February 27 is Pokémon Day, celebrating the 1996 release date of the original game in Japan.  What is Pokémon, you might ask?

What, are you an old?

Like the tiny pocket monsters that inhabit its candy-colored universe, the Pokémon franchise survives by evolving.  Becoming a popular game on handhelds, a cartoon, a card game, a line of plushies, a mobile app, a top five video game motion picture adaptation, etc.  If you see a cluster of people in front of you these days on their phones, either they’re on a raid in Pokémon Go or they’re planning to mug you. I give you even odds. Watch the streets this year for devotees trying to catch shiny Pidgey and Rattatas and Eevees wearing flower crowns.

2019 is probably going to see one of the most bizarre mutations of the Pokémon franchise. Ryan Reynolds voices Pokémon mascot Pikachu in the Detective Pikachu movie. It’s set in a TekWar-inspired world where man and off-putting Pokémon creatures like a realistically textured Mr. Mime exist side by side. The most recent trailer featured Mewtwo, and everybody lost their damn minds.

So fire up your phone and Pokemon Go have some fun because today is Pokemon Day!