What Darwin Can Learn From Ash Ketchum

After watching dozens of TED talks and desperately searching for the perfect one to blog about, I have finally (and quite arrogantly may I add) decided to make my own. Pssssssh, who needs experts? I am Sachin Kanetkar!!! I am one year away from a high school diploma and have an average GPA for a student of my age. I am practically a genius!!!!  So lets get to it.


Pokémon is the biggest gaming franchise of the past decade. In the past 10 years,  Pokémon has sold more games and merchandise than any other gaming series. For those of you who are not acquainted with the  Pokémon world it goes something like this. You start off the game (apparently with amnesia as your are reintroduced to your mom) and go off on your journey catching little monster-animals by reducing them into tiny pieces of matter and trapping them inside a technologically advanced sphere capable of housing living organisms (you know the usual). You then train these monsters, called pokemon, to fight other trainers' monsters (against PETA's will) and end up as the champion. (You are basically like a legal Mike Vick...too soon?)


Right about now you are probably wondering how domesticating pokémon only to have them smash each others brains out could possibly teach anything valuable to our youth. While these ferocious battles may seem violent and archaic at first, they soon begin to show the bond between the pokémon and his master. The pokémon doesn't have to fight. In many episodes of the popular tv show, pokémon simply refuse to do anything. Ash's Charizard is a prime example. Ash repeatedly calls on it to battle and it just sleeps on the field. In one episode however, Ash finally connects with his Charzard and it realizes that Ash is its friend. This loving bond is at the center of every battle. Trainers don't battle to hurt their pokémon, they battle because they believe in them. The trainer knows what his pokemon is capable of and wants to push it to the limit so that it becomes stronger.


Another aspect of the series that is unique to pokémon is evolution. As players level up their pokémon the  pokémon evolve into faster, stronger versions of their species. This teaches children that change isn't inherently bad. For example, when I started to ride a two wheeler I thought of myself as a pokémon evolving to become bigger and stronger. This growth of pokémon can be parallel to almost any change in the real world. Children who play pokémon draw these parallels and learn to take advantage of the changes in their lives. Whether they are moving to middle school or moving to college, Pokémon shows kids (and even adults) that growing up is simply another stage in life that will help them achieve their goals. Becoming the  pokémon champion is a metaphor for the goals in life that every kid aspires to fulfil. The journey is tough, but in order to succeed one must accept the change in live and make the most of it.


Some say that children won't pick up on this complex metaphor, but it is not just the pokémon who evolve. The trainers learn a lesson after every episode and grow with their pokémon . In fact after every region, Ash scraps is old  pokémon team and starts to catch the ones native to the new region. This is because in order to succeed in this new environment he will need the pokémon best suited to this area. Because every child sees them-self as a  pokémon trainer, the creators of pokemon use Ash to help children draw the parallels to their own lives. Children learn from Ash and his ability to adapt to his environment and begin to adapt to their own. Ash is the human representation of adaptation meant to drill into children's mind the idea of evolution.


Pokémon isn't simply a game, it is a lifestyle. Pokémon teaches the youth to embrace adversity and change. Ash and his pikachu show us that hard work is all you need. Problems will present themselves at every opportunity (i.e. trying to stop Team Rocket and beat Gym Leaders) but as long as one believes and works hard success is just around the corner. When an individual is both determined and adaptable, he/she is unstoppable.