As Pokemon experiences a renaissance, students have rediscovered their affinity to catch ‘em all. With the release of two new Pokemon games within the past two months, Pokemon has reclaimed its former popularity.

Many players who are returning to the Pokemon fandom haven’t played since their elementary school years, and others have been playing on-and-off throughout their lives.

Freshman Alex Levy was introduced to the game at the age of five and has continued to play from time to time since. “The last time I started playing again was two months ago,” he said. “I was hanging out with a friend and we thought we’d start [playing] again.”

Dana Cohen-Kaplan revisited Pokémon two years ago. “I started playing [again] and I remembered how fun it was. It’s a nice little escape from schoolwork [and] it’s very relaxing,” he said.

Freshmen Curt Lyon and Boey Yu feel that Pokémon is a game that “you just keeps going back to,” Lyon said.

“Every year or so I get into phases where I play Pokémon for a while. This one in particular was long, which may have to do with a lot of other people playing too,” Lyon said.

For freshman Daniel Barabasi, the Pokémon playing period starts when a new game comes out. “Once I get a new game, I’ll probably play [it] daily. But after I beat [the game], I’ll probably play once or twice a week.”

As junior Clement Su put it, “Anytime is Pokémon time.” Su started playing the new HeartGold version two weeks ago when he realized that “[Pokémon] was actually really fun.”

Some students have expressed negative sentiments. Current players lament the difference in playing Pokémon in high school. Students do not have as much leisure time as they did when older Pokemon games were out and now must prioritize school work over entertainment.

“Whenever a new game comes out, I take three weeks to beat it. I could take [one] week to beat it and do no homework, or three weeks to beat it and do most of my homework,” said junior Jake Light.

“If you count not sleeping and [forgetting] to do my homework, then [Pokémon has affected my education] negatively,” Barabasi said.

Other players agree the game consumes a lot of their time. “[Pokémon] is entertaining, but … once you accomplish what you want to accomplish, you’re kind of like, ‘Wow, that was a waste of twelve hours; I could’ve done something a lot more useful.’” Levy said Pokémon is “great, but kind of a life consumer.”

Despite the consequences, players are still loyal to their favorite Pokémon games and characters. “My favorite version is FireRed because it went back to the original game, but [they] beefed it up and it has better graphics,” Levy said.

Not only have the games changed, but so have the players. Because students are now older and wiser, their understanding of the game is much more complex. “There is an adult way to play [Pokémon], with calculus and statistics,” Barabasi said, “But I don’t play that [way].”

Many attributes of the game went unnoticed when the players were younger. “You [now] know the mechanics [of the games] … and [the] equations involved in using Pokémon,” Su said. “You have to take in account different aspects [of the Pokémon] … and take advantage of [their] abilities.”

With Pokemon’s popular comeback, students at South seem thrilled to just be kids again.

[Pokémon] makes [me] feel young again,” Su said. “Pokémon isn’t just a game; it’s a way of life.”