My Pokémon inspired Adventure
Two years ago, I got in my car and scrolled through Spotify trying to decide on a song. I felt like listening to some Pokemon theme songs. Just one of those days, you know? Playing the songs reminded me of the adventures I had in my little GameBoy playing Pokemon FireRed and how I wished the world could be like that. I asked myself, what would one have to do to have a life like that? To have a life like Red, the main character.
Red is a young boy. Around 10 years old. He has accomplished many things. He defeated 8 gym leaders, defeated Team Rocket, and explored a whole region. He’s had an amazing life and I wanted to have one as well.
With a bit of creativity, it can be very easy and exciting to imagine a life like his if you just substitute a few things in his world with things you want. For example, instead of capturing Pokemon, you can “capture” skills, instead of eating a lava cookie, you can make cookies! In this article I will show you a list of Red’s accomplishments in a Google Doc, what I think a substitution should be for that accomplishment, and what I have done so far.
Take a look at this Google Doc. It contains a table with Red’s accomplishments and a space for you to write the things you want to do. Make a copy so you can make your own adventure, and make sure to take pictures so you can look back and be proud of what you have done. :)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hmQO6UtjqNgWzpKwAwdOH_j4WpSNa9DVWr1Dji3XQpo/edit?usp=sharing
Red’s accomplishments and substitutions
If you looked at the Google Doc, you’ll notice the extensive list of accomplishments. Things that are impressive, and things that have more of a bucket list feel. I found that if I treat even small silly things as part of my adventure I feel happier and more excited about my life. So please, allow yourself to connect with your inner child and reignite that wonder.
I’ll only go over the first 5 just to give you an idea.
Starts journey with a starter Pokémon
Defeats 8 gym leaders from Kanto Region
Defeats Giovanni and Team Rocket
Defeats Elite 4 and Champion
Becomes member of the Hall of Fame
He first starts his journey with a starter Pokemon. I think this means you have to decide on what is the first thing you want to do to begin your journey. I chose to create a programming project, you can do something as simple as read a book, take a course, make a cake, talk to a random person, or even go somewhere nearby such as a restaurant or a bookstore. Just remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect, it can even be badly executed or unfinished, but it just has to be a start.
He defeats 8 gym leaders from Kanto Region. This should be slightly more challenging for you, a list of things to really stretch you. I chose to read through Part 1 of the Mathematics for Machine learning book which contains 7 chapters and write a guide to make the chapters easier for others to understand. You don’t necessarily have to do 8 things, but in the spirit of Pokemon try to get as close as you can. You could do 8 courses in MIT Open Courseware, sew 8 different dresses, make 8 small projects, get creative here!
He defeats Giovanni and Team Rocket. I think this is a very challenging one. Giovanni and Team Rocket are an evil organization so this can go many ways. You can do a good deed, you can finish a challenging task, you can pass a class, get revenge on someone (legally), pass an interview, etc. It should feel as if you are defeating an evil boss. I decided I wanted to do something about the healthcare industry being so expensive.
He defeats the Elite 4 and the Champion. This is like an expansion on him defeating the 8 gym leaders. This should be about you stretching yourself even further. If you did a course, now you can apply that knowledge in a project. If you made 8 cakes, now you make 5 cakes that are tastier or have crazy awesome designs. Things like that. I decided to create an open source project with 5 complex features related to reinforcement learning.
He becomes a member of the hall of fame. Let’s not be distracted by the hall of fame as it being a title you need to achieve. You should accomplish things in your power, not things you can’t control such as the recognition of others. So twist this as much as you have to. Some examples could be becoming a contributor to an open source project, writing a post so others can see what you wrote, beat your previous score in a video game, or throw a party and show everyone your cakes and dresses. Make it something where you open the opportunity of being recognized by yourself or others but keep the expectation that it doesn’t matter what others think as long as you like that this is part of your adventure. I decided to write a medium article as a way to accomplish that and write about my journey.
My current accomplishments
I’ve done some silly ones which give me more energy to do the more serious ones.
Start journey with a starter Pokemon. I pretty much decided to make a programming project involving reinforcement learning. It’s an implementation of PPO for those who know. It’s training but it crashes, that’s ok though. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be a start.
Buy Magikarp for $500. For me this means do something or buy something totally useless. I spent $5 on a lottery ticket and ended up winning $50! I credit it to my little brother doing the scratch off, and to this adventure.
Watch Stand by me or The Wizard of Oz. So in the game when you go to the main character’s house and press A on the TV if you are a boy it will give reference to the movie Stand By Me, if you are a girl it will mention The Wizard of Oz. I decided to watch Stand By Me and had a lot of fun doing that.
Find the Lava Cookie. I took this one direct and decided to make oatmeal cookies. But this can be as simple as eating your favorite treat. Trust me, these little treats can make your day good very fast. I walked like a happy penguin while eating my cookies. :D
Become a member of the hall of fame. For this I decided to write this article. I’m not looking for fame but I am looking to help others regain their sense of wonder and adventure through this.
Adventures don’t have to be about achieving grand things, they just have to be about you doing things you will be proud of and that make you happy. Be sure to take lots of pictures as you accomplish these things. It will help you make an album someday! Have fun with your adventure!
