Rebecca Davis has the last word on Pokémon GoIn an attempt to understand the world's newfound Pokémon Go obsession, I have been watching the early episodes of the Pokémon TV series, which launched in Japan in 1997. It's been claimed that one of the factors fuelling the current Pokémon Go epidemic is nostalgia for the old TV show. I am immune to this yearning, since I never caught it the first time round. The closest I got to engaging with Japanese pop culture at the time was buying a tamagotchi, which I eventually ran over with a car to silence its infernal bleeping.story_article_left1I have to report that it is not the case that you watch early Pokémon and think: "I get it. I get why this fictional universe has captured hearts and minds to the extent that half of America no longer cares if Donald Trump wins the elections." It has a catchy theme tune, sure. But the quality of animation is absurdly bad: main character Ash lives in a watercolour painting landscape, for instance.Ash is an average kid. He's just turned 10, which means he can get a licence to train pokémon. They come in all shapes, the pokémon animals, and they fight each other on the behest of their human trainers.I wouldn't say the show has inspiringly progressive values: the aim is to enslave as many pokémon beasts as possible. "Enjoy your last moments of freedom," Ash cries, descending on one, "because you're mine!" Great conservation message for the kids there.Ash has a nemesis called Gary. Gary has a "grandfather in the pokémon business", which makes it sound like he might know Joshua Doore. Because the likes of Gary have already chosen all the cool pokémons (or is the plural pokémen?), Ash ends up with an "electric mouse" called Pikachu. Pikachu is either aggressively cute or unbearably irritating, depending on your perspective. The only word he can say is his own name, a bit like Hodor from Game of Thrones.Together, the two journey through the pokémon world to fulfil Ash's dreams of empire. "This is just the beginning of the amazing adventures of Ash and Pikachu," a voiceover intoned at the end of the very first Pokémon episode. "Their journey is destined to be packed with non-stop action, millions of laughs, heart-pounding perils and endless excitement." Frankly, I feel that's over-selling it a bit. Perhaps the Pokémon Go game offers more reliable thrills...