Back When the Kid with the Link Cable Was a Hero

When I think of what I wanted most when I was in first grade, the first thing that comes to mind is the Link Cable.

If you're a comrade who survived the first and second generations of Pokémon, I think you'll understand, but back then, wireless communication didn't exist like it does today. It was at the level of, "Wi-Fi? What's that, is it edible?"

Therefore, to use communication features, you needed an external link cable. However, we didn't have one at my house. Even though we had two Game Boys and two copies of the Pokémon software, we didn't have the link cable to connect them. Of course, you could enjoy the games enough without the link cable, but once you knew it existed, any kid who loved Pokémon would want to try it out.

In those days, if you said, "I have a link cable at my place," you were treated like a hero on the spot. The link cable was a status symbol. It was a given that the popular kids in elementary school were either the ones who were fast runners or the ones who owned a link cable.

Even though it was called a "link" cable, it was only a few dozen centimeters long at most. To play using the communication features, you actually had to visit your friend's house. Unlike today, there was no remote play, video calls, or setting up internal cameras and headsets; it was an extension of "meeting up to play."

Thinking about it that way, modern technology is amazing. Even when exposed to the threat of an unknown virus, we can work remotely (depending on the job). Even when playing with friends, there's no need to go through the trouble of calling their house, having a parent answer, nervously asking, "Is [Name] there?" to get them on the line, making plans to play, and then pedaling your bike like crazy to get to their house. You can contact them directly with just a smartphone and play games while talking to them.

However, and this might sound like something an old person would say, those days were fun in their own way.

I went to school as a matter of course, studied, and ate school lunch. I came home, played with friends, sometimes got into fights, and returned home before it got dark. At night, dinner would automatically appear, I'd take a bath, play games, get scolded by my parents for playing too much, and get into bed. And then, I'd spend the next day the same way.

Even though it wasn't as convenient as it is now, or rather, precisely because it wasn't convenient, communication was vibrant.

Game strategy information that you can find instantly on the internet today was something we obtained through strategy guides or word of mouth. And Pokémon that you could only get through trade were received not from some total stranger, but from friends right in front of you whom you knew well.

Not having the internet was the standard, and there was certainly a sense of fulfillment that came precisely because of those minor inconveniences.

I'm not denying the convenience of today. On the contrary, I'm happy that things have become more convenient.

But sometimes, I feel like crying because I miss those days—when we seemed to live without freedom, yet were living freely—so incredibly much, and they shine so brightly in my memory.