During the latter half of the 1990s, the world was introduced to Pokémon. It came with the tagline “Gotta catch ’em all” and honestly, with 151 Pokémon to catch, that felt like a pretty daunting task. Not just because there were so many Pokémon to learn about and catch, but there was more than one way in which to go about catching them.
The original method, and the one that remains the most popular to this day, is through video games. Pokémon Red and Blue allowed us to explore the Kanto region, take on the Elite Four, and try to catch all 151 Pokémon. However, fans were also tasked with collecting and battling with the trading cards at the same time. Loving Pokémon was, and still is, an expensive hobby.
That’s because 25 years later, catching ’em all is a far more daunting task than ever before. The eighth generation of Pokémon was added to the franchise in 2019, with the running total now closing in on the 900 mark. So many have been added, in fact, that its creators decided not to include every single one in Sword and Shield, the most recent installments in the video game side of the series.
As for ways in which to catch ’em all, even that area has been expanded. Not only are the video game and trading card branches of the Pokémon behemoth still thriving, but fans now have the option of collecting them in plushie form. We knew that every single Pokémon from the first two generations is officially able for purchase; now, fans can add some Galar region monsters to their soft toy collection.
Source: NintendoSoup
