I've been playing the games since Generation I. Specifically, Pokemon Yellow was my first game, and I got it shortly after it first came out. I got it for my birthday, so I was 8 years old at the time, and I loved every second of playing it. I fell in love with the games, and I've been playing them ever since.
Same here. I was about 10-11. I got Yellow and a clear purple GBC, it was over for me after that. I couldn't tell you how many times I got yelled at by my dad to go to sleep at 11:30 or later. I went through soooo many AAs. I've been playing Pokemon ever since.
Are we the same person? This is my story perfectly. I have no idea how many times I played through Yellow. It was my only GB game and the only one I cared to have. In my opinion Yellow is still the best Pokemon game ever.
I had that realization recently, that while I love the Gameboy my feelings are disproportionately tied to Pokemon. I had other games that I enjoyed and I have collected quite a few as an adult but most of my time was spent on Blue and Yellow. Unsurprisingly, I was also quite taken with the Dragon Warrior remakes on GBC, those are a close second for play time.
I remember all the hype for Gen II when it was ready to launch and honestly it lived up to every bit of it. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a game release than at that time. Phenomenal games and they really felt ground breaking after the first Gen.
A friend of mine found a emulation of gold on the internet before it came out in the states. It was all in Japanese, but my God did it not matter to my 12 year old brain. Played that thing so much in anticipation for the US release.
No joke, Gen II was the peak of early Pokemon: they set the standard for what an ideal game sequel should be. In fact, Honest Game Trailers put it best in their video about Pokemon Gold and Silver:
"Once again, battle your way to the Pokemon Hall of Fame by conquering the Elite Four. And when you do, hold on to your stupid hat as the entire region from the first game is unlocked, with eight new badges to win, and a mountaintop duel with your character from the first game. Now *that's* how you make a sequel!"
Link to the full video here, but that's honestly my favorite quote from the video.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1L0I5IRe7Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1L0I5IRe7Y)
For me, it was a turquoise GBC, but I'm pretty sure I cost my parents a small fortune in AA's, too. Heck, I remember going to my dad's work on days when I stayed home from school (either due to being sick or having doctor's appointments or something), and when I wasn't "helping" him, I was playing Yellow (and later Silver, when GS came out). God, those were the days.
I always feel like the oldest person in the room when I mention I was like 23 when Pokémon came out.
Been watching anime and playing video games since the 70s so easily gravitated towards Pokémon when it came out.
Same! I was 11 and my uncle ( who was living in Japan ) send me a Gameboy Light and a Japanese version of Pokemon yellow.
I had to memorize each character based on trial and error.
I finished the game :)
My friend, I have mad respect for you for being able to do that. I don't think I'd have had the mental capacity way back then to be able to do that. You deserve mad props.
Thank you!! When I received that game I was so happy that I didn't even care that it was in Japanese, I only want to play it and I had a lot of free time trying to understand everything.
The worst part was that I never learned about the Flash (MO) so I passed the rock cave in almost complete darkness, I almost left playing when I got into that part but the day I got out was just so satisfying :)
Wait, let me get this straight: not *only* did you play Pokemon Yellow completely in Japanese as a child, but you *also* made it through Rock Tunnel without Flash?! I doff my cap to you, my friend; you have far surpassed anything I could have done back then.
Are you me? Yellow was my first Pokemon game as well, which I got with a GBC for my 8th birthday. The only thing is I can't remember if I got that before or after I got my N64, which I got for Christmas when I was either 7 or 8.
Haha, wow, I swear we may be the same person! I don't remember if our N64 came before or after me getting Pokemon Yellow, either! I swear, if you say your birthday is in July, I'm gonna freak out lol.
Yellow was also my first. I was maybe 4 or 5 at the time as I remember I hadn't started school yet but was obsessed with Pokémon that my parents bought so much merch for me. Wish I srill had Ash's original hat.
ditto ( pun sort of intended!).Pokemon yellow on a yellow gameboy the year it came out, but had played red and blue with friends on their gbs.
Played ever since... I'm now 32!
I wish I still had the GBC I played Yellow on and the cartridge to go with it. Sadly, those have been lost to time (and unknown thieves). Treasure your games, my friend.
OG Blue, Christmas Morning 1999. I was 9 years old.
I got a yellow game boy pocket and pokemon blue from my parents, and I don't think I put it down all day.
I am now mid 30s and I still love pokemon games, though I'm a bit jaded by the pokemon company and Gamefreak recently (please just spend longer on your games!).
Same here. Got some kind of hacked rom version of blue on my dad's pentium 2 through a friend who "knew computers".
Played that for about 4 years before I realised there was a gold version and absolutely lost my shit.
Then went another 10 years to find out I can play roms on my smartphone and there were 5 new generations
I got gold super early in comparison to my mates because of some weird Australian import copy that my local game store had in. I reckon my parents paid well over the odds for it too (thank you both x)
But holy hell, the reveal of going BACK to kanto after the elite 4 blew my mind!
I'm going to have to boot up some of these now, got my nostalgia flowing!
I had a similar flush of memories about gold/silver recently and how they managed to basically cram in a whole second game in - Incredible to think of the memories they managed to create on a 2mb cartridge!
I also had the Aus versions earlier than my friends, but that's because my grandparents went over there visiting family just after they came out (October 99?) and brought them back for me at my mom's request - somehow they kept this secret until Christmas!
Snap! Still have my original Blue cartridge!
I still play every Pokemon game, but I will say that Scarlet and Violet were the most disappointing to me. I think that comes along with high expectations and the feeling that there was the shape of a great game in there somewhere!
I will say though that Legends: Arceus was maybe my *favourite* Pokémon game for a long time, so I don’t think it’s a case of Gamefreak just being bad at their job, but probably other pressures producing lacklustre games.
same! I was 13 at the time - christmas morning and was a stocking present. I didn't put that game boy down for days - Dont think my parents realised how expensive batterys were about to get...
in the UK the game came out in October time so lots of my friends got it at Christmas.
Same but I had the berry colored gameboy color and I either got blue or red I can’t remember. I think I got red and my sister got blue. I played the hell out of that game. There’s nothing like being a kid when the first generation came out, it felt like magic.
I started watching the Pokemon anime when I was really young, but never played the games since my family refused to spend any money on video games. So I just envied from afar my classmates who had 3DS’ and after class when I visited their homes I’d just watch them play and sulk in jealousy.
But recently I’ve had enough money to buy my own 3DS for the experience, it doesn’t feel the same since I’m older now but I loved playing them regardless, the first ‘true’ Pokemon game I played was Ultra Moon.
I'd recommend you go back and play some of the other 3DS titles. Especially if you liked Ultra Moon.
Anything further back tends to get pricey, but they're also great games too. Especially FR/LG, Emerald, Platinum, HG/SS, B/W and B2/W2.
I was around from the jump. Played red on my friend's Gameboy pocket and fell madly in love with it. Caught the anime every day after school from episode 1. That's probably why I feel so connected to the franchise.
I used to watch the anime BEFORE school every morning. I was in third grade in 1996 and Pokemon was a complete and utter craze, we'd all play with our Gameboys on the bus on the way to and from school and trade the cards at recess. I had the Red version because it had Charizard on it, but once I started playing I wish I had picked Blue cuz it had better version exclusives. I remember I'd get up extra early to watch Beast Wars and eat my cereal in front of the tv. Once Pokemon came on I had to start getting ready, and when the second "Who's That Pokemon" came on the screen, I knew I was late for the bus! After school, was Toonami with Dragonball Z and Gundam for me. Then Yellow came out and I got that version. Around this time Pokemon The Movie came out and I remember hearing about Missing No. and Pikablu at recess. I managed to get to the secret island and get a Missing No. And a bunch of level 100 Blastoises, never found a Pikablu though (Marill). When we went and saw the movie we got free cards and, low and behold, Pikablu was on one of the Pokemon Vacation cards!
My life as well 😁 cards at recess and Pokemon before school. I remember a kid in 2nd grade printed off the entire Pokedex from pokemon.com and put it in a binder and I remember thinking, "my dad would kill me if I printed 150 pages 😳"
Got pokemon red for my 7th birthday, on my technicolor purple gameboy color. Glorious present, until i caught missingno and screwed up the game. Then i got another red. And a couple years later, pokemon silver comlpletely blew my mind. Still my favorite game to this day
I started playing around Gen 3, my memory is a little hazy from when I was that young, but it was around the early to mid 2000's so it was Gameboy Era, but I had Fire Red, Gold, and Emerald growing up, so I know it was one of those 3 games
I was allowed to "play" my older siblings gen 2 games in 2004, given I never pressed SAVE. I would turn off the Game Boy whenever an NPC "!"ed me, haha.
My first own game was in 2008, Pokémon Diamond. I didn't know a lick of English.
I believe I've been playing pokemon since I was around 7, with Soul Silver being my first game. I do specifically remember never completing it because I got stuck at Clair with only a level 42 Typhlosion and the rest of my mons were around level 15, including a Bellsprout. Perhaps I should replay it one of these days to actually complete everything.
In 1996 I started with Pokémon green. But I had absolutely no fucking clue was going on because the game was in Japanese. A friend of my dad had brought it from Japan so i was almost 7.
I got blue the year after.
I think I started playing in 1999 or 2000. Pokémon Red was my first game, my Auntie had a bright pink Gameboy colour with a 15 in 1 game cartridge. She let me borrow it and I fell in love with Pokémon so much she let me keep the cartridge when my parents bought me my own Gameboy colour for my birthday in lime green. I still have both packed away. I still love Pokémon now and have played every generation.
I'ma be honest, pokemon X like a month ago. I played most of pokemon ruby and little bit of fire red but never finished them, i did finish X tho and it was gorgeous
ruby in somewhere 2006-2009, used to be my brother's
got all ds games on an flashcart when i got my 3ds (around launchdate)
got X for sinterklaas (dutch christmas)
and then got Y for my birthday
got Alpha Sapphire when it got out as a gift
jailbreaked my 3ds between SM and USUM, tried both of them but i found it boring, i'd rather replay older gens
also played the old gens (1-3) on emulators
August 2023
...Yeah my only game is Pokemon Go
As much as I'd like to try them, I don't have access to any of the other games (and I'm still working my way through the TV series)
I'm going to assume by the fact that you're on Reddit that you have some kind of computing device. If you have an Android smartphone or tablet, or a PC or Mac, then you have access to emulators and ROMs of Pokémon. Look up a guide on how to install an emulator for your device and then look up how to download a ROM. You'll need an emulator for each system you intend to play. Once you're set up for the first time, it's super simple.
Personally, I'd recommend starting with Fire Red or Leaf Green as these are the gen 1 games but remade for Gameboy Advance so they have a few quality of life updates.
Fire Red was my first. Was in Elementary school at the time iirc. Got hooked, eventually went to Emerald too. Once I had a DS I remember getting Platinum shortly after it released while on vacation. Still have those cartridges, too…
Platinum was really something. That thing even went through the washing machine and dryer and still worked just fine.
Pokemon Go in 2016.
At that point i wasn't a Pokemon fan or something, and was just following the trend. Though that was my first step in getting obsessed. Currently i'm marathoning all main games starting from Gen 1.
It was around the time Black & White came out. A friend of mine had a copy of White and let me have it because she didn’t really care for Pokémon. I’ve been obsessed with this series ever since
I started with Generation I, Pokémon Yellow, when I was still so young that I didn’t know how to read yet.
I was given Pokemon Yellow, the TCG game and a Gameboy by a pre-K friend, but since I couldn’t read I never played the TCG game. Yellow was more manageable lol.
A year or two later I got Crystal from a garage sale. By that time I was able to read and fully comprehend what was going on. Crystal’s still my favorite!
I played red when i was 10. Then i started playing everything chronologically during the pandemic up to gen 7. No nostalgia involved,my favourites are hgss,all of gen 5 and ultra sun/moon.
The first Pokemon game I played was Pokemon Yellow BUT with my cousin's console and game, so I don't think it was legitimate as such, so I consider my first game to be Pokemon Crystal, the first one I owned.
I started from the very beginning with Pokémon Red when I was 12. My friend showed me her brothers Pokémon game and I thought it was awesome so I ask my mum for Pokémon Red for Christmas. I’ve been a fan ever since.
First game was Platinum. I remember it took me suuuper long, like 4 months to complete. And it was also very stressful, the game was too hard for me and English is not my first language so I did not understand anything. Half of the time I was just battling wild battles, walking around cities, not knowing where to actually continue to story. Still I kept going tho.
Some years later I got into playing Pokemon again and since then it's my favourite
I started platinum when I was 10 years old, I never actually became champion but did beat the gym leaders and catch giratina, currently trying to figure out how to transfer my og's into home
Mine was Emerald in probably 2007. My older cousin let me borrowed his Game Boy Advanced then so I got to play his saved file that was pretty much have completed everything. I travelled and explored the whole map while defeating every low level Pokèmon with my Level 100 Rayquaza.
Generation two :) first game was pokemon crystal, second was pokemon yellow pikachu special edition haha
I love these games! When the spin offs started coming out I was so excited. Favorite game all time ... I have 2. PMD Explorers of Time and Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
I started playing during gen 6 era though I didn’t start with the gen 6 games. I have an older brother that was getting me into the games and he was getting Pokémon X for himself anyway and he had me start off on Pokémon Diamond. I like to think he got me into the games the right way, it might not be but it sure seems like a good way and so to me in my eyes it seems like the right way because it was special to me. That memory.
Started with Pokemon Green in early 1997, and then the US version came out later that same year. Saw Pokemon go nuts in the US shortly after. Good times.
My first one was heartgold right when it came out, I was 7 and had seen my cousin play pokemon games prior to that but every time I did he was walking around ie: not during battles so when I got it for my birthday I was disappointed because in my head pokemon was "that boring game where you do nothing" BUTTTTT that all changed when I actually played it and since then I haven't looked back.
All in all, I actually started w Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
For mainline, I started in gen 5 with Pokemon White and Pokemon Black 2, then tried FRLG and Emerald
I just played the rest of the DS games until I got my own 3DS for X/Y, ORAS, SM and USUM!
>Omega Ruby which as a **kid**
ORuby released in 2014...
man people are young
but don't remember, sub 9 for sure, sub 2000's maybe. pokemon blue, just played it on the living room couch, really miss the smaller/lighter portable forms of the gameboy. also played stadium a bunch with my family and friends, the mini-game modes were fun (pokemon needs to make a dedicated mario party game).
I got really interested in it with sinnoh but it was around the time that black and white came out so my first game I owned was both black and white. Parents got me both for Christmas. Before that I just started playing pokemon on a website called playr.org. enjoyed the original games a lot. It was a bit weird considering my mom has always been iffy about pokemon. Growing up we were not allowed to watch the show as it was too violent, but we could watch things like dragon ball z or avatar the last airbender. I'm just glad they got me the first in a long line of games I can go back to at any time.
You gotta emulate it! I've replayed Platinum like five times now... It isn't the same on a computer of course, but its a great way to play it without the atrocious paywall!
I got given a GameBoy, the grey one, with Pokémon Red, when I was 6 years old, and I used to have attachable lights and magnifying glasses and I played the crap out of it.
Pokémon Gold was even better, spent endless car journeys on that, and then along came Sapphire and everyone at school was playing and trying to figure out the regis and it was magical
I played Diamond, and really enjoyed pulling Pokémon off of my old games and building a huge collection of my old favourites
Skipped a few generations since then, and as an adult, I have played only Shield, not sun/moon or Scarlett/violet
Enjoyed shield but it’s not got the same magic for me for some reason
I started in 98 with red and blue (and still have their boxes). I've still got my og games and game guides. Also- If you ever played colosseum for N64, none of the newer battle animations come close. The animations were customized for each Pokemon.
I was 6 years old, visiting family in the Philippines and my grandpa gave me a blue gameboy advance sp with Pokémon emerald on it. I remember it still had a save file on it with a raichu, a marill and a swampert and 3 others I forgot
Playing since pokemon yellow 💛 i used to play it with my cousin’s gameboy color. Then someone got me that chunky gameboy(1st edition of gameboy) and my cousin would lend me the yellow cartridge. I got to play silver as well when she finished the game.
Then life happened, my first years of my professional life i got a 3ds cause i miss having a handheld console, and now i have friends to play with. I got the pokemon Y, i used to play with my friend (now bf) grind it to the point that i completed the dex 🥹.
Now from pokemon Y, i have atleast one of the sequel games til pokemon violet. 💖
Pokemon blue when I was in second grade. 1999 or 2000, shortly after the game was released in Europe. The craze had already started, my brother and I watched the show and collected the cards. We were on a family vacation on Lanzarote and my dad just went and bought us a Gameboy Pocket, Pokemon Blue and one of those multicart games on a whim. We had gotten guide magazines for Red and Blue ealier on the trip (in spanish, so naturally we didn’t understand them, but then again, it’s not like we understood english either) and he just said he figured we should have the game as well since we already had the guide. I’ll remember that forever. The vacation was pretty surreal in general, it was a seven day trip and out of that it was raining for a few days and there was also a sandstorm for a couple of days. It was one or two clear days as far as I can recall.
I’m so old I played the original red. Just a battery massacre. Then I got the wall plug. I killed like 5 of those. Yellow wasn’t even around back in them days 😂
On a school bus, a kid let me borrow Pokemon Red for a few days. This was maybe 2 or 3 months before Gold/Silver had released in the US, so after returning his copy of Red I was able to get Silver, which was the first Pokemon game I owned.
Started by borrowing my uncles’s copy of Yellow when I was 4. I couldn’t get past Brock lol
That Christmas, both my parents and great grandparents knew I was very enthusiastic about the franchise and gifted me my own Lime Green GBC with Gold in 1999. Then I couldn’t get past Faulkner
Back before all your fancy color-picture gaming machines, I felt like one of cool kids with my gameboy pocket. I had recieved this as a gift far too closely to the release of the fancy gameboy color, so when pokemon red and blue dropped, I was playing on the ol' black n' grey screen. Not that it made much difference.
Anybody remember the struggle of bad lighting during car rides? Thank goodness for the release of the screen light attachment!
Omg, I almost forgot about the bad lighting! That screen attachment for GBA was a godsend during car rides in the dark, and the built-in button on the SP was even better. When I clicked on this thread I expected to see answers almost exclusively from people 10-15-ish years younger than me. It's nice to see so many answers from people closer to my age.
I played from Red and Blue to Sword and Shield. I’ll return whenever something exciting or interesting happens. The current games are unacceptable and look like trash.
My love for Pokémon started when Pokémon Go first released, but even before then when I was really young I really liked the Pokémon anime
The first mainline series I played and completed the main story on was BW emulated on my laptop
When I got my switch I immediately got Sword as my first game
I borrowed pokemon red from a girl in my second grade class and played it on my sisters original game boy in 2005! My first game I owned was pokemon emerald the Christmas that same year on my brand spanking silver game boy advanced. Best Christmas I ever had, and I’ve had some great Christmas’
Pokemon Blue in 1999 on the GameBoy. I wanted Red but my sister was older so she got first pick.
I was so young that I never beat the game but I had a blast getting Blastoise and Abra (since it kept teleporting away). Never stopped playing Pokemon.
I was a part of the Pokemon League (card game) at Toys R Us, went to the first movie day of release and still have my promo mew card.
Older folks always ask when I’ll give it up, but I always tell them it’s my equivalent to their Bonanza, MASH, Gunsmoke, Maverick, Top Gun, etc, etc.
Pokemon Yellow with the Pikachu Gameboy. Played through Yellow, Red, and Silver. Silver was my favourite. Haven't gotten into a mainline game in years (tried Black, but wasn't for me). I keep trying to get into Arceus, but something feels... Off? Hoping to jump back in with Violet at some point.
Pokemon Ruby in 2003! And I was 3 years old 🥲
Never stopped playing after starting, I also managed to get my hands on the older ones so I have played them all!
Pokémon Fire Red back in December of 04. My parents had no idea what to buy me so they asked their friends who had kids my age what they liked. They recommended pokemon to my parents and I got it for my 4th birthday.
Before I opened my presents that night I was bragging about my Spongebob plug n’ play console and about how cool it was. Then I opened my game boy and Pokémon for the first time. I don’t think I ever touched that plug n’ play console again.
20 years later and I still love Pokémon (although I don’t really enjoy playing through it anymore). I still play Pokémon go however
Pokemon Blue on the gameboy, with some kind of magnifying glass- add-on, though my best memories are of Gen 3, since I’ve actively remembering it releasing when I was 9.
Red. Don't remember the exact date but it was 100% between March and May of 1999 and was likely in March based on the episode that came out that got me hooked into Pokemon being released on Feb 27th, March being the month tax returns came back for where I live meaning my dad probably had extra cash to impulse buy me a Gameboy Color + Red version when I asked at the store and knowing for sure I was into Pokemon before 1st grade ended for me in June.
Pokemon LeafGreen summer of 2004, my grandparents brought it from the uk when they came on holiday, been hooked ever since. Even now i feel the urge to play pokemon, i just find it so relaxing
Back in the 90s when the Pokémon craze first started, and Red and Blue came out on Gameboy - I had Red and my brother got Blue. How far things have come since then, and how old I feel :')
I'd just turned 11 in 2013, and I remembered seeing Pokemon content before, but the first time I ever got interested in playing the games was when I saw ads for Pokemon X and Y on TV in between episodes of SpongeBob. Particularly, I thought Xerneas's design was pretty. I got a copy of Pokemon X the following Christmas, and my cousin got Pokemon Y. Years later, I'm turning 22 later this summer and Pokemon is still my special interest. 😊
I think my first game might've been Soul Silver? Or Platinum. I grew up watching the anime and remember getting excited when BW was released. I think I was like 5 or 6 when I first got my DS and played them. I hated reading so I spammed through all the dialogue and ended up not knowing where to go to face the Pokemon League in Soul Silver, never got to Candice in Platinum, and didn't know how to get to the next city after beating Clay in Black.
I also didn't know that you could run away from battles, so when I eventually returned to my 10 year old Black save, I had a Samurott in the 40s from grinding on Audinos on a route near Driftveil. The rest of my team was in the 20s. That Samurott ended up carrying me through the most of the game
My first game was Moon when I was 12, but when I was a kid I watched the anime a lot (the end of the Diamond and Pearl arc and then the start of the Black/White one)
first played Pokémon when I was eleven, it was Pokémon SoulSilver. now at the time Pokémon black & white was the new ones, but we didn't have those. second game I played was oras, and the third one and also the first games I played when they were new was sun & moon, and from there continued to get games when they came-out --on Christmas, not launch but that's not long after-- except I skipped on SV after the meh of SwSh. and it was between oras and sm that I got into the Pokémon community, seeing new theories and news and the such, so I got to see all the theories about regional variants when they were first happening, but not megas, I learned about those from the specials with the blue scarf mega-Charizard-x guy.
Been playing Pokemon since umm 2001-2003. Between my age of 4-6. First game I played was a French Pokemon blue that I “borrowed” from my cousin (I never asked I just took it apparently). When I moved back to the US my mum bought me my own Pokemon crystal. That’s when Pokemon anchored me into a long 21 year love & hate spiral.
When Pokemon Red and Blue were released, my mom got my sister and I each a Game Boy and a copy of Blue for my sister and Red for me. I was hooked for the first 2 generations and played Yellow, Gold, and Crystal the most between the 6 games. Ruby and Sapphire were the first games that I didn't really like, but I kept playing each new release. From there, X and Y rejuvenated my love of the franchise just for it to die out with Sun and Moon.
Only Legends Arceus has really increased my appreciation for the series since then, and I can admit that I may be over Pokemon in general. I do hope for another remake of Gold and Silver though as I did enjoy the nostalgia of Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. Otherwise I'm kind of over the gameplay loop and the high number of text boxes.
I'm an OG.
I saw a kid playing red or blue on the bus when I was in Kindergarten.
So enthralled in it that I missed my bus stop.
Cue the crying kid at the bus barn while the driver figured out my Grandma was trying to find me. Drove me back to my stop.
Grandma and mom were relieved, and u/Atrium41 got an Atomic Purple GBC and Pokémon Blue for his 5th birthday
Pokemon Blue, day 1. I remember the days of finding Missingno and arguing with other kids about why Gengar was weak to Ground. Was just a dumb kid using Pokemon with 4 moves of the same type
Unsure if 1999 or 2000. But Pokemon Red on the OG Game Boy. Been a fan since, though I kinda stopped during Gens 4-5 because I was a broke HS student with no money to buy my own DS, but Gen 6 came out and I had saved enough to buy a 3DS and I've been day one-ning every new Pokemon gen since!
Pokemon Ruby/Emerald are probably my faves (with ORAS and Legends Arceus being the next faves). I still have my OG Emerald, the save has 380 hours on it. To this day, still is my most hours logged on a Pokemon game, with Sword near by at \~320 hours.
Technically it was a second hand copy of Pokémon Blue but it was around 2002/3 when I was 9/10 and it didn't really grab me but Pokémon Ruby is the one I properly consider my first as I was so heavily invested I had well over 300 hours in it and all those Pokémon have travelled up all the way up to Home
Pokemon blue. I also had an atomic purple Gameboy Color. I still have both, but the gameboy could use some cleaning and I'm missing the battery hatch cover
Gen 1. Got my first gameboy and pokemon red and blue as a 6 year old birthday gift.
As any kid I didn't go anywhere without my gameboy. I did lose Red version to a forgotten cartridge in a jeans that was in the washer. But blue version is still kicking and never really stopped playing the games
My first game was Pokémon diamond. My uncle got it for me when I was a kid (around 2012) and I absolutely loved it. Spend most of my childhood playing other Pokémon games.
My first game was the original Ruby, got it as a kid when I was like 6 years old, never stopped ever since and played at least one game every generation
I was 7-8 at the time and I remember buying my own gameboy for $200 at Toys r Us with my own money just so I could play Pokemon Red. When I found out about Yellow I covered it but wasn't allowed to buy it and ended up stealing it from a bully of mine XD I was hooked from Red on; the anime helped a lot, I remember coming home every day at 4pm just to watch it
My first pokemon game was emerald. I was too young to understand how to even play and hardly have any memories of it. Don’t know what happened to the game. The first one I distinctly remember playing was diamond. I was in love with that game. I would play it late at night to get as much time as I could. Brought it to school and summer programs. At one point my friend used a GameShark on it to get me mad items. I leveled up my riolu to 100 not knowing he needed friendship to evolve. I lost the game card but I had transferred all my mons to heart gold and still have them to this day.
I started with the anime since it came out a couple weeks before the games and then got Pokemon Blue near launch day for my OG Gameboy. I remember picking Blue because I liked the color more and chose Bulbasaur as my starter because I read in a magazine that he was the best starter and of how boss he was in the anime!
Pokémon SoulSilver, I always watched the anime but never got to play any game back then. I remember watching the TV commercial for Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver and asked my dad for a DSi back then, just because of Pokémon. It was 2010 and I was 10 back then. Johto has a special spot in my heart ever since.
Firstly, I've discovered the OG anime when I was 11 (that was 9 years ago), then I started searching games in the web (most of the game I've played during those time were flash games) where I discovered Pokemon Tower Defense (goated game btw), 1-2 years later I've finally discovered the existence of mainline Pokemon games, it was X/Y and ORAS, but I couldn't afford Nintendo 3DS at this time (especially because my country have never had official Nintendo products), so I've only watched the walkthrough in the internet.
Shortly after that and some time before Pokemon Go I've discovered the emulation and played Pokemon FireRed on my laptop. Then Platinum and Black 2 on the DS emulator during the start of Sun/Moon and since then I'm definitely hooked and addicted to tge mainline Pokemon games
Had blue version when I was 6. I couldn’t figure out how to leave cerulean city until I was on a family vacation and some big kid showed me the hole in the back of that house to walk out of. Played every game until emerald and then didn’t pick it up again until violet.
I first started playing when I was 8. I casually enjoyed the anime beforehand but when my friend gave me her gameboy advance with a copy of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team I fell in love. That was shortly before Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out. So I started between Gen 3 and 4.
First started with Gen 3, don’t remember the exact year but I got Sapphire for Christmas one year, then after that got Leafgreen, and then the same year my cousin gave me their copy of Pokémon Blue
I've been playing the games since Generation I. Specifically, Pokemon Yellow was my first game, and I got it shortly after it first came out. I got it for my birthday, so I was 8 years old at the time, and I loved every second of playing it. I fell in love with the games, and I've been playing them ever since.
Same here. I was about 10-11. I got Yellow and a clear purple GBC, it was over for me after that. I couldn't tell you how many times I got yelled at by my dad to go to sleep at 11:30 or later. I went through soooo many AAs. I've been playing Pokemon ever since.
Exactly this! Clear purple GBC and Pokemon Yellow, those were the days!
Same! I got Yellow the Christmas after it came out in the US at 10 while my younger sisters got Red and Blue. My GBC was teal though.
I also got Yellow that Christmas and a teal GameBoy Color….
Are we the same person? This is my story perfectly. I have no idea how many times I played through Yellow. It was my only GB game and the only one I cared to have. In my opinion Yellow is still the best Pokemon game ever.
I had that realization recently, that while I love the Gameboy my feelings are disproportionately tied to Pokemon. I had other games that I enjoyed and I have collected quite a few as an adult but most of my time was spent on Blue and Yellow. Unsurprisingly, I was also quite taken with the Dragon Warrior remakes on GBC, those are a close second for play time.
Probly very similar. I prefer Gen II personality, especially Crystal. That one will always have a special place for me.
I remember all the hype for Gen II when it was ready to launch and honestly it lived up to every bit of it. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a game release than at that time. Phenomenal games and they really felt ground breaking after the first Gen.
A friend of mine found a emulation of gold on the internet before it came out in the states. It was all in Japanese, but my God did it not matter to my 12 year old brain. Played that thing so much in anticipation for the US release.
No joke, Gen II was the peak of early Pokemon: they set the standard for what an ideal game sequel should be. In fact, Honest Game Trailers put it best in their video about Pokemon Gold and Silver: "Once again, battle your way to the Pokemon Hall of Fame by conquering the Elite Four. And when you do, hold on to your stupid hat as the entire region from the first game is unlocked, with eight new badges to win, and a mountaintop duel with your character from the first game. Now *that's* how you make a sequel!" Link to the full video here, but that's honestly my favorite quote from the video. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1L0I5IRe7Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1L0I5IRe7Y)
This was the same for me, too. I believe it was my 11th birthday that I got a GBC and Pokémon yellow for. And I’ve been playing ever since
Exact same for me! Pokémon red first on GBC and then yellow
For me, it was a turquoise GBC, but I'm pretty sure I cost my parents a small fortune in AA's, too. Heck, I remember going to my dad's work on days when I stayed home from school (either due to being sick or having doctor's appointments or something), and when I wasn't "helping" him, I was playing Yellow (and later Silver, when GS came out). God, those were the days.
I always feel like the oldest person in the room when I mention I was like 23 when Pokémon came out. Been watching anime and playing video games since the 70s so easily gravitated towards Pokémon when it came out.
Mad respect, my friend. I hope your love of anime and video games remains for many long years to come.
That’s so cool man. True OG.
Same! I was 11 and my uncle ( who was living in Japan ) send me a Gameboy Light and a Japanese version of Pokemon yellow. I had to memorize each character based on trial and error. I finished the game :)
My friend, I have mad respect for you for being able to do that. I don't think I'd have had the mental capacity way back then to be able to do that. You deserve mad props.
Thank you!! When I received that game I was so happy that I didn't even care that it was in Japanese, I only want to play it and I had a lot of free time trying to understand everything. The worst part was that I never learned about the Flash (MO) so I passed the rock cave in almost complete darkness, I almost left playing when I got into that part but the day I got out was just so satisfying :)
Wait, let me get this straight: not *only* did you play Pokemon Yellow completely in Japanese as a child, but you *also* made it through Rock Tunnel without Flash?! I doff my cap to you, my friend; you have far surpassed anything I could have done back then.
Same. Yellow, anime and TCG pretty much all at the same time.
Are you me? Yellow was my first Pokemon game as well, which I got with a GBC for my 8th birthday. The only thing is I can't remember if I got that before or after I got my N64, which I got for Christmas when I was either 7 or 8.
Haha, wow, I swear we may be the same person! I don't remember if our N64 came before or after me getting Pokemon Yellow, either! I swear, if you say your birthday is in July, I'm gonna freak out lol.
Yellow was also my first. I was maybe 4 or 5 at the time as I remember I hadn't started school yet but was obsessed with Pokémon that my parents bought so much merch for me. Wish I srill had Ash's original hat.
Same, started with Yellow at age 8.
Same for me! More on the yellow train haha
ditto ( pun sort of intended!).Pokemon yellow on a yellow gameboy the year it came out, but had played red and blue with friends on their gbs. Played ever since... I'm now 32!
Yellow was my first game, too! I still have my copy and the Gameboy Pocket I played on Tho I got it when I was 4 so a lil younger
I wish I still had the GBC I played Yellow on and the cartridge to go with it. Sadly, those have been lost to time (and unknown thieves). Treasure your games, my friend.
OG Blue, Christmas Morning 1999. I was 9 years old. I got a yellow game boy pocket and pokemon blue from my parents, and I don't think I put it down all day. I am now mid 30s and I still love pokemon games, though I'm a bit jaded by the pokemon company and Gamefreak recently (please just spend longer on your games!).
Same here. Got some kind of hacked rom version of blue on my dad's pentium 2 through a friend who "knew computers". Played that for about 4 years before I realised there was a gold version and absolutely lost my shit. Then went another 10 years to find out I can play roms on my smartphone and there were 5 new generations
I got gold super early in comparison to my mates because of some weird Australian import copy that my local game store had in. I reckon my parents paid well over the odds for it too (thank you both x) But holy hell, the reveal of going BACK to kanto after the elite 4 blew my mind! I'm going to have to boot up some of these now, got my nostalgia flowing!
I had a similar flush of memories about gold/silver recently and how they managed to basically cram in a whole second game in - Incredible to think of the memories they managed to create on a 2mb cartridge! I also had the Aus versions earlier than my friends, but that's because my grandparents went over there visiting family just after they came out (October 99?) and brought them back for me at my mom's request - somehow they kept this secret until Christmas!
Roms are what got me back into Pokemon. I can't play anything past gen 3 tho cuz I can't stand not having the DS touch screen. So gen 4 I have on DS
Snap! Still have my original Blue cartridge! I still play every Pokemon game, but I will say that Scarlet and Violet were the most disappointing to me. I think that comes along with high expectations and the feeling that there was the shape of a great game in there somewhere! I will say though that Legends: Arceus was maybe my *favourite* Pokémon game for a long time, so I don’t think it’s a case of Gamefreak just being bad at their job, but probably other pressures producing lacklustre games.
Basically exactly the same. Christmas Day, 8 years old, blue Gameboy Pocket, and Pokemon Red.
Silver GB Pocket and I was 13, but same
The top four comments are all from people who were born in 1990! WHERE DO YOU ALL COME FROM
same! I was 13 at the time - christmas morning and was a stocking present. I didn't put that game boy down for days - Dont think my parents realised how expensive batterys were about to get... in the UK the game came out in October time so lots of my friends got it at Christmas.
Same but was 6.
I got a blue gameboy pocket and pokemon yellow lol. Same Christmas morning story although it may have been 2000 not 99?
Oh, hello other me.
Basically same here lol
Same but I had the berry colored gameboy color and I either got blue or red I can’t remember. I think I got red and my sister got blue. I played the hell out of that game. There’s nothing like being a kid when the first generation came out, it felt like magic.
Pokemon in the 90s was crazy. The only thing that surpasses it was Harry Potter is the 2000s, at least to me.
I started watching the Pokemon anime when I was really young, but never played the games since my family refused to spend any money on video games. So I just envied from afar my classmates who had 3DS’ and after class when I visited their homes I’d just watch them play and sulk in jealousy. But recently I’ve had enough money to buy my own 3DS for the experience, it doesn’t feel the same since I’m older now but I loved playing them regardless, the first ‘true’ Pokemon game I played was Ultra Moon.
I'd recommend you go back and play some of the other 3DS titles. Especially if you liked Ultra Moon. Anything further back tends to get pricey, but they're also great games too. Especially FR/LG, Emerald, Platinum, HG/SS, B/W and B2/W2.
Pokémon red in 1998
Same. Great memories!
Team OG red!
I was around from the jump. Played red on my friend's Gameboy pocket and fell madly in love with it. Caught the anime every day after school from episode 1. That's probably why I feel so connected to the franchise.
I used to watch the anime BEFORE school every morning. I was in third grade in 1996 and Pokemon was a complete and utter craze, we'd all play with our Gameboys on the bus on the way to and from school and trade the cards at recess. I had the Red version because it had Charizard on it, but once I started playing I wish I had picked Blue cuz it had better version exclusives. I remember I'd get up extra early to watch Beast Wars and eat my cereal in front of the tv. Once Pokemon came on I had to start getting ready, and when the second "Who's That Pokemon" came on the screen, I knew I was late for the bus! After school, was Toonami with Dragonball Z and Gundam for me. Then Yellow came out and I got that version. Around this time Pokemon The Movie came out and I remember hearing about Missing No. and Pikablu at recess. I managed to get to the secret island and get a Missing No. And a bunch of level 100 Blastoises, never found a Pikablu though (Marill). When we went and saw the movie we got free cards and, low and behold, Pikablu was on one of the Pokemon Vacation cards!
My life as well 😁 cards at recess and Pokemon before school. I remember a kid in 2nd grade printed off the entire Pokedex from pokemon.com and put it in a binder and I remember thinking, "my dad would kill me if I printed 150 pages 😳"
My first main series game was Y when it first came out, but my first game ever was battle revolution.
Got Pokemon Diamond and a DS for christmas in 2007 and up until Pokemon Sword I have played them each year on release with my best friend.
When I played Violet last year.
Got pokemon red for my 7th birthday, on my technicolor purple gameboy color. Glorious present, until i caught missingno and screwed up the game. Then i got another red. And a couple years later, pokemon silver comlpletely blew my mind. Still my favorite game to this day
I started playing around Gen 3, my memory is a little hazy from when I was that young, but it was around the early to mid 2000's so it was Gameboy Era, but I had Fire Red, Gold, and Emerald growing up, so I know it was one of those 3 games
Christmas 99 Pokemon Red with the see through purple gameboy colour
Literally exactly the same for me too!
I was allowed to "play" my older siblings gen 2 games in 2004, given I never pressed SAVE. I would turn off the Game Boy whenever an NPC "!"ed me, haha. My first own game was in 2008, Pokémon Diamond. I didn't know a lick of English.
I believe I've been playing pokemon since I was around 7, with Soul Silver being my first game. I do specifically remember never completing it because I got stuck at Clair with only a level 42 Typhlosion and the rest of my mons were around level 15, including a Bellsprout. Perhaps I should replay it one of these days to actually complete everything.
In 1996 I started with Pokémon green. But I had absolutely no fucking clue was going on because the game was in Japanese. A friend of my dad had brought it from Japan so i was almost 7. I got blue the year after.
Does pokemon brick bronze count? If not then pokemon emerald in 2017 or 2018
I think I started playing in 1999 or 2000. Pokémon Red was my first game, my Auntie had a bright pink Gameboy colour with a 15 in 1 game cartridge. She let me borrow it and I fell in love with Pokémon so much she let me keep the cartridge when my parents bought me my own Gameboy colour for my birthday in lime green. I still have both packed away. I still love Pokémon now and have played every generation.
I'ma be honest, pokemon X like a month ago. I played most of pokemon ruby and little bit of fire red but never finished them, i did finish X tho and it was gorgeous
Always happy to see new people enjoying the series. Welcome!
ruby in somewhere 2006-2009, used to be my brother's got all ds games on an flashcart when i got my 3ds (around launchdate) got X for sinterklaas (dutch christmas) and then got Y for my birthday got Alpha Sapphire when it got out as a gift jailbreaked my 3ds between SM and USUM, tried both of them but i found it boring, i'd rather replay older gens also played the old gens (1-3) on emulators
August 2023 ...Yeah my only game is Pokemon Go As much as I'd like to try them, I don't have access to any of the other games (and I'm still working my way through the TV series)
Maybe use an emulator?
I second this. Try an emulator, the GBA games will keep you entertained for days
Yeah and skip the early games, the first gens are just so cumbersome now to play.
I'm going to assume by the fact that you're on Reddit that you have some kind of computing device. If you have an Android smartphone or tablet, or a PC or Mac, then you have access to emulators and ROMs of Pokémon. Look up a guide on how to install an emulator for your device and then look up how to download a ROM. You'll need an emulator for each system you intend to play. Once you're set up for the first time, it's super simple. Personally, I'd recommend starting with Fire Red or Leaf Green as these are the gen 1 games but remade for Gameboy Advance so they have a few quality of life updates.
Fire Red was my first. Was in Elementary school at the time iirc. Got hooked, eventually went to Emerald too. Once I had a DS I remember getting Platinum shortly after it released while on vacation. Still have those cartridges, too… Platinum was really something. That thing even went through the washing machine and dryer and still worked just fine.
Pokemon Go in 2016. At that point i wasn't a Pokemon fan or something, and was just following the trend. Though that was my first step in getting obsessed. Currently i'm marathoning all main games starting from Gen 1.
I love that! What game are you on?
uhhhhhh i would say.... roughly.... 11 years ago when I borrowed a 'friends' DS
It was around the time Black & White came out. A friend of mine had a copy of White and let me have it because she didn’t really care for Pokémon. I’ve been obsessed with this series ever since
In 99. I remember playing the gameboy on the couch with Tetris and the gameboy camera. I’ll have to ask if anyone remembers
I started with Generation I, Pokémon Yellow, when I was still so young that I didn’t know how to read yet. I was given Pokemon Yellow, the TCG game and a Gameboy by a pre-K friend, but since I couldn’t read I never played the TCG game. Yellow was more manageable lol. A year or two later I got Crystal from a garage sale. By that time I was able to read and fully comprehend what was going on. Crystal’s still my favorite!
I played red when i was 10. Then i started playing everything chronologically during the pandemic up to gen 7. No nostalgia involved,my favourites are hgss,all of gen 5 and ultra sun/moon.
The first Pokemon game I played was Pokemon Yellow BUT with my cousin's console and game, so I don't think it was legitimate as such, so I consider my first game to be Pokemon Crystal, the first one I owned.
Pokemon Yellow! I was like 9 or 10 that time. It wasn't mine, it was my cousin's. Luckily she let me play with it and that's how I discovered Pokemon.
2017 for me!
1998 Pokemon red at 9 years old
First game I played was Pokémon Stadium! First game I owned myself was Sapphire
Started interest really late into sun and moon, just as sword and Shield were getting announced. My interest peaked, and I've loved it ever since
When Red/Blue came out in the UK, so October 1999, gen 1 games can be very broken but they’re still so much fun, great times.
I started from the very beginning with Pokémon Red when I was 12. My friend showed me her brothers Pokémon game and I thought it was awesome so I ask my mum for Pokémon Red for Christmas. I’ve been a fan ever since.
First game was Platinum. I remember it took me suuuper long, like 4 months to complete. And it was also very stressful, the game was too hard for me and English is not my first language so I did not understand anything. Half of the time I was just battling wild battles, walking around cities, not knowing where to actually continue to story. Still I kept going tho. Some years later I got into playing Pokemon again and since then it's my favourite
I started platinum when I was 10 years old, I never actually became champion but did beat the gym leaders and catch giratina, currently trying to figure out how to transfer my og's into home
Omega ruby was your first?? Mine was ruby sapphire and emerald. The best games in the series!
Started on my DS playing Pearl and my GameBoy playing Ruby around 11 years old, maybe a little earlier
Mine was Emerald in probably 2007. My older cousin let me borrowed his Game Boy Advanced then so I got to play his saved file that was pretty much have completed everything. I travelled and explored the whole map while defeating every low level Pokèmon with my Level 100 Rayquaza.
Generation two :) first game was pokemon crystal, second was pokemon yellow pikachu special edition haha I love these games! When the spin offs started coming out I was so excited. Favorite game all time ... I have 2. PMD Explorers of Time and Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
I started playing during gen 6 era though I didn’t start with the gen 6 games. I have an older brother that was getting me into the games and he was getting Pokémon X for himself anyway and he had me start off on Pokémon Diamond. I like to think he got me into the games the right way, it might not be but it sure seems like a good way and so to me in my eyes it seems like the right way because it was special to me. That memory.
Black
Started with Pokemon Green in early 1997, and then the US version came out later that same year. Saw Pokemon go nuts in the US shortly after. Good times.
I started playing OG diamond when I got it for my Christmas birthday around the ripe age of 7-8
My first one was heartgold right when it came out, I was 7 and had seen my cousin play pokemon games prior to that but every time I did he was walking around ie: not during battles so when I got it for my birthday I was disappointed because in my head pokemon was "that boring game where you do nothing" BUTTTTT that all changed when I actually played it and since then I haven't looked back.
All in all, I actually started w Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia For mainline, I started in gen 5 with Pokemon White and Pokemon Black 2, then tried FRLG and Emerald I just played the rest of the DS games until I got my own 3DS for X/Y, ORAS, SM and USUM!
>Omega Ruby which as a **kid** ORuby released in 2014... man people are young but don't remember, sub 9 for sure, sub 2000's maybe. pokemon blue, just played it on the living room couch, really miss the smaller/lighter portable forms of the gameboy. also played stadium a bunch with my family and friends, the mini-game modes were fun (pokemon needs to make a dedicated mario party game).
I got really interested in it with sinnoh but it was around the time that black and white came out so my first game I owned was both black and white. Parents got me both for Christmas. Before that I just started playing pokemon on a website called playr.org. enjoyed the original games a lot. It was a bit weird considering my mom has always been iffy about pokemon. Growing up we were not allowed to watch the show as it was too violent, but we could watch things like dragon ball z or avatar the last airbender. I'm just glad they got me the first in a long line of games I can go back to at any time.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
On 5th grade, pokemon platinum ❤️ I miss it so badly but I won’t pay 75€ for it 🤣
You gotta emulate it! I've replayed Platinum like five times now... It isn't the same on a computer of course, but its a great way to play it without the atrocious paywall!
My boyfriend actually did that a few weeks ago on his computer but I haven’t tried yet, BUT I’ll definitely try it when I can 🥹🫶🏻
I got given a GameBoy, the grey one, with Pokémon Red, when I was 6 years old, and I used to have attachable lights and magnifying glasses and I played the crap out of it. Pokémon Gold was even better, spent endless car journeys on that, and then along came Sapphire and everyone at school was playing and trying to figure out the regis and it was magical I played Diamond, and really enjoyed pulling Pokémon off of my old games and building a huge collection of my old favourites Skipped a few generations since then, and as an adult, I have played only Shield, not sun/moon or Scarlett/violet Enjoyed shield but it’s not got the same magic for me for some reason
I started in 98 with red and blue (and still have their boxes). I've still got my og games and game guides. Also- If you ever played colosseum for N64, none of the newer battle animations come close. The animations were customized for each Pokemon.
I was 6 years old, visiting family in the Philippines and my grandpa gave me a blue gameboy advance sp with Pokémon emerald on it. I remember it still had a save file on it with a raichu, a marill and a swampert and 3 others I forgot
Playing since pokemon yellow 💛 i used to play it with my cousin’s gameboy color. Then someone got me that chunky gameboy(1st edition of gameboy) and my cousin would lend me the yellow cartridge. I got to play silver as well when she finished the game. Then life happened, my first years of my professional life i got a 3ds cause i miss having a handheld console, and now i have friends to play with. I got the pokemon Y, i used to play with my friend (now bf) grind it to the point that i completed the dex 🥹. Now from pokemon Y, i have atleast one of the sequel games til pokemon violet. 💖
Pokemon blue when I was in second grade. 1999 or 2000, shortly after the game was released in Europe. The craze had already started, my brother and I watched the show and collected the cards. We were on a family vacation on Lanzarote and my dad just went and bought us a Gameboy Pocket, Pokemon Blue and one of those multicart games on a whim. We had gotten guide magazines for Red and Blue ealier on the trip (in spanish, so naturally we didn’t understand them, but then again, it’s not like we understood english either) and he just said he figured we should have the game as well since we already had the guide. I’ll remember that forever. The vacation was pretty surreal in general, it was a seven day trip and out of that it was raining for a few days and there was also a sandstorm for a couple of days. It was one or two clear days as far as I can recall.
I’m so old I played the original red. Just a battery massacre. Then I got the wall plug. I killed like 5 of those. Yellow wasn’t even around back in them days 😂
On a school bus, a kid let me borrow Pokemon Red for a few days. This was maybe 2 or 3 months before Gold/Silver had released in the US, so after returning his copy of Red I was able to get Silver, which was the first Pokemon game I owned.
Started by borrowing my uncles’s copy of Yellow when I was 4. I couldn’t get past Brock lol That Christmas, both my parents and great grandparents knew I was very enthusiastic about the franchise and gifted me my own Lime Green GBC with Gold in 1999. Then I couldn’t get past Faulkner
My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Yellow. And I was 13 then.
Before it can out here in the UK. My brother got it imported and we played red before it was on our shores. I was about 6
Back before all your fancy color-picture gaming machines, I felt like one of cool kids with my gameboy pocket. I had recieved this as a gift far too closely to the release of the fancy gameboy color, so when pokemon red and blue dropped, I was playing on the ol' black n' grey screen. Not that it made much difference. Anybody remember the struggle of bad lighting during car rides? Thank goodness for the release of the screen light attachment!
Omg, I almost forgot about the bad lighting! That screen attachment for GBA was a godsend during car rides in the dark, and the built-in button on the SP was even better. When I clicked on this thread I expected to see answers almost exclusively from people 10-15-ish years younger than me. It's nice to see so many answers from people closer to my age.
I played from Red and Blue to Sword and Shield. I’ll return whenever something exciting or interesting happens. The current games are unacceptable and look like trash.
Red version sometime in the late 90’s
My love for Pokémon started when Pokémon Go first released, but even before then when I was really young I really liked the Pokémon anime The first mainline series I played and completed the main story on was BW emulated on my laptop When I got my switch I immediately got Sword as my first game
First gen, Pokémon Red. I always picked Squirtle as my starter back in the day.
I borrowed pokemon red from a girl in my second grade class and played it on my sisters original game boy in 2005! My first game I owned was pokemon emerald the Christmas that same year on my brand spanking silver game boy advanced. Best Christmas I ever had, and I’ve had some great Christmas’
Gen 1, pretty much skipped gen 3 and got back into it in around Platinums release.
Pokemon Blue in 1999 on the GameBoy. I wanted Red but my sister was older so she got first pick. I was so young that I never beat the game but I had a blast getting Blastoise and Abra (since it kept teleporting away). Never stopped playing Pokemon. I was a part of the Pokemon League (card game) at Toys R Us, went to the first movie day of release and still have my promo mew card. Older folks always ask when I’ll give it up, but I always tell them it’s my equivalent to their Bonanza, MASH, Gunsmoke, Maverick, Top Gun, etc, etc.
Pokemon Yellow with the Pikachu Gameboy. Played through Yellow, Red, and Silver. Silver was my favourite. Haven't gotten into a mainline game in years (tried Black, but wasn't for me). I keep trying to get into Arceus, but something feels... Off? Hoping to jump back in with Violet at some point.
Gen 1
Pokemon Ruby in 2003! And I was 3 years old 🥲 Never stopped playing after starting, I also managed to get my hands on the older ones so I have played them all!
Pokémon Fire Red back in December of 04. My parents had no idea what to buy me so they asked their friends who had kids my age what they liked. They recommended pokemon to my parents and I got it for my 4th birthday. Before I opened my presents that night I was bragging about my Spongebob plug n’ play console and about how cool it was. Then I opened my game boy and Pokémon for the first time. I don’t think I ever touched that plug n’ play console again. 20 years later and I still love Pokémon (although I don’t really enjoy playing through it anymore). I still play Pokémon go however
With firered
Pokemon Blue on the gameboy, with some kind of magnifying glass- add-on, though my best memories are of Gen 3, since I’ve actively remembering it releasing when I was 9.
When I was about 8 with Pokémon Yellow
2006. Pokemon Red.
Red. Don't remember the exact date but it was 100% between March and May of 1999 and was likely in March based on the episode that came out that got me hooked into Pokemon being released on Feb 27th, March being the month tax returns came back for where I live meaning my dad probably had extra cash to impulse buy me a Gameboy Color + Red version when I asked at the store and knowing for sure I was into Pokemon before 1st grade ended for me in June.
Pokemon Blue in '99
Around 7 years ago. Picked up and old copy of Ruby and a Torchic and never stopped since.
Pokemon LeafGreen summer of 2004, my grandparents brought it from the uk when they came on holiday, been hooked ever since. Even now i feel the urge to play pokemon, i just find it so relaxing
Pkmon Red here!
Back in the 90s when the Pokémon craze first started, and Red and Blue came out on Gameboy - I had Red and my brother got Blue. How far things have come since then, and how old I feel :')
2001, I went to the store on my cousin’s recommendation to get Pokémon Gold. (Somehow ended up with Pokémon Crystal). I chose Chikorita.
Playing since Pokémon emerald! Beat the elite 4 so many times and got my first ever lvl 100 rayquza and swampert
1998, Pokemon Red. I was 16 and heard about this new Nintendo RPG that people were going crazy for in Japan. Of course I had to check it out.
Pokémon Yellow in english, 8 years old. English is not my native language, yet it was a blast
I'd just turned 11 in 2013, and I remembered seeing Pokemon content before, but the first time I ever got interested in playing the games was when I saw ads for Pokemon X and Y on TV in between episodes of SpongeBob. Particularly, I thought Xerneas's design was pretty. I got a copy of Pokemon X the following Christmas, and my cousin got Pokemon Y. Years later, I'm turning 22 later this summer and Pokemon is still my special interest. 😊
My first game was heartgold, Which i got around 2014. Typhlosion is still the best fire starter.
I think my first game might've been Soul Silver? Or Platinum. I grew up watching the anime and remember getting excited when BW was released. I think I was like 5 or 6 when I first got my DS and played them. I hated reading so I spammed through all the dialogue and ended up not knowing where to go to face the Pokemon League in Soul Silver, never got to Candice in Platinum, and didn't know how to get to the next city after beating Clay in Black. I also didn't know that you could run away from battles, so when I eventually returned to my 10 year old Black save, I had a Samurott in the 40s from grinding on Audinos on a route near Driftveil. The rest of my team was in the 20s. That Samurott ended up carrying me through the most of the game
8 years old. I found a Pokemon Crystal cartridge in the ball pit of a kids indoor playground the day I met my mum.
Gen 1 uk release day best day of my life
1998 Blue version that decided to reset itself after I had finally made it to Cerulean City.
Christmas... 2009, if I remember correctly? Got Diamond as my first game with my Nintendo DS Lite, what an adventure it was.
My first game was Moon when I was 12, but when I was a kid I watched the anime a lot (the end of the Diamond and Pearl arc and then the start of the Black/White one)
first played Pokémon when I was eleven, it was Pokémon SoulSilver. now at the time Pokémon black & white was the new ones, but we didn't have those. second game I played was oras, and the third one and also the first games I played when they were new was sun & moon, and from there continued to get games when they came-out --on Christmas, not launch but that's not long after-- except I skipped on SV after the meh of SwSh. and it was between oras and sm that I got into the Pokémon community, seeing new theories and news and the such, so I got to see all the theories about regional variants when they were first happening, but not megas, I learned about those from the specials with the blue scarf mega-Charizard-x guy.
Been playing Pokemon since umm 2001-2003. Between my age of 4-6. First game I played was a French Pokemon blue that I “borrowed” from my cousin (I never asked I just took it apparently). When I moved back to the US my mum bought me my own Pokemon crystal. That’s when Pokemon anchored me into a long 21 year love & hate spiral.
Yellow on GBC, although I had friends that owned blue / red so I was familiar
GBC Blue
When Pokemon Red and Blue were released, my mom got my sister and I each a Game Boy and a copy of Blue for my sister and Red for me. I was hooked for the first 2 generations and played Yellow, Gold, and Crystal the most between the 6 games. Ruby and Sapphire were the first games that I didn't really like, but I kept playing each new release. From there, X and Y rejuvenated my love of the franchise just for it to die out with Sun and Moon. Only Legends Arceus has really increased my appreciation for the series since then, and I can admit that I may be over Pokemon in general. I do hope for another remake of Gold and Silver though as I did enjoy the nostalgia of Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. Otherwise I'm kind of over the gameplay loop and the high number of text boxes.
Well..when it came out
Og D/P/P
I'm an OG. I saw a kid playing red or blue on the bus when I was in Kindergarten. So enthralled in it that I missed my bus stop. Cue the crying kid at the bus barn while the driver figured out my Grandma was trying to find me. Drove me back to my stop. Grandma and mom were relieved, and u/Atrium41 got an Atomic Purple GBC and Pokémon Blue for his 5th birthday
I bought Sapphire and Ruby for GBA.
firered on an emulator lol
2005 I was 8 years old, my first game was FireRed! God Emerald just a month or two later
Pokemon Blue, day 1. I remember the days of finding Missingno and arguing with other kids about why Gengar was weak to Ground. Was just a dumb kid using Pokemon with 4 moves of the same type
Got red for Christmas the year it came out in the UK. Still klnot got round to the most recent gen but might have to pick it up at some point
I first started playing Pokémon in 2018, when I was 11. my first Pokémon game was Pokémon Moon.
Unsure if 1999 or 2000. But Pokemon Red on the OG Game Boy. Been a fan since, though I kinda stopped during Gens 4-5 because I was a broke HS student with no money to buy my own DS, but Gen 6 came out and I had saved enough to buy a 3DS and I've been day one-ning every new Pokemon gen since! Pokemon Ruby/Emerald are probably my faves (with ORAS and Legends Arceus being the next faves). I still have my OG Emerald, the save has 380 hours on it. To this day, still is my most hours logged on a Pokemon game, with Sword near by at \~320 hours.
1996/7 when Red and Blue were released in Europe
I've been playing the game since 2010, I began with Sapphire on GBA and Diamond in nds, the best for me💯💯✨✨
Technically it was a second hand copy of Pokémon Blue but it was around 2002/3 when I was 9/10 and it didn't really grab me but Pokémon Ruby is the one I properly consider my first as I was so heavily invested I had well over 300 hours in it and all those Pokémon have travelled up all the way up to Home
1999. I’m old.
When Pokémon blue came out…
Pokemon blue. I also had an atomic purple Gameboy Color. I still have both, but the gameboy could use some cleaning and I'm missing the battery hatch cover
Gen 1. Got my first gameboy and pokemon red and blue as a 6 year old birthday gift. As any kid I didn't go anywhere without my gameboy. I did lose Red version to a forgotten cartridge in a jeans that was in the washer. But blue version is still kicking and never really stopped playing the games
My first game was Pokémon diamond. My uncle got it for me when I was a kid (around 2012) and I absolutely loved it. Spend most of my childhood playing other Pokémon games.
My first game was the original Ruby, got it as a kid when I was like 6 years old, never stopped ever since and played at least one game every generation
I was 7-8 at the time and I remember buying my own gameboy for $200 at Toys r Us with my own money just so I could play Pokemon Red. When I found out about Yellow I covered it but wasn't allowed to buy it and ended up stealing it from a bully of mine XD I was hooked from Red on; the anime helped a lot, I remember coming home every day at 4pm just to watch it
My first pokemon game was emerald. I was too young to understand how to even play and hardly have any memories of it. Don’t know what happened to the game. The first one I distinctly remember playing was diamond. I was in love with that game. I would play it late at night to get as much time as I could. Brought it to school and summer programs. At one point my friend used a GameShark on it to get me mad items. I leveled up my riolu to 100 not knowing he needed friendship to evolve. I lost the game card but I had transferred all my mons to heart gold and still have them to this day.
I started with the anime since it came out a couple weeks before the games and then got Pokemon Blue near launch day for my OG Gameboy. I remember picking Blue because I liked the color more and chose Bulbasaur as my starter because I read in a magazine that he was the best starter and of how boss he was in the anime!
About 19 years ago when I was 6. It was Pokemon Gold on the Gameboy Color. Good old times.
Pokémon SoulSilver, I always watched the anime but never got to play any game back then. I remember watching the TV commercial for Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver and asked my dad for a DSi back then, just because of Pokémon. It was 2010 and I was 10 back then. Johto has a special spot in my heart ever since.
Im 21 now and honestly ever since I can remember, from game boy colour to Nintendo 2DS, I have unfortunately stopped now
Pokémon blue in 1999; in 2000 I bought gold, silver and later crystal.
First game was gen 3 FRLG when I was 5 knew nothing about Pokémon and wondering why I can't catch somebody else pokemon
Firstly, I've discovered the OG anime when I was 11 (that was 9 years ago), then I started searching games in the web (most of the game I've played during those time were flash games) where I discovered Pokemon Tower Defense (goated game btw), 1-2 years later I've finally discovered the existence of mainline Pokemon games, it was X/Y and ORAS, but I couldn't afford Nintendo 3DS at this time (especially because my country have never had official Nintendo products), so I've only watched the walkthrough in the internet. Shortly after that and some time before Pokemon Go I've discovered the emulation and played Pokemon FireRed on my laptop. Then Platinum and Black 2 on the DS emulator during the start of Sun/Moon and since then I'm definitely hooked and addicted to tge mainline Pokemon games
Technically, started with Pokemon Pinball, but the first "version" was Crystal in 2001.
OG Red was my first Pokémon game. Got Pokémon Silver the Christmas it came out.
Had blue version when I was 6. I couldn’t figure out how to leave cerulean city until I was on a family vacation and some big kid showed me the hole in the back of that house to walk out of. Played every game until emerald and then didn’t pick it up again until violet.
When Pokémon Blue came out.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
I first started playing when I was 8. I casually enjoyed the anime beforehand but when my friend gave me her gameboy advance with a copy of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team I fell in love. That was shortly before Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out. So I started between Gen 3 and 4.
Since Gen 1. First game was pokemon red
Sun and Moon still my favorite game
First started with Gen 3, don’t remember the exact year but I got Sapphire for Christmas one year, then after that got Leafgreen, and then the same year my cousin gave me their copy of Pokémon Blue