Most of us born in the 90s and beyond grew up with Pokemon as a major influence in our childhoods. I remember rushing home after school every day to catch the latest episode on TV.

I collected hundreds of the trading cards, and going to see the Pokemon movie in theaters was one of the most exciting things I did as a kid. Many of us out grew the franchise as they started adding on more Pokemon and we became too busy with other things to keep up.

On the other hand, many of us stuck with it or left for a while and came back after a few years resulting in the large community of adults who play Pokemon still to this day. When I get caught playing Pokemon in public, as a twenty-something, I definitely get some odd looks but that hasn't stopped me. My parents have expressed their concerns saying "aren't you a bit old for that?" to no avail; Pokemon isn't just for kids anymore. Ever since the launch of the Black/White versions of the handheld games the company reports that the proportion of players who are college age and older has been steadily increasing. So, what is it that's drawing adults back into playing Pokemon?

Collectibles

In general, collections are a popular hobby, whether its stamps, coins, buttons, or in our case, Pokemon. The game itself has an enticing theme of collection with the tag line "Gotta' catch 'em all", which has become a task that increases exponentially with each new generation of Pokemon that is released. Currently there are a whopping 721 Pokemon to catch, and that number is sure to increase by at least another 50+ with the release of generation VII, Pokemon Sun and Moon, this November. In addition to the sheer mass of Pokemon to catch, not all Pokemon can be caught in every game and many rare Pokemon can only be caught via exclusive event opportunities. This makes becoming a Pokemon Master an incredible challenge that takes hours of work, owning multiple platforms of the game, and often times traveling to different locations to seek out that elusive species we are still missing from our collection. In addition to completing our in game collections, there are also so many other physical collectibles to invest in: thousands of trading cards, plushies, clothing and accessories, housewares, and so much more.

Strategy, Advanced Mathematics, and Coding

"Woah woah, wait, if this game is that complex, how can 6 year olds play it?" . Well, here's the thing, Pokemon is designed to be simplistic on the surface: the game has very explicit instructions throughout it, the plot lines tend to be extremely linear, and as long as you stay on track as the game tells you- you should easily be able to beat the entire game. Ok, but so where is the challenge hiding in all of that? The true gem in pokemon games lies in the often ignored realms of training, breeding, and battling Pokemonoutside of the game's plot line. When you get right down to it, Pokemon is a battle strategy game: you have two teams of warriors with various strengths and weaknesses and you aim to create the best combination of strengths to take advantage of whatever weaknesses your opponent may have. Battling against the Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) in game is literally child's play compared to the competitive international Player vs. Player (PvP) battle scene. In order to compete in the world wide Pokemon league championships, you have to have only the best Pokemon which have been trained to perfection (to which Pokemon are "the best" is a highly disputed topic). This involves intimate knowledge of complex formulas coded into the game to breed for the best base stats of a Pokemon, and then have them battle against specific wild Pokemon to encourage "growth" in the right areas. This process is extremely complicated, time consuming, and can be frustrating because due to the coding in the game you can only increase your chance of certain events happening, not guarantee it.

Community

Besides all of the complex challenging parts of Pokemon that draws players in, the game is just plain fun. Pokemon has a way of bringing people together like no other game, and not just on a local level, but internationally. By connecting games to a server via WiFi, players can trade and battle with other players from all around the world. Additionally, you can use special abilities on other players who are your friends to give them a boost in game! Plus, Pokemon players from all over can meet and connect at tournaments and conventions- I've met my fair share of friends just from spotting others playing on my college campus. And most recently, with the introduction of the mobile game Pokemon Go! fans are getting off their couches and frantically searching for Pokemon in their surroundings. This augmented reality game is what we have always dreamed of, bringing us closer than ever to what living in the world of Pokemon would really be like; as players journey to find Pokemon outdoors they may meet up at areas of interest which the game deems as PokeStops where free items are distributed. Pokemon Go is now available for Android and iOS. Check it out! Maybe this is your ticket back into the wonderful world of Pokemon.