Pokemon Love.

I wouldn't really consider myself a romantic, but there's something that strikes a cord with this picture. While Pokemon is indeed a children's game, I believe this picture represents a certain type of love that plays towards the innocence and nostalgic aspects.

Anyone who is familiar with the Pokemon franchise knows that it's about little creatures with abilities. Those who have played it, and more specifically, those who were swept up in the craze when they were young know that it's about a lot more than that. It was about the faithful bond between a trainer and his/her Pokemon, the journey that they would take together and the challenges that they would face. If anything, that parallels love almost to the 't'. Assuming that the partners in this relationship were in that era, this would've given a stronger meaning to the message that was written.

"We've grown really close." I think this line is brilliant. In the game, you grow and level up with more and more experience points. In relationships, you grow closer together with the experiences you've gained together. I'll point out now that there's a Pokemon on that roster that's at level 98. The maximum level you can get in that game is 100, meaning that through the course of building the team, they poured hours upon hours and days upon days to even get that single Pokemon to such a standard, while the others are at equally respectable levels. As technical as it sounds, the interpretation that I grab from this is that they've grown together, bonded together and this is a merely a representation of their bond.

What does anything I had to say to do with innocence and nostalgia? Pokemon is often affiliated with children/childhood and thus plays itself into innocence. There is almost nothing more innocent than children running around pretending that they have little pets running around on worldwide journeys to become the best. Nostalgia lends its hand by basically reminding us of that innocence and of those bonds that we may or may not of had with our Pokemon as kids. It's difficult to explain the 'bond' you felt with your Pokemon as they grew and evolved, but some may say it's similar to growing closer to another person. Through thick and thing, they love and work with one another to be the best couple they can be.

Surely those familiar with the pop culture phenomenon known as "Pokemon," can easily recognize the image above to be a Pokeball. Even those who are unfamiliar are at least able to recognize this symbol, or sign, as something related to the Pokemon franchise. This website, for instance, doesn't attempt to correct me when I spell Pokemon, but for the less popular, "Digimon," the dotted red line of err appears.

The Pokeball as a symbol elicits the feeling of competition for those who have delved further into the Pokemon world than others. Many of the more important battles will actually have something similar to this before entering. Moreover, these Pokeballs are essentially the weapons that summon the befriended warriors to the field and a brawl ensues. While the picture itself isn't about competition or battle, the pathos of the image brings about a sense of pride and accomplishment. Simply seeing the picture sets up those emotions which allows the text to drive the message of the image home.

"Don't call me a 'nerd'. The proper term is 'POKEMON MASTER.' "

The first sentence isn't so much a request as it is a demand. Don't call me a nerd. It's as if an insult had been thrown and now you're on the counterattack. Note that the word 'nerd' is in all lowercase letters, while 'Pokemon Master' is in all uppercase letters, showing that the prominence of the word should be treated with respect. Also note that the largest pieces of text in that picture are the words, Pokemon Master. The rhetoric and even construction of the picture was made to make those who played the game proud of the arbitrary accomplishments such as catching all of the Pokemon and saving the world (constantly) from the clutches of Team Rocket/Magma/Aqua/Galactic/Plasma and all of those other ne'er-do-wells. All of this to simply show that being a Pokemon Master is higher on the totem pole than being a nerd, and are better than your generic nerd.