is, your never too old for Pokemon. It's the second best selling game-based franchise in the world. Even if you leave it for half a decade like I did from FRLG to Platinum, It'll probably still be there when you decide to come back. I don't know much about your life and I can't comment about it either, but think of what a different person you'd be without Pokemon. That afternoon you stayed at home just to play on your DS, what would you have been doing had you lost interest in Pokemon? That long plane ride where you were playing Pokemon, what else would have occupied you on that ride? I know for a fact that I'd have been a TOTALLY different person had I not re-discovered Pokemon. After I had fallen back in with Pokemon, I realized how much I had missed and how I almost abandoned one of the best things that ever happened to the world. I almost couldn't forgive myself. 20 years down the road, even if I'm not playing the games anymore, I'd still pick up a copy every now and then just to support the cause. Such a wonderful franchise does NOT deserve to be abandoned just like that. If you've gotta take a break from  Pokemon, go  right ahead. Lifes stranges like that. But no matter how long your break, please, never forget.



Anyway, thats ole uncle AnathemA's story. Congratulations if you've made it this far. I hope it gives you some food for thought, Shadow.

I know exacly how you feel now. That feeling of not wanting to lose interest in something. Wanting to like something but not having any reasons to. I know that feeling all too well and its horrible. I'm guessing your probably feeling like you're abandoning and turning your back on Pokemon. I admit, after HGSS, I needed a drive to keep my interest going. The problem with most people is, that when they want to be enthusiastic about something, they WAIT for it to give them something to be enthusiastic about. IMO, a true fan of anything would go out of his way to find something to keep them going. Like me for example, I turned to thinking and philosiphying (spelling much?) about the metaworld of Pokemon. What can make a water Pokemon spout so much water at its will? Why don't the trainers go to school like us? Maybe Mana exists in the world, maybe its why these creatures can do extraordinary supernatural things so easily. Would that make any creature in the world that can control Mana to their will a Pokemon? Arguing from that point, would that make Aura Guardians, Pokemon? With every theory I come up with, another question comes up. Instead of just waiting for GameFreak to do something with the franchise, I think about such topics. I'm not waiting for the creators to enrich the world FOR ME, I enrich the world MYSELF. This isn't just some, desperate hope to keep me attached to this franchise. I know a lost cause when I see one. I love this franchise, whenever I debate about it, I'm honestly engaged in deep thought about whatever I'm thinking about it. By the time I theorize a bunch of stuff, out comes another game from GameFreak. 



It may not be your thing, but hey, give it a try. How bout this: Ash has met many player characters in the anime (Lyra, Kellyn, Ethan). Could this mean that both game and anime worlds are the same? You'll be surprised how engaging topics like these are. 



So yeah, bottom line, dont wait for the world to get richer, enrich it yourself.

I remember watching the jhoto adventures, that series was definatly my favorite of what they had done, and does any body remember Pokemon Chronicle? I thought those were interesting and well done stories about side characters and or characters that had left the main team, Also Pokemon Silver was my first game it was so cool cause it had a radio and a phone system, i thought all other games after that were kind of a let down, they seem to be experimenting more with what they could put into a game. I think that my favorite map of all time is definatly the Dragons Den in both Pokemon Silver/Gold and Pokemon Soul Silver and Heart Gold.

24 years old and still kicking. I just want mooooooar content!

If you have lost intrest in pokemon, it's fine ^_^ as long as you're happyand thats all that really matters.

I remember when I was like 11 I use to play pokemon nonstop and training them all to lv 100, but as I get older I'm playing less and less but I'm still loving the games! I don't think I'll ever get tired of one of the greatest game series in the world.

I remember back then I would get really excited every time a Pokemon game came out and I would watch Pokemon episodes everyday. I have a collection of Pokemon merchandise and brought Pokemon toys from Burger King. As I grow older, and when I actually own my first Pokemon game, my interest on Pokemon went skyrocket. I was so happy that I get a chance to own a Pokemon game.

It was during high school that I started to lose interest in Pokemon. I wasn't so sure why I suddenly lose interest but then there were many reasons why. I wasn't able to watch Pokemon since I don't have cable and I didn't like the 4th generation as much as the other generations. School kept me busy from playing Pokemon and I started to think the reason why I lost interest was because I was getting older and the fact that I don't have the time to play video games.

I really like to draw and look at Pokemon fanart and so I started to keep track with the news relating to Pokemon. It helps me to keep being interested in Pokemon but there's a nagging feeling that I would eventually lose interest in Pokemon. I have a feeling that it has to do with growing up and I don't see myself completely losing interest in Pokemon because that's part of who I am. But no matter what, I still remember the reasons why I love Pokemon: The battling, the games, and the Pokemon itself.

I'm playing Pokémon less than I did before, but I don't think I've lost any interest in it.
The reason why I am not playing White that much right now is because there is very little to do in it except for training my Pokémon to Lv. 100.
But if there's nothing to do with those Lv. 100 Pokémon except beat the Elite Four again and again, then there is little point in doing so.

On the other hand, I'm working on beating the Elite Four and completing the post-story stuff again on HG/SS, Emerald and Platinum.

To me, completing a Pokémon game is beating the main story, completing the post-story stuff, capturing every legendary Pokémon and beating every NPC.
Getting Trainer Card stars is also important in there, though I don't bother with the Pokédex and Battle Tower/Frontier/Subway ones.
After that, if it somehow captures my interest, I'll try to train some Pokémon.