Funny thing is, I just encountered the matter at hand this morning. Right before an assembly, one of my classmates went on with another classmate and made fun of one of my friends simply for playing Pokemon Yellow! It just irritates me...
Pokemon has an interesting history... it's one of two franchises (the other is Power Rangers, which is still awesome as evidenced by RPM) that has gone from being immensely loved to being subjected to seemingly daily ridicule over a span of a few years. Such a switch in perception still manages to confound me.
While I'm kind of 'self-conscious' at school, at times I let my Pokemon/Digimon/Naruto pride become unleashed! For instance, recently for my Honors Economics class I made a Powerpoint commercial advertising a multifunction device (think Blackberry style handheld, but with a bit more computer abilities). I used:
1. The Pokemon Main Theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee (I played it during an "Are you tired of ______?"-type commercial moment). Even though it was an instrumental, one of my classmates immediately said it was from Pokemon.
2. SSB Brawl's remix of above theme (I played it during a "introducing the newest innovation of modern technology"-type commercial moment)
3. Instrumental sections of Pokemon Dance Mix (played during credits)
4. Sprites of Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Arcanine, Houndoom, and Absol (they accented a text warning where I wrote that I'd release 'the hounds' if anyone did anything 'illegal' with the 'commercial' ;) )
5. Pokemon DPPt Battle Screen (shown as a 'theoretical' game that could be bundled with product)
-----
Aagh, showing the Powerpoint on here would be much easier... Anyway, the point is I'm not afraid to incorporate my interests in school projects like that. Hopefully, it gets Pokemon/Nintendo/Game Freak some more fans! Some people are missing out on some awesome stuff (i.e., cool Pokemon League battle music, vicious-looking Pokemon, engaging battles...). Too bad for them, I guess...
Sometimes I wish that the menace that is Giratina would just swoop down and attack weak points to inflict massive damage on people who feel the need to rudely bash on other people's interests. And seriously, how is Giratina childish?! (not to mention its intriguing backstory...)
On another note, Disney tends to be perceived as 'childish' as well, and no one makes fun of their fans...! (from my experience, anyway)
To sum up, Pokemon is serious business and hardcore. Stay strong, Trainers! Pokemon 4Ever!