This year in the Japanese city of Yokohama the streets were paved with gold – in the form of giant Pokémon cards. From rare holographics on glass palisades to a Pikachu card the size of a small garden to tiled floors covered with common creatures, the city's interconnected malls paid tribute to the Pokémon trading card game, while the world's best players went head to head at the Pacifico convention centre at the annual world championships. Nine billion of these cards have been produced to date, 21% of those since 2021, sold in 76 countries and 13 different languages. They were so popular in 00s playgrounds that they were often banned from schools – a phenomenon that's repeating itself now, after the cards enjoyed a pandemic boost courtesy of bored kids and nostalgic millennials. YouTuber Logan Paul made headlines when he spent $5 million on a single card in July 2021.

As a kid growing up outside of Seattle, Douglas Haines rarely played with Pokémon cards. He remembers his pastor brought a small barbecue to Sunday school for kids to burn their trading cards. The way the church saw it: "Pokémon evolved, and evolution was bad," Haines said. The collectible cards fit into the same banned bucket as Harry Potter and Dungeons & Dragons. As a replacement for the Pokémon cards, the church offered biblical trading cards depicting scenes like Daniel in the lion's den, Haines said.

Children today have grown up with the Internet being an integral part of their lives. Babies use tablets to swipe through games and interactive programs. Toddlers can navigate apps on a smartphone. By the time children hit middle school, technology is a natural part of their everyday life, both in school and at home. And of course, their grasp on technological concepts comes, in some cases, faster for them than for their parents. How do you explain a concept like contextual search to a 12-year-old girl or boy?