This past Friday on November 18th, 2016, Nintendo released the next highly anticipated set of games within the Pokémon series. Pokémon Sun and Moon, introducing the brand new Alola region along with a new generation of Pokémon, sold over 10 million copies worldwide on just its release date. Not only that but the game also achieved a high record for the most downloads for its special demo with over three and a half million downloads. Needless to say, there were many excited for this game, including myself, and it has not disappointed at all.

With such record-breaking numbers, I think it's safe to call the Pokémon series, which dates back to being first released in the year 1996, a very impactful video game series to come from Nintendo. Alongside video game series like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon has always remained a staple video game series within Nintendo's history and it's something that we still see today in many different ways.

It always amazes me to know that I'm about the same age as this video game series. It's also interesting to see what people think of when the word "Pokémon" is spoken because it can mean so many different things for everyone. Like, for example, if you hear the word Pokémon in an area where a lot of people have their phones out, it's most likely that these people are playing Pokémon Go on their phones. However, for someone like me who has been around Pokémon related everything all her life, it's a little different.

Being the youngest of three siblings and also being surrounded by older cousins who had their hands on video consoles way before me, I was introduced to this series fairly young. I still remember nearly ever weekend I would spend watching the Pokémon anime with my older brother and sister and how obsessed they were with collecting all those cards. Even I started getting more involved with the series when I got my own copy of Pokémon Ruby for the Gameboy SP. I played it to the point of internally wrecking the game and my cartridge would not be able to save my game anymore. However, ironically enough, it wasn't until most recently where I've fallen more in love with the series. I got the remastered version of Ruby (formally known as Omega Ruby) for the 3DS as present for my birthday this year and ever since, I've been thinking about how much this series has been impacting me from the beginning. Even before I got Omega Ruby, I preordered Sun to try and get back into the game series and now that it's out, I haven't stopped playing.

So with that being said, I'd like to personally thank Nintendo for bringing such a powerful video game series to the surface. It's brought so much joy and excitement for millions worldwide with myself included. Playing a whole lot recently, even if it's just on my phone catching Pokémon near me, or on my 3DS with the new game has reminded me how fulfilling it can be playing this game.

I hope this series continues to be a big impact in the years to come.