Remembering the Pokemon Super Bowl Commercial

Two years ago, the Pokemon franchise began its climb back to the forefront of popular culture.

Super Bowl LII is today, which pits the Philadelphia Eagles against the New England Patriots. The Super Bowl is typically the United States' most watched event, which means that companies go all out with commercials to impress potential customers.

Two years ago, the Pokemon Company and Nintendo launched its own Super Bowl commercial to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary. While we didn't know it at the time, that Super Bowl commercial marked the start of what was arguably Pokemon's biggest year since 1996.

The commercial started with a young boy inspired to "train for greatness" after watching a Pokemon battle in the middle of a busy street. The boy's actions started a chain reaction of inspiring several other young men and women - leading to a young man walking into a packed stadium to participate in a highly televised Pokemon battle.

Fans loved the commercial's many subtle Pokemon references, ranging from a Nidoking chess piece to a brief news alert about a roadblock on Route 12 (a reference to Snorlax's first appearance in Pokemon Red and Blue) to a football team sporting helmets with the Volcano Badge logo.

The crazy thing is that the Super Bowl commercial didn't even advertise a specific product. It was all about telling players to "Train On," even though the Pokemon franchise was launching its year long Mythical celebration and started a new product line to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary.

That Super Bowl commercial proved to be a harbinger for one of the biggest years in Pokemon history. A few weeks later, Nintendo and Game Freak announced Pokemon Sun and Moon, which brought major changes to the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon Sun and Moon simplified some aspects of the Pokemon franchise while introducing brand new gameplay features and the powerful new Z-Move mechanic. That summer, Niantic Labs released Pokemon Go, which captured the attention of millions for months.

The Pokemon Company isn't expected to release a Super Bowl commercial this year, but we could see some other gaming companies try their hand at using the biggest televised event of the year to get some eyes on their product. In the meantime, check out the Pokemon Super Bowl commercial above to remember one of the biggest moments in Pokemon history.