FORT FRANCES — What type of Pokemon would Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Elvis be? Legendary Pokemon.
Unless you know the game, the Pokemon pun may receive a few blank stares. History proves that the musicians are indeed legendary, but when it comes to the world of Pokemon—things can feel a bit daunting.
“I think that it might be a little bit daunting to kind of want your kid to get into stuff like this,” said Evan Miller, Information Technology Coordinator at the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre. “The upfront cost can be big, and the rules can be kind of overwhelming.”
Miller runs Pokemon Club at the library every Friday evening from 4 to 6 p.m. during the school year. The session is held at the Shaw Community Hub, a conference room at the front of the library by the big windows.
Familiar with the game since his early childhood, playing the original games on the Gameboy and the card game on the schoolyard pavement, Miller restarted the club with a summer student on July 22, 2022, shortly after he began his role at the library.
He heard that the club was on hiatus due to the pandemic. With his experience in the game, Miller thought it would be good to start up the club again.
Acknowledging that the cost of the game, which can start anywhere from $50 to $100 for a starter deck, may not be affordable for many kids, the nice thing about Pokemon Club is that cards are provided for people to play.
“If they get into it, then they'll want to buy more cards and more packs. And those get quite expensive quickly because each pack can be up to 4 or 5 bucks each. And that's just for buying random cards,” Miller said. “The nice thing about Pokemon Club is that we do provide cards to play.”
Furthermore, Pokemon Club provides a safe community for kids to play together. Miller supervises the session, teaches the game to those who want to learn, and ensures that card trading is done fairly.
Since Pokemon cards have become collector's items, many kids bring their collections and discuss the value of cards with the intent of trading.
“I watch over every trade to make sure nobody's getting cheated. In general, the kids are really good about making sure that the value is fair, there obviously is a monetary value to all of it,” Miller said, who added that the older cards have heavily increased in value.
“They’re all great kids. They're really nice. And they play really well together. They're friendly, they're helpful,” he said.
“And so we can help with the upfront cost, we can help with the teaching. And it's just a really fun place to be on a Friday afternoon before the weekend. The kids love coming right after school. And then yeah, it's just to teach us a lot of great skills that they'll carry with them through their entire lives.”
Pokemon is a Japanese media franchise that consists of video games, films, and a trading card game. The colourful trading cards with cartoon photos of fictional species are more than a kid's game.
“The nice thing about Pokemon trading cards is it is a way for them to practice critical thinking, planning, reading, math, and all that in a fun and competitive framework,” Miller said.
Growing up with a complicated history with math, Miller appreciated how trading card games often helped him overcome many of those shortcomings—and, most importantly, to practice math skills in a fun way.
“And it gives kids a kind of a way to practice for them that is fun, and not too rigid, boring. No doing math sheets at home for homework. Instead, they can play Pokemon and learn how to do multiplication and addition, that kind of stuff,” he said.
The Pokemon trading game requires critical thinking and planning when deciding what cards to play next and how to build your deck. The mathematical component comes in when dealing damage to Pokemons. Players calculate how much damage was done and how many cards to draw next.
“Do I want to draw this many cards? Or do I want to do this much damage on this turn or this another turn?” Miller asked. “All of that put together is a nice package for learning how to critically think and strategize and plan.”
The summer tends to be the busiest season for Pokemon Club as students are out of school. Winter seasons like now tend to be a bit quieter, Miller says. Nevertheless, he continues to host Pokemon Club every Friday. While most attendees are in grade school, the club is open to anyone who would like to learn how to play, even parents.
At the end of each session, a draw is held to win a new Pokemon pack. Depending on the occasion, sometimes another pack or promo cards will be up for grabs as well.
Miller says he still has some of his old, shiny Pokemon cards that he used to play with in the schoolyard.
Those interested in learning more about the club can call the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre and ask the call to be forwarded to Miller.
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
