I collected sooo many of them stupid things when I was a kid. I still have them too. I was cleaning out my closet last week and came upon a plastic box which were filled with 'em. My friends and I used to 'battle' with those things for hours.
As far as Pokemon goes, I personally think the entire trading card game is ridiculous, but I'll admit that I did enjoy the Game Boy game my younger cousin had. He used to be sooo into that stuff and the only time I could ever stand it was playing that because it was like a regular RPG game. Just with cutsier characters.
And, no I don't think a live action movie is a good idea. Infact I hate the idea.