Recent evolutions in societal norms have created a much more inclusive atmosphere in America. The fight for equality has had major victories in the past few years, the most notable being the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Ten years ago, LGBT+ couples had to hide their feelings, but now they have the freedom to marry the people who they truly love. Politically correct culture has also helped foster a world in which we choose our words carefully to ensure that everybody feels included and nobody is offended by things that we say.

While we are currently on the right path to acceptance, the video game industry constantly exposes our youth to influences that challenge our progressive culture. Pokemon is the second most popular video game franchise in the world. Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, started with a simple dream of sharing his love for exploration and all creatures that inhabit our magnificent world with children everywhere.

Today, the game has secured itself a permanent spot in the hearts of children and adults alike. Even people who have never played Pokemon could list off at least one of the game's iconic critters.

The main concept of the game is simple: players catch and train pokemon, battling with them along their journey. Ultimately, all players aspire to become the pokemon champion. Everyone wants to be the very best like no one ever was.

Since the first Pokemon game was released in 1996, 719 moves have been added to game. While 718 of these moves have proven themselves to be timeless, Technical Move 45, more commonly known as Attract, must be altered in order to avoid corrupting the minds of youth across America. The move Attract reads as such:

“If the target is the opposite gender of the Pokémon who launched the move, the target becomes infatuated. If the move is used on a Pokémon that is the same gender as the user, it will fail. It will also fail if used by or on a genderless Pokémon.”

Pokemon has immortalized itself as a staple children’s game, however, this move reinforces the archaic understanding of love being exclusively between a man and woman. This move blatantly disrespects the LGBT+ community.

If Pokemon established its moves as permanent, this would not be an issue, yet every game after the original’s release has altered moves for a variety of reasons. The damage, accuracy, type and additional effects of hundreds of moves have been modified over the years, but not once has Pokemon stopped to consider changing Attract in the name of social justice.

While Pokemon has zero legal responsibility to make their game more inclusive, they have such a large fan base that they must consider the repercussions of their actions. It is imperative that Attract be changed.