How a decades-old video game helped me defeat the doomscroll

Cutting back on doomscrolling is one of the hardest resolutions to keep. Instinctively tapping the usual apps becomes a reflex, so I tried replacing my phone with something fuzzier and more nostalgic: a Game Boy Advance running Pokémon FireRed, a remake of the first Pokémon games that turn 30 this month.

I hadn’t played Pokémon regularly since 2006’s Pokémon Diamond on the Nintendo DS and had only dabbled with Black and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Convinced that one Pokémon game was much like another, I was surprised to find a twenty-year gap made the experience feel fresh again.

Visiting Kanto and catching the original 151 Pokémon felt exciting, though I drew the line at playing the monochrome original Red or Blue on a chunky Game Boy. FireRed’s effects arrived quickly. After a couple of hours of exploration and wild encounters, my phone sat beside me and stopped calling to me like Gollum’s ring.

doomscrolling, game boy, pokémon firered, pokémon, kanto, nostalgia, phone distraction, pokémon diamond, wild encounters, catching pokémon