The fight between the two most popular fandoms has been one of the longest, and probably better known, fight known all across the globe. The question of whether Pokemon or Digimon is better has always been a time-old question many have tried to dispute in the past. Having grown up with both, but having a (if you know me, an obvious) preference for Digimon might make it seem like my bias will override this article, but hear me out. I think I may have a solution that will make both fandoms happy, so let's get down to the facts.

If you're wondering which came out first, it was Pokemon; but ONLY by a small margin, aka a year. They were both released as a tamagotchi-type handheld game before they became the large franchises they're now known as today. Does this matter much? It matters to people who think that Digimon is a copy of Pokemon, or vice versa (it's not). The only similarity the two share is that they both feature monsters of some sort, whether it may be Pocket or Digital.

Where Pokemon is now more famously known for its noteworthy amount of video games, its TV show or anime falls short of being great. Ash Ketchum, the franchise's main character, has been 10 years old for literally 10 years now. Everyone knows how the story goes: he woke up one morning, decided he wanted to become a Pokemon trainer, and travels to various towns (by himself; remember, he is 10 years old) in order to collect badges, battle gym leaders, and become a ~Pokemon Master~. Now, I get how easy it is to love those loveable little creatures (I'll admit, they are cute); but they don't do much beyond fighting each other to make their masters happy. I never really liked the premise of 'collecting' or 'catching' Pokemon by throwing shiny balls at them, or fighting them with your own set of Pokemon until they're weak enough for you to catch them. I didn't like how many of the characters on the show liked to show their dominance and force their Pokemon to do their bidding for them; in that sense, I can see how parents back then thought it wasn't good for children to watch a show that was basically people taming these creatures for their own entertainment, or as their official Wiki page says, for sport. Granted, I don't have much knowledge on the subject as I do about Digimon, but I've seen enough episodes and played enough games to know the underlying difference between the two.

Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum, Digimon has had several seasons that constantly introduces new cast members while still showing old members aging and doing different things with their life (Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02). The kids in the first Digimon Adventure (the digi-destined) are a bunch of kids who get picked to save the digital world because they have overwhelming traits that are essential to saving the world. They arrive (or are dropped off) in the digital world and choose to stay and fight alongside their digimon partners to battle out the evil digimon, in order to save their beloved world. These chosen children were partnered up with a digimon partner for life, that could evolve into bigger and stronger digimon through the bonds made by them and their digidestined.

To evolve even further, each digidestined had to feel very moved during a situation, which prompted their individual crests (their overwhelming traits) to activate, and lend themselves in order to their digimon evolve even further. We learn a little something more about each character as the seasons go on that I think many kids their age could relate to, like how Matt and his little brother TK were reunited on this adventure because their parents had divorced, or like how Izzy had dedicated himself into becoming a tech genius because he had found out too early that he was adopted. There were many emotional moments to be had on this digimon adventure, and many that even I at a young age could relate to, (like how Sora's mother had forbidden her to play in a soccer game when her leg was injured, and from then on their relationship was estranged. Sora couldn't understand why she received the crest of love since she felt like she had never felt love from her mother, but soon realized that she was acting the same way when her own digimon partner Piyomon was injured and wanted to help fight against the evil digimon that was fighting their friends but she forbade her to anyway this note is really long but totally important).

Now, these two franchises are great in their own ways, but what doesn't make any sense to me is when people say that one is better or more touching or more important than the other (cough cough, Pokemon fans); especially when they haven't even given the other (Digimon) a chance. Basically, the generality in which people argued was what upset me, because the both have their low and high points.

Here's what I think: game-wise, we'll give that to Pokemon. Out of the two, it is the clear winner. With the amount of handheld games released to date and the fact that basically anyone can recognize its art style is evident of that. Pokemon creators have made something special out of their games, almost as if it is a defining moment of every 90's kid's life (truth). The games remain ever popular today, and they have rightfully earned their crown as the winner of this round.

As for the TV show or anime, Digimon has to take the cake. There is absolutely no way you can tell me that Pokemon has the better anime. Sure, Digimon games aren't as good as Pokemon's, but show-wise, it was truly an adventure you had to be on yourself. I strongly encourage everyone who reads this article to at least give the lesser-known franchise a try.

I know that many of you who clicked and read this article might not care about a silly little brawl between fans of these media giants, but when you grow up with something that continues to affect and inspire you even in college, you know that it means a lot to you, and you just can't help but want to let others know how great things were when you woke up at 8am on a Saturday just to watch Digimon, or how it got you through tough times. And to my fellow Digimon fans, or Pokemon fans, or Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, or whatever fandom you might be a part of, let's try to not fight and learn to see the good in everything, and give things a chance before we pass judgements on them, okay? I'm looking forward to the fights in the comment section that I'm sure to see when this article gets published.