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Pokemon make the occult cute

Robbie Willing's eyes focus on the Game Boy's small screen. With skillful planning gleaned from months of practice, Robbie, a sixth grader in New Vision Fellowship Church's youth group, selects his charge, a small yellow Pokemon named "Pikachu," and the battle begins.

Pushing the control buttons seemingly at random, Robbie fights with his opponent, oblivious to the world around him. His friends sit as close as they can, straining their necks to glimpse the battle.

Robbie never looks up from the electronic toy in his hands. When friends ask him a question, he says three words maximum. He brushes off the advice of friends who try to help. The battle rages. Every success or setback is evident on Robbie's face. Sweat beads on his forehead as the battle goes on.

Finally, with one last move, Robbie drains the remaining health of his opponent and it faints. While the loser heads off to the Pokemon training center to recuperate, Robbie looks up from his game, triumphantly glowing.

His friends slap him on the back as he gloats in his victory. Robbie leans back on the bench to rest his red eyes and watch the people file out of the church doors after the Sunday service.

Robbie only takes a moment to reflect, though, because he's still "gotta catch 'em all."

Pokemon, shortened from Pocket Monsters, are the cute little monsters from Japan that have invaded America. Thanks to Nintendo, Hasbro and the Time Warner Co., Pokemon is bombarding American homes. Through trading cards, a cartoon show, stuffed animals, video games and a motion picture, Pokemon has infiltrated the lives of this country's youth.

The goal of the game is to accumulate as many Pokemon as possible. On each of the three different Pokemon video games, players can accumulate 151 species of Pokemon including rock, fire, grass, cave, water, lightning, ghost and psychic Pokemon.

In the video game, players travel throughout the land and capture Pokemon. Players train their Pokemon by having them fight other Pokemon. Players can connect two Nintendo Game Boys with a cable link and trade Pokemon or battle in an arena.

Pokemon aren't limited to video games. Pokemon fans, who average 4 to 15 years old, are able to watch the cartoon, read the comic books, buy the trading cards and play the card game. School children tote their homework in their Pokemon backpacks while wearing Pokemon shirts, shoes, socks and underwear. Kids can even sleep with a stuffed Pikachu beside them.

Nathan Olson's interest in Pokemon began after a friend from school traveled to Japan and returned with stickers bearing the face of a cute little pocket monster.

Over the last year-and-a-half, Nathan, 12, a sixth grader at Bitternut Elementary school in Aloha, Ore., as received--either by purchasing them himself, receiving them as a gifts, or trading for them--four Pokemon Game Boy games, more trading cards than he can count, and a few comics as well as some action figures and stuffed animals. His collection, he estimates, is worth more than $250.

In all three Pokemon video games-- "Yellow," "Red," and "Blue"--Nathan has accumulated more than 200 Pokemon in all three games. Nathan also owns "Pokemon Pinball."

Nathan said if he had to, he could put everything away at any time. "I always have a lot of homework to do so it would be easy to quit if I had to. Besides, it [Pokemon] is pretty boring," he said. "I collect the cards just to have a collection."

Multnomah sophomore Gene Monnin began to investigate the Pokemon phenomenon after he saw fellow students playing the card game in the men's lounge. Monnin found many similarities between the "harmless" card game and another game his church took a stand on when he was in high school: Magic.

Monnin, who used to play Magic: The Gathering when he was in high school, said that Pokemon is another version of the occult game, Magic.

Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon are both distributed by the company Wizards of the Coast. Monnin said that the moves in Magic and those in Pokemon are very similar.

While Magic calls its players "mages," Pokemon calls them "trainers." Magic features ogres, demons, incantations and spells as well as angels, princes and princesses. Pokemon gives players cute monsters and energy cards that can make a Pokemon stronger or evolve.

Monnin said that Pokemon teaches children materialism--a "gotta catch 'em all" mentality. They also learn if you "carry your Pokemon with you...you're ready for anything! You've got the power in your hands, so use it," Monnin said.

Pokemon is numbing children's fears of monsters, Monnin said. "Monsters used to be something that were scary. Now you carry them with you in your back pocket."

Monnin said that Pokemon, Magic and other role-playing games teach children to live in a fantasy world. In the world of Pokemon, the child tries to become the best he can be in order to be better than everyone else. They start out weak, with little experience and maybe only a few Pokemon cards and gradually gain strength, power and seniority among their friends.

"If a kid has a valuable card," Monnin said, "suddenly everyone knows him, everyone likes him. He's popular."

With sudden popularity comes the pressure to maintain that popularity. Children get into fights at school over Pokemon cards, and theft and cheating are rampant among elementary schools. Many schools have banned students from bringing Pokemon cards to school. In New York City, a 9-year-old boy stabbed a classmate in a dispute over Pokemon cards, reported Time magazine on Nov. 22.

Pokemon not only promotes poor morals but are also closely tied to the occult as well as Japanese mysticism, according to Pastor Brett Peterson from Coastland Community Church in San Clemente, Calif.

Peterson, who wrote an article on Pokemon for an on-line Christian news organization, writes that Pokemon are not cute bug-like creatures like their creator said, but manifestations of Shinto gods. Pikachu, the furry, cuddly monster with a permanent smile, is also a thunder god.

Jiggilypuff, a pink puff ball with big green eyes, sings her victims into a trance, a common teaching in the Shinto religion. Kadabra, another Pokemon, wears a pentagram on his fore-head, three S's on his chest and makes a sign of Satan with his hand.

Berit Kjos has published three articles on Pokemon as well as five books on spiritual warfare. He said in an interview the end result of Pokemon will be "an onslaught of more of the same--but darker and more obviously occult. Christians will probably either compromise or become more silent. The grow-ing hostility toward Christian beliefs and values has a way of silencing people."

Kjos said that even mothers get into fights over their children's Pokemon cards. He said that many fans spend all the money they have, and many resort to stealing to get more cards and games.

"Schools have taught children not to listen to their parents, and parents are told not to quench their children's imaginations. So the only comfortable way for most parents is simply to rationalize, excuse and ignore the problem," Kjos said.

Kjos tells parents and youth workers to avoid forcing children to give up Pokemon. Instead, let the child do it himself, he said. "Always start with prayer. Share key scriptures such as Deuteronomy 18:9-12 and Ephesians 5. Let them see your devotion to God through your perseverance and peace in the midst of difficult circumstances."