Hey You, Pikachu

As a kid, I had a relationship with console games characterized primarily by restriction and longing. I was not allowed to own console or handheld systems, and I could only play those games when friends offered them to me. But in elementary school specifically, most of my closest friends didn't have consoles or handhelds either. So I was borrowing GameBoys from lesser acquaintances - usually, on the bus to a field trip. I could usually get someone to let me play their copy of Pokemon by offering to grind out battles for them. Pokemon was the main thing I wanted to play. I was a massive fan of the IP, and my behavior got pretty bizarre in the face of this denial. I actually bought the Prima strategy guide for Gold and Silver and just read it cover to cover a zillion times. I would get a stack of graph paper and diagram out which Pokemon teams I would use in the various levels of this game I didn't have and wasn't allowed to play. My parents knew I was doing this. I have no idea what…