Back to the past

From when I was a child, Pokémon (together with Yu-Gi-Oh!) was a huge part of my life. It was the soundtrack of many friendships that sadly now belong to the past: we spent afternoons playing Emerald or Platinum and pretending to be Pokémon trainers (at the park!).

These “games” didn’t just get me into Japanese culture: they also helped me improve my English and my logical thinking. Back then it wasn’t that common for a kid to read and understand cards in another language or to think about how to build and improve a deck or a Pokémon team.

Over time, though, things changed: priorities, interests, friendships, money and time. Little by little I sold off most of my collection (something I still regret), until I was left with just a few cards.

Like a lot of people, during COVID I came back to TCGs. The timing was perfect: I had finished my studies, so I had more free time and more financial independence. But I never really pulled the trigger. None of my friends were into it anymore and the game itself felt so different. So I kind of walked away again.

But lately I’ve realized that the spark never really died. I still find myself looking up old cards online, watching random TCG videos on YouTube and thinking about those full days spent playing with childhood friends (or even with kids I’d just met that same afternoon).

So in the past few days I asked myself: what now? How do I come back to something that meant so much to me?

I’d love to start collecting again from scratch, focusing only on the cards that actually meant something to me: their art, their mood or their design. But I feel like I need more than that. I need some kind of push. A community. A place where I can share the journey and feel part of something.

So here’s my question: would you guys be interested if I started posting here (more or less regularly) about my comeback? Maybe some photos, some stories and some nostalgia along the way.