Why Pokémon Nostalgia Still Resonates With Millennials Today

Much like many millennials, I couldn’t get enough of Pokémon in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

I collected the cards, played the Gameboy Color games (I was a Pokémon Blue and Pokémon Pinball girlie), watched the cartoon, and played Pokémon Stadiums One and Two on my Nintendo 64.

In all honesty, if I still had my old N64, I would pause writing this immediately to play a quick round of Pokémon Snap, just to relive the high of getting that perfect photo.

Let’s just say I wanted “to be the very best like no one ever was.”

Pokémon nostalgia is still going strong

Warming up my childhood heart, according to a study put out by ACE.com, New Jerseyans are still obsessed with trying to “catch ‘em all.” In fact, it’s still the world’s highest-grossing franchise.

The social gaming website looked at Pokémon-related Google searches across the U.S. over the last year and a half to determine which states were the most obsessed with the world of Pokémon.

The Garden State made the top 20, coming in at number 17 on the list.

The most searched for Pokémon for us is one of my personal favorites:

Squirtle

The adorable water-type Pokémon was always my starter character when I played Pokémon Blue on my Gameboy, so I’m glad to see I’m in good company with my fellow New Jerseyans.

One of the more obvious favorites was that of Rhode Island. They went with the basic choice of Pikachu, who also happens to be the most searched for Pokémon across the country.

Texas, however, has me scratching my head. Their number one is Slowpoke.

Hawaii prefers Snorlax, which is also shocking. I would say “whatever floats their boat” but I’m pretty sure Snorlax would just sink it.

National Pokémon Day is Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Celebrate National Pokémon Day with your favorite Pokémon game, movie, or TV show episode.

Bonus points if you still know all the words to the PokéRap

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The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Kylie Moore. Any opinions expressed are Kylie's own. You can follow Kylie on Instagram.

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