Looking back on the past ten years, the impact that video games have had on my life is undeniable. Eleven years ago, my life came to an abrupt standstill when I, like so many other children my age, had to deal with divorce. The idea that my parents were splitting apart was a shock to me, being the only child in the family. Also, the fact that my parents concealed their marital problems from me only further confused me; I had no idea that anything was wrong.

From there on out, my life would be different, even though I’ve grown up to be a perfectly fine young man. With all the hardship that the divorce could’ve brought me, I instead learned to rely more on myself, and I also learned that sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. And with all the changes the divorce created, I consider myself lucky to have overcome this major obstacle in my life. The main factor in that success was that I was given asylum in a far and distant land, where a 12-year-old boy wouldn’t have to worry about his new high school, or his parents being divorced. So in 1999, I took a trip in the mysterious land of Kanto, away from planet Earth and her problems—a trip I would never forget.



Following my parent's divorce, my father moved to another house where, for several months, I didn’t have any entertainment. My computer was still at my mom’s house, and I couldn’t really bring my N64 to school every Friday so I could play it on my dad’s TV. Luckily, being the gamer that I was, my father decided that I was going to have a Game Boy Color, with the game of my choice. I hadn’t had any portable consoles since the Game Gear in 1992 so, needless to say, I was pretty excited. We went to the store and bought the console along with Pokémon Blue.

As soon as I was able to open both boxes, I was already powering on my Game Boy so I could finally escape from reality. My weekends, after school hours and countless trips in the commute were poured into this little RPG. I have no idea how much I played that darn game, but Pokémon was my life. Its poor processor rest in peace, my Game Boy Color doesn’t work anymore, but I still kept it to help me remember how a single video game was able to shape me into the person I am today.

Pokémon Blue was the perfect therapy for me, to help me escape the shock and insecurity that was caused by my parents’ divorce. The story of a young boy who left his home to seek fame and adventure, meeting 151 monsters and many gym leaders along the path, all in the name of being the best there ever was.



As much as I try to remember anything else that happened in my life during that period, my memory always goes back to the things I did in Pokémon. I don’t remember my teachers or what happened at my mom or dad’s house. The only memories I still have are all the cool trades I made with my friends. How I leveled up a level 44 Charizard before beating the second gym, or how I captured Mewtwo for the first time. I was a lot more concerned about trading my Graveler (to a random guy in school, so I could have a Golem; because I thought Golem was rad :3) than worrying about my grades, or even girls. The first time I was able to trade Mankey for a Meowth (my friend had the Red version, and I need a good fighting-type Pokémon!!), or when I beat the Elite Four without dying. Oh, and that time when someone told me how to get the Missingno exploit for infinite masterballs and rare candies (yeah, that was a good day)!

Dugtrio, Wartortle, Piegotto and Butterfree (I made another save following my Charizard fiasco XD) were way more interesting than real life to me. They were my pals, the ones I could count on, whenever I wanted to (for hours on end). I’m not saying that they were able to understand what I was living through; of course I had some real life friends. But I always felt more comfortable in Viridian City than in Montreal. I was an adventurous young guy, who wanted to catch them all, and didn’t worry about the rest. My ambivalence about real life during my trip in Kanto was enough to make me completely forget about my parents’ divorce (at least while I was playing), and helped me overcome something that, after all these years, I couldn’t picture myself living like otherwise.

Honestly, I got used to it. And it wasn’t all that bad, either. My life had its share of sadness and frustration, and I still find it surprising that I was able to go through such a rough time so smoothly, with the help of a partially-colored 8-bit RPG.



So if you ever have to divorce and happen to have children, by all means let your children escape—let them get away from reality, and dream a little bit. At the very least, give them a portable console and a Pokémon game, and it will work wonders. Escapism isn’t all about throwing a ball on the grass or going outside. Video games let children use their imaginations and feel better about themselves. They’ll put a cap on backward, catch some monsters and battle gym leaders—and everything will be fine in the long run. It can only do children good, like Pokémon Blue did for me.