Science American’s “Science Quickly” had a recent episode about the upcoming Pokemon display at the Field Museum. Arjan Mann, Field Museum Curator of Early Tetrapods, was one of the guests.

The fans who went from collecting Pokémon to studying bugs and fossils

As Pokémon turns 30, we take a look at how the beloved Japanese kids’ franchise was inspired by—and has shaped—real-world science

Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman.

The year is 1998. Brandy and Monica’s hit song “The Boy Is Mine” is all over the radio. The movie There’s Something about Mary is doing solid numbers at the box office. And right around Labor Day the first episode of a Japanese animated television series centered on a 10-year-old boy named Ash Ketchum and his quest to become a master of taxonomy debuts in the U.S. Wait, is that not how you remember the plot of Pokémon?

Pierre-Louis: It’s easy to think of Pokémon—the TV series, video games and trading cards—as just child’s play. But for some young people, the franchise can be a gateway into scientific understanding.

We sat down with two scientists who were Pokémon fans as children: Arjan Mann, the assistant curator of fossil fishes and early tetrapods at Chicago’s Field Museum, and Spencer Monckton, an entomologist at the University of Guelph’s Center for Biodiversity Genomics in Canada. They both credit their scientific careers in part with their past Pokémon fascination.

As adults Spencer named an insect after a Pokémon character, and Arjan has co-curated an upcoming Pokémon-themed exhibition at the Field Museum.

We spoke to them about the relationship between Pokémon and science and how it goes both ways: Pokémon influences science and science influences Pokémon.