When I was a child, my big brother had an aquarium. It was my first TV.

Eventually I discovered that there are other pets in the neighborhood which are a little bit more interactive.
Starring at yours is kinda lame gameplay wise - especially in comparison:
These fish would never play with me; they would never know the names I gave them and most importantly they would never love me back.

So, I locked them out of my heart and replaced them with my nintendogs.

It seems like people share my disappointment in fish.
Instead of keeping them as pets, everyone’s favorite minigame appears to be yanking them out of the water and keeping their lifeless bodies as trophies in the inventory or selling them for a few bucks: Fishing.




I remember catching my first magikarp, on my Nintendo Ds in the leaf green edition and giving it a chance even though it is neither cute nor fluffy.




For everyone who never had one, it’s a little orange fish with a facial expression that shows unmatched levels of stupidity.
It has one attack: splash, which deals 0 damage.

It is the most unappealing, most useless pokemon there is. Just like fish in real life.



But somehow I find magikarp to be weirdly relatable.

There is something to this total refusal of participation.
A fruitless personal rebellion, a cry of protest in the void.

In a world where we have little to no say in, that forces us to tetris ourself into it somehow, where we have to make our living while we witness how it somehow gets worse and worse, maybe we find a way to… not participate?




In pokemon, magikarp’s story is a heartbreaking one:

If you spend your time leveling it up, it evolves into a super strong sea dragon.

The useless fish out of water that so bravely refused to fight in the ring (be it because of his lack of skill), becomes one of the greatest assets for the person who took him out of the sea in the first place.

Through hard work he found success on land, aiding a cause that is not its own.
I don’t see redemption; I see a lost fight.

I wish someone would throw it back into the water so it can be a useless stupid ugly fish again.



I hope we all find a way out of our pokeballs and throw ourselves into the ocean.
I need a vacation, preferably at a coast.




Thank you for reading.