After Kalinara started the Guilty Pleasure Meme, I had a hard time coming up with something I love that I’m also ashamed of. Within the context of a comic blog, my above-average infatuation with Tim Drake and Man-Thing seems normal. But then, earlier this week, a guilty pleasure from the past was reawakened and beat me into humble, nerdy submission.

I like Pokemon.

Let me clarify. I have no affinity for the characters and I couldn’t identify more than a dozen Pokemon by name. The show bored me to tears when it’s not forcing to grind my teeth down as it piles one anime cliché on top of another.

What I like is the video games.

There is something about the video games, specifically the catch-‘em-all RPGs, that feeds my need for a ridiculously complicated strategy game. Think of each Pokemon as a separate “character class.” If Square were to release a Final Fantasy game with 150 character classes, RPG fans would go insane. I don’t blame most adult gamers for holding a prejudice against Pokemon games, I mean those cutesy animals can be pretty annoying, but the fact remains that the games have solid gameplay and an incredibly amount of content.

But justify it all I like, I still can’t help but boot up my GameBoy with a tinge of shame. For I am an adult Pokemon trainer.