A photograph of Pokémon stickers by Merlin

Welcome to another edition of the Johto Times! Today, I will be making the first addition to our Pokémon Collections, with a post featuring some items of my own. While I don’t have a vast treasure trove like other Pokémon fans and collectors out there, many of the items are personal and mean a great deal to me. I am excited to share them, and hopefully more in the future too!

I also want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has subscribed to the Johto Times so far. At the time of writing, we have reached 50 subscribers, all of which are receiving this very update! If each of you were a Pokémon in Bill’s PC, you’d be taking up almost two whole boxes. That’s pretty cool!

Since I started the Johto Times on February 6th, 2023 (which also happens to be Mewtwo’s birthday), I have been busy writing as much content as I possibly can in my spare time, which means there are months of newsletters scheduled to go! Over the next few weeks, you will see at least two interviews, a cool memory from a fan, and the start of a series that delves deeply into my journey with the Pokémon franchise so far.

It means an awful lot to me that there are people who care about what we are doing. I hope that you will find our content enjoyable, and decide to stick with us in the weeks, months, and with any luck, years to come.

Feature: My Pokémon Collection - Part 1

Like many Pokémon fans, I collected plenty of its merchandise throughout the years. I wanted to share some of them and try to give a bit of background to each one. Here are four items from my Pokémon collection that I want to share today:

A photograph of Pokémon stickers by Merlin

Pokémon stickers

The very first Pokémon related merchandise I bought were stickers, part of a set published by Merlin in 1999. I wasn’t able to complete the set, and I didn’t use any of them as I never bought the album to put them in. Unfortunately, I do have a memory of some kid from my school laughing at me for only being able to afford stickers and not cards, but I still thought my stickers were pretty cool. Maybe someday I'll find and buy the original sticker album online to stick them to!

A photograph of Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise base set trading cards

Pokémon cards

Since around 2001 I’ve amassed a huge collection of Pokémon cards. But until around 2019, they had remained inside a cardboard box. In recent years I have worked hard to complete a few sets, such as the Base, Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket collections. Each card is now sleeved and inside a zip locked folder, where they will be safe from damage. Each time I look at them, I am reminded of some very fond memories, and a few select cards are very personal to me. I hope to share some of these individual cards in the future.

A photograph of a Game Boy Color and a copy of Pokémon Blue

Pokémon Blue and The Game Boy Color

Despite coming from a low income family, I was finally able to own my first Pokémon game in August 2001. Finally, I was playing the game I had been eager to try for around three years, and loved it! Some of my favourite Pokémon from back then were Articuno, Exeggutor and Charizard. I don't remember my original team, only that I used Charizard and I caught Moltres in a Master Ball. I am forever grateful to my mum for purchasing the Game Boy Color (£39.99) and a copy of Pokémon Blue (£12.99) from my local Gamestation for me, especially because of how much of a financial cost that must have been for her at the time. It has been a treasured possession ever since.

A photograph of my copy of Pokémon Crystal

Pokémon Crystal

This game was incredibly special to me growing up. Despite loving Pokémon Blue, the latest games at the time, Gold & Silver, were already the most talked about games. Eventually, I saved up enough money to purchase it. The opening cutscene flashed before my eyes, and I was taken by surprise at how colourful it was. I saw some colour when playing Blue, but this was completely different. I remember seeing the word CRYSTAL appear on-screen, and I distinctly remember thinking to myself that "This was going to be the greatest Pokémon game ever" I didn't realise at the time just how correct I was. Crystal is still my favourite Pokémon game to this day, I love it so much!