Still catching ‘em all: why the Pokémon World Championships are bigger than ever

Pokémon – the highest grossing media franchise of all time – is hitting new peaks of popularity, with thousands of fans thronging to the World Championships in LondonI was 13 when Pokémon cards exploded on to the UK scene in 1999. I tried to be too cool and mature for the instantly popular collectables, born from the blockbusting video game. I hid my starter pack from friends and played with my younger sister and cousins. I was just humouring my relatives – that w