Pokemon Deluxe Essential Handbook

by Catherine Van Bergen (follow)

Non fiction (105)      Gaming (1)     

In the nineties, Pokemon was all the rage in the gaming world. Released by Nintendo, the popular Japanese manga series became a hit in the Western world, and soon characters like Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle were household names. As if the popularity of the Gameboy games weren’t enough, kids were soon collecting and trading cards that featured different Pokemon, and holding battles or tournaments at their schools and local hobby shops.

As is the case with most popular trends, the allure of Pokemon soon faded, and while some people continued to collect and battle their Pokemon, a lot of people also stopped and moved on to whatever the next big phase of the decade was.
In fact, it wasn’t until recently (20 years later) that Pokemon once again came into the spotlight. With the release of Pokemon Go, Nintendo revived the passion that people once held for their favourite characters. By downloading this free app, people would be able to collect and battle Pokemon in real time, on their phones, and virtually live out their childhood Pokemon trainer dreams. Taking the world by storm, the app has reconnected thousands of people to their past passion, and ignited a new wave of fans.

As is usually the case, there has also been a resurgence of other merchandise released- associated with Pokemon- as people jump back onto the bandwagon. Among toys, magazines and showbags (which I discovered when I went to my local show this year), there have also been several books released. While most of them deal with strategies on how to best catch Pokemon and battle them, there is one particular guide which will impress any Pokemon fan- the Deluxe Essential Handbook. Featuring facts and stats on over 700 Pokemon (the first series of Pokemon which feature in the app, as well as characters from all the following series’ and their evolutions), this is a Pokemon collector’s dream book! With full colour illustrations, pronunciations, evolutions, possible moves and stats about their origins and types, this book covers everything a budding Pokemon trainer needs to know. It’s essentially a Pokedex in book format, as fans of the franchise will understand.

If you know (or are) someone who plays Pokemon Go, then this is the ultimate tool for your arsenal. Even if you’re just a fan of Pokemon and want it for nostalgic reasons (as I did), then this book is the best one out there to satisfy all your Pokemon needs.


Rating: 4.5/5
Published: October 2015

#Non Fiction
#Gaming

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