Can Pokemon's Popularity be divided into eras?

[El Squibbonator]

It seems to me that we can divide Pokemon's mainstream popularity, at least outside of Japan, into eras.

Early on, in Generations 1 and 2, was the first wave of popularity. The franchise was everywhere-- toys, clothing, breakfast cereal, you name it. The first movie broke box-office records. If you were a kid back then, you'll doubtlessly remember it. To a lot of people, this was THE Pokemon craze.

Generations 3 and 4 were something of a lull. The fad had ended, and Pokemon wasn't as mainstream as it had been a few years earlier. Cartoon Network stopped putting the anime in good time-slots, the merchandise was heavily scaled back, and in general you didn't see kids talking about it as much.

Generations 5, 6, and 7 were the revival. Thanks to many people who had been kids when the franchise first came out now being nostalgic adults, Pokemon became cool again, and more mainstream than it had been in the 2000s. Pokemon Go came out during this time, and made the franchise even more popular, and so did the Detective Pikachu movie. However, this success made the company complacent and willing to cut corners, which led to. . .

Generations 8 and 9, which have, so far, been another lull. Criticisms over controversial decisions such as "Dexit", poor graphics, and awkward controls, have caused many people who were fans in the 2010s to sour on the franchise.

If the pattern holds, we're due for another revival come Generation 10.

Thoughts?

 

[ripplefieldz]

honestly i'd lump gen 5 in with 3 and 4. gen 6 is... well i think pokemon go came out DURING gen 6 but it was around the end, so i guess it can go in there too. so for me it's

• gen 1-2 ("classic" era)
• gen 3-6 (the middle one, i guess)
• gen 7-present (post-pokemon go era)

 

[Nicolas721]

I think it could be:

• Golden Era aka Pokemania (1997-2001): The new franchise in the block and every kid loved it.
• Niche era (2002-2009): Many people went away due to in part the anime becoming more repetitive and new products not being as attractive as those who came before, but it kept a niche fandom.
• Internet Rebirth (2010-2015): The internet as well as nostalgia (as you said) allowed the fandom to expand and show it was still alive.
• Go era (2016-2020): Go created tons of new fans and those who stayed welcomed them from the most part, the franchise now became both for kids and adults.
• Best franchise in the world era (2021-): Popularity kept expanding to the point the "best media franchise in the world" table became well-known and it's hard to argue with it, since it's always present in people's minds to the point products that should be niche like TCG Pocket or the Malamar meme are even known by the casuals.