When Pokemon Go was released, I reminisced about my time with Pokemon. My journey to become a Pokemon Master began about 13 years ago. I was an impressionable child with a large imagination and Pokemon rocked my world. I felt like I was a part of something. I had goals. I wanted to defeat the Elite Four. These seemingly silly things have taught me some great lessons.

First, you must start from the bottom to get to the top. There is something very humbling about getting a level five starter Pokemon with hopes and dreams of defeating the Elite Four. I started with Pokemon Ruby, so Torchic was my main (Poke)man. This baby Pokemon also had dreams of getting stronger. I began fighting the common, annoying Pokemon in order to get to the cool ones. I would be thrilled to never seen another Zigzagoon again. Going in, you know the road to the Elite Four is a long one; eight badges aren't easy to come by. Defeating the first Gym Leader always gave me a rush that I was just getting started. I was in for the long haul from the start.

Second, there will always be people who will challenge you along your path. That may sound silly, but it was very important for me to learn that people aren't out to get you; they are trying to get ahead for themselves. In Pokemon, you overcome your rival many times with the hopes that you will surpass them in skill. Comparisons aren't good, but they can serve as mile markers along the way.

Lastly, there are many ways to achieve the same goal. I never knew what Pokemon was best to start out with or which ones were needed along the way. The more I played, the more I realized that all Pokemon had potential, even the small ones. Smaller Pokemon evolve into bigger ones that are stronger. Every time you come across a Pokemon, you must weigh the potential of each Pokemon.

Pokemon Go is a new version of our beloved Pokemon. I hope the people who didn't grow up with the same experience with Pokemon that I did can learn now how helpful it can be. You gotta catch them all.