As a child, I thought video games were only had the goal of getting the highest score, as the only video games my

friends showed me and that I saw my other peers play at the time were competitive and only elicited loud cheers or angry exclamations. How could anyone genuinely enjoy something like this? Nevertheless, I saw a commercial for Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl and my friends decided to get the new Nintendo DS Lite system along with said games, I did not want to be left out. When the day arrived for me to get a DS Lite and a Pokémon game, I opted to get Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team instead of the sold-out Pokémon Diamond. Little did I know that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team would overturn my narrow view of games and change me.

​

I started up my DS and launched Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, not expecting the journey that lay

ahead. The game opened with a personality quiz to determine which Pokémon I would be playing as and asked me to be honest with my answers. The questions asked about what I would do in certain scenarios and figuring that I would not be judged in this setting, I decided to pick my honest responses: the quiet, strategic, diligent, and cautious answers. Prior to this moment, any video game protagonists I had seen before that were typically brave, rebellious, and daring, nothing like me. It was quite a contrast to see that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, a video game, was inviting me to be my true self and play without putting on a facade of false bravado and strength. After answering the personality quiz, I woke up to the gentle prodding of a concerned Pikachu and discovered that I had transformed into a small green sauropod-like Pokémon with a leaf on its head called a Chikorita, with no memory of my former human life.

​

Pikachu and I form a rescue together and help other Pokémon in need. As we helped each Pokémon, I came to

inspire them as well. I thought back on these feelings whenever I worked as an instructor at iD Tech Camp or as a student assistant for Fundamentals of Procedural Media. I felt proud of my students when I saw them light up as they finally grasped a concept they had struggled with.

​

In the midst of assisting Pokémon, however, natural disasters became a more common occurrence and everyone

felt anxious about the imminent destruction that seemed to loom ahead and desperately sought a solution. When a legend about a human who was cursed to turn into a Pokémon resurfaced, the Pokémon I had befriended turned this human into a scapegoat. A Pokémon named Gengar, who had bullied me and Pikachu previously, overheard that I was formerly a human and successfully convinced everyone in town that I had to be killed in order to stop the natural disasters. As our former friends began to attack us, Pikachu and I ran back to the safety of our base to decide what to do.

 

I had to run. With everyone set on hunting me down, I had to survive. I was scared for I could not stand up for

myself without my memories of my human life. I ask Pikachu to disband our rescue team, but he refused. When Pikachu affirmed that he believed in me, I wanted to hug him in relief. The whole town had turned against me after only hearing Gengar’s words about how I had supposedly abandoned Gardevoir and was the cause of the world’s natural disasters and yet, Pikachu wanted to stay. He was willing to run away with me until I could find out the truth about the legend. Is this what a friend is? Someone who still loves you, regardless of any flaws you have or anything other people say about you? I wanted to cry. My real-life “friends” and I fought too often and they were often willing to drop me for periods at a time. Pikachu was probably the first true friend I had, even if he only existed within the game world. For the first time, I felt certain that I was not alone.

​

Pikachu and I braved harsh landscapes as we fled and searched for the truth behind the legend of the cursed

human. Once we found Ninetales, who had placed the curse on the human in the original legend, he told us that I was not the human from the legend and cleared my name for those who were chasing me. Pikachu and I were elated and we were allowed to return home, where our friends were waiting to welcome us back.

​

Unfortunately, this collective relief was short-lived as a meteor was on course to hit and destroy the Pokémon

world. I had a sad hunch that this would be my last mission with Pikachu, but I readied myself for the confrontation with the sky god Pokémon Rayquaza, whose power would help us destroy the meteor. After some strife, Rayquaza destroyed the meteor before it could do any major damage and Pikachu and I were sent flying back to the ground, where all of our friends were waiting for us again, to thank us and celebrate with us. As the cheers rang loudly in the canyon, a sinking feeling came to my heart as I saw tiny orbs of light begin to form around me.  My time as a Pokémon was coming to an end and as a reward for saving so many Pokémon and their world and discovering the truth about myself, I was allowed to return to being a human.

​

Pikachu and the others suddenly noticed the orbs of light around me that were glowing brighter each second.

Pikachu begged me not to leave as I reluctantly said goodbye and thanked him for being my best friend and a great teammate. As I floated away bathed in orbs of light, I felt heartbroken, for that may have been the last time I could be with Pikachu and all my other Pokémon friends... and I didn’t want to say goodbye yet. While I drifted in the sky on the way to the human world, an unknown voice empathized with my sadness and reassured me that if I wished very hard, I could meet Pikachu again one day.

​

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team showed me that games can tell rich stories that make me feel joy and

sorrow. Pikachu and the other Pokémon I met taught me that games can create unique and compassionate characters who can become my friends. Each rescue mission taught me that games can impart the joy of helping others. 

​

As time has passed since I’ve played Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, I’ve taken the lessons that I’ve

learned with me. I gradually became a more supportive and loving friend who looked out for those I cared about and sought out friendships with people who were willing to be there for me, even in times of difficulty. I felt the same joy from helping others every time I helped a student make a breakthrough on a concept they were struggling with during my time teaching at iD Tech Camp and USC. My dream is to work on games that people can identify with the same way I identified with PMD to help people learn about themselves just as I had.