6th Gen Experiences Recount

[ugtgrime]

I encountered a shiny electrike in the wild:
1) 'raaaaaaaaaaghhhhh shiny shiny shiny!!!'
2) put down my 3ds and did a victory dance
3) composed myself
4) false swiped him to oblivion
5) 4 poke balls and caught him
6) saved game 3 times

Had mini heart attack.

 

[Hikamaru]

My best moment in OR/AS so far would have to be finding so many great Pokemon on the DexNav. Some of my best include a HA Thunder Fang Poochyena (who now kicks ass as a Mightyena), a female HA Eevee (who's now a Sylveon of mass destruction) and a Drought Vulpix (who is now a Ninetales). It's always so fun using DexNav and discovering so much destructive potential on a Pokemon thanks to a move or ability.

 

[Lrachelr5]

For me OR was the first game that I fully beat the champion

 

[blue]

I remember I was in work on the day they just spontaneously announced the remakes. I was just scrolling through my phone whilst I was at my desk and I came across an article about Ruby and Sapphire remakes, which at first I didn't believe was true. I had to make up an excuse to step away from my desk for a second just so I could properly read the article, but it turned out to be true and it got me really excited from then. 8)

My favourite experience of ORAS was actually the Delta Episode. I was expecting this to just be some sort of small post-storyline mission that would be rushed within about 10 minutes, but it was way more than that. The storyline behind it was fantastic and well drawn out, it basically gave you some history behind Hoenn which was fascinating to read about. Zinnia was another great addition to the storyline, her quirky characteristics made her quickly become one of my favourite characters from the series. Finally, the ending of the Delta Episode storyline wrapped up the games perfectly. Taking all this into account it definitely convinced me that ORAS are my favourite remakes in the series so far!

 

[Starry Windy]

Alpha Sapphire has its fine moments thanks to DexNav, given that I'm able to find several notable Hidden Ability Pokémon in its way. Thanks to it, I caught 2 shiny Pokémon along the way. The first being Plusle, which is surprisingly the 3IV HA Pokémon that I encountered while training my Kyogre, and the second one being a shiny Marill that I discovered near the New Year of 2016 (it's evolved into gold Azumarill now).

 

[Vortexy]

One of my favourite moments from my Omega Ruby adventure would have to be while I was trying to evolve my Magicarp; I was fishing where I caught the Magicarp and ended up finding a shiny one (which was also a higher level), which I caught. Unfortunately the Magicarp I was previously training (the non-shiny one) got abandoned, leaving me with the sparkly one. In the end however, I just made the shiny red Gyrados it evolved into a HM slave, since it was the only water type I kept on me at all times, so it ended up with Waterfall, Dive, Surf and Strength as it's moves.

 

[Guest123_x1]

For quite some time, starting in early 2014, I had been looking at fully getting back into Pokémon gaming on an actual Nintendo handheld system. I had been saving up money for other things over time, and then, by early January 2015, as I had been talking about Pokémon with a job coach that I worked with at the time who was also into Pokémon, I was giving serious thought into buying a 3DS or 2DS and either X, Y, Omega Ruby, or Alpha Sapphire to fully get back into Pokémon gaming.

On January 12, 2015, I drove out to a locally-owned video game store by myself to see what they had, and, by fate, they had a used 2DS and a used copy of Alpha Sapphire, both of which I bought right then.

Once I got home, I spent a bit of time setting up my newly-acquired 2DS and then loaded the Alpha Sapphire card into it. Since the game was used, it had a save file already with six badges, but I decided to erase it, for I wouldn't really know what I'd be doing unless I started out with a new game from the beginning of the story. Over the next several days, I spent much of my time at home on Alpha Sapphire, really enjoying the fact that I had a Pokémon video game on an actual Nintendo system (as opposed to PC emulators) once more.

Things with Alpha Sapphire went quite well until I accidentally dug myself out of the Cave of Origin where Primal Kyorge was and saved, which ended up permanently breaking the save by having the torrential rain continue permanently with no way to ever re-encounter Kyorge when I re-entered the cave, thus making it impossible to continue the story. At this point, which was less than two weeks after getting this game, I had to erase and start a new file, one which I'm still on to this day.

After taking a long hiatus from playing most of the summer, part of the in-between time to play Y, I resumed playing Alpha Sapphire some more in the late fall of 2015, picking up where I left off which was to prepare for the Hoenn League. Part of the reason for the long hiatus was because I had trouble deciding which Pokémon to teach Waterfall to-a situation resolved by teaching said move to a Wailmer that I had boxed, and put in my party solely for climbing the waterfall at Ever Grande City.

Finally reaching the Hoenn League, my favorite moment was taking down Steven's Mega Metagross with my Mega Swampert's Dig, a part which I thought I'd never get past. I had grinded each of the Pokémon in my party to Level 60 before I even went in to challenge the first of the Elite Four. I kept Exp Share on the whole time, resulting in each of my Pokémon going up a few levels by the time I reached Steven. Part of the reason why I resisted getting newer Pokémon games past Generation II was because I thought the mechanical enhancements would make the gameplay experience like trying to play Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

These days, I've focused my Alpha Sapphire playing on catching whatever DexNav hidden Pokémon I can get, as well as getting the Pokémon available in whatever Mirage Spot is available at the time I'm playing. My objective as of now with that game is to catch as many of the available Pokémon I can, as well as breed and evolve certain others, rather than grind my main party Pokémon to Level 100, as I had done with Blue many years ago.

 

[DarkWolf13]

Thanks to the move tutors, I decided to expand my army to a super large scale and it took me a very long time to come up with the sets I wanted and alas, I got the best Pokemon army I can ever assemble. Close to around 900 Pokemon ranging from those from Gen 3, 4, 5 and this Gen so yeah. You may expect to see a Mega Kicking Mega Charizard X from me if you ever encounter me in battle. Since I finished assembling, I've been playing Mock Maison battles non-stop and I really enjoy my setups for my teams. Trying to get the best variety of setups despite the fact that I don't like battling competitively. If there was a 3DS emulator with some ROM Hacking tools for ORAS, I would LOVE to modify the Maison Pokemon and give it a major difficulty spike by allowing Maison trainers to Mega evolve their Pokemon if they're holding their Mega Stone. Oh, and ORAS changed my favoritism towards the Kalos starters... it was Greninja now it's Chesnaught, because its movepool massively increased. It has a bigger movepool than Greninja.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon became my most favorite MD games ever played, despite the ugly super high difficulty it throws but I've beaten that challenge. I love how all Pokemon get EXP without going through dungeons and I like the portraits and models used and on top of that, I'm my all-time favorite Pokemon, Feraligatr, in Super Mystery Dungeon. I'm partnered with Chesnaught.

 

[The Evil Mewtwo]

I remember the boat at Route 104 which goes to Dewford town and Slateport City and I looked at those paintings in Granite Cave and Sky Pillar. I wish I can look at those paintings again.

 

[minoutsuba]

For me, the most memorable thing in OR/AS isn't a certain rare or random event but rather the very game itself. I mean, OR/AS is very memorable for me because this is the first Pokemon game in years that I took the breeding and battling seriously. I don't know why, I'm just captivated by the state of the game now so much so that it compels me to perfect my Pokemon even if that's a very painstakingly long job.

 

[curiousnathan]

I never truly got a chance to experience the Hoenn region in all of its glory as a lot of others have, so ORAS was a perfect opportunity. In many aspects for me it was a new generation. While I knew the Pokemon, I didn't know the region quite as well. It brought back those feelings of exploring a brand new region back again. I can definitely say I was impressed with ORAS. My only gripe is how easy it is. Nonetheless, they were great games!

 

[100greenmen]

Omega Ruby. I seriously thought that there would never be a real remake of the games with hoenn that I had never had a chance to explore. I thought hoenn remakes were a joke. When I heard it was announced I laughed and thought it was a hoax. Then I saw the trailer and was just, dumbfounded. I didn't know what to think. Did Nintendo hear of the "jokes" about a gen 3 remake and think they should make it for the fans and fanboys alike? I'd heard plenty about people who loved the game, but like Nutella, it had it's fair share of haters. So I decided I would skip x/y altogether in favor of this game. And oh boy was this game an experience.

Although I don't think it's bad all by itself, in comparison to the other games I find it bland. I mean most of the pokemon are just as good as the other generation in my opinion, it's the world that comes off as bland. But I'm not here to critique it, (although I do want to) I'm here to tell you about my stages of curiosity, enjoyment, anger, and inspiration all in one playthrough.

So I picked mudkip because I don't generally get water pokemon, was dissapointed you couldn't name your rival, confused as to why I didn't get to battle her right away, but despite that I was still having fun. Going through the story with pokemon I'd never used before is kind of the only thing that I have fun doing in pokemon games anymore, and this journey was particularly enjoyable since it was a new reigon, although most places looked the same, I think I just enjoyed seeing the "new" gym leaders and the most fun I had battling was had when I fought wally.

Well I'd just managed to beat the elite four in my first try (surprisingly easy for me) and I was ready to transfer my pokemon from black 2, to omega ruby. But wait, what's this? You need to get the online pokemon storage thing before you can do that? I simply lost my mind at that point. Got so angry I think my face was red for a few hours, paid the fee, and then found out I couldn't transfer over half of all my pokemon (including my ultimate team) because I'd been using an action replay to alter their stats, movesets, and anything else you can alter. But oddly enough I could transfer the few shiny pokemon I hacked in.

So basically I had to catch em all all over again. And lost my ultimate team. I quit. I transferred them all, and Michael.exe ragequit for a week before deciding to put them all in the online storage service I paid for and was likely to not use it again, start a new game, and get all that I had left into the new one. So I played through the story again but this time, I had a lv 1 absol, larvitar, lileep, frillish, bagon, and torchic as my starter. I would use this team to get through the game, and for the most part, it was fun just travelling at a good pace and beating the elite four again, which seemed harder this time.

Then we get to how this game inspired me. Well basically I want to make or at least design a game where you capture creatures, battle with them, and travel around a great big world, meeting new and interesting people. Because that to me, what makes pokemon fun. I feel that the thing that holds the game back is the limitation of just four moves per pokemon, especially since there so many cool things that you can do with various moves and combos in double and triple battles. In some of the older games exploration was the focus even if battling was the meat. You were never meant to be the best at battling, your goal was to work with your friends to catch em all. Although it may be a good long while, I will do whatever I can do make a game that can improve on a game formula that hasn't changed in 20 years. Really think about that. Sure plenty of other franchises haven't changed the formula much. Other old franchises like fire emblem, call of duty, final fantasy (although that may be the worst example) Have made improvements where they saw a need for them. They saw problems and made small changes to the way the game is played to fix them and freshen it up.

Meanwhile pokemon has had changes that are mostly gimmicks. Without going into too much detail, I feel that gimmicky changes are bogging the game down, now everytime a new game comes out, they have to make sure that the gimmick is included. It just adds more stuff that isn't nececarrily good stuff. It's just stuff. It's sad to see a franchise that has been doing well for so long start to stagnate. It's getting stale and will likely never change for better or worse, but for old(ish) fans like myself, I think change would be welcome. Even if it's still rpg combat with a party of creatures where you hilariously take down the mafia small changes here and there I think could make it a better product.

 

[Dreamless]

Omega Ruby. How to sum it up?

First of all, it was the first Pokemon game I'd played - no, the first I'd laid hands on. God, I'm such a noob.
Second of all? Seriously, I think Kyogre already won that fight with all this water around. Jeez, I hate having to avoid eye contact with everyone I met in that game.

 

[ReoP]

A moment I can remember is from when I was playing Pokemon Emerald in an emulator, though.
I was abot to beat th psychic gim twins, just my Sceptile and the Lunatone, but along the battle, I kind of feel like I could have done better, so for some reason, i let them win. Then went back, better prepared, and had a better fight.
Started with Sceptile and Manectric just to beat the Xatu and Claydol, then changed to Gardevoir, wich I appreciate a lot. Beat the Solrock but and lost almost all my Pokemon team, even the trongest, Sceptile; Then ended up Lunatone vs. Gardevoir. In the end, I felt like my Gardevoir was the best pstchic pokemon there is. And kind of felt really good with myself

 

[Nas160]

Man, I've been wanting to post in here for so long, but I've been worried about starting it and making it perfect since this game means so much to me... I'm hoping it's not too late to post in here...anyhow.

I've been a fan of Pokémon for what seems like my whole life. Growing up in elementary school, it was popular among myself and the other kids. We played together, traded, battled, brought books, cards, and other merchandise to the school, among many other things. I went out and had many playdates at my friends' houses to play and watch Pokémon. It was basically my life, back then. I loved everything- the music, the Pokémon themselves, the gameplay, the anime, etc. When I was 11, I got my first Pokémon game, Emerald. It became a big part of my life ever since then. I was thoroughly hooked on the game, and enjoyed socializing with the other kids through Pokémon. I played it quite a bit, and to this day, I hold it closely and dearly to my heart as one of my favorite games ever.

Fast forward to 2011, I was still quite a bit into Pokémon, I'd played LeafGreen, Diamond, Platinum, and HeartGold since then, as well as quite a few spinoff games (Pinball R&S, Trozei, Mystery Dungeon, Rumble, Ranger). I got White version, played through that, but some time after, my love of Pokémon was starting to dissipate. In 2012, I got White 2, but didn't really do anything past the first or second Gym. Pokémon was slowly drifting away from me. A year later, I got a copy of Y, and virtually did the same thing, never played past the first gym. That, more than anything else, was indicative of me being burned out from Pokémon, and/or just moving onto other interests. Right before this burnout started, I was wishing, waiting for the eventual Hoenn remakes, so I could return to my favorite region, my Pokémon home, and relive the memories I had from when I first got into Pokémon. Unfortunately, not having the Hoenn remakes in Gen 5 probably didn't help me losing my interest.

When ORAS was announced, I don't really remember my initial reaction, other than being pretty happy about it, but probably nothing groundbreaking. I know I would definitely get it eventually. Surprisingly, I didn't preorder or get it on launch day; just goes to show how low my interest fell. I got the ORAS demo in November, I barely remember it because I sadly deleted the data for it to make space for a Smash 3DS update, and thus, never got the rewards when I bought the game. To this day, this is one of my biggest recent regrets.

I got AS in January 2015, and I can definitely say I was enjoying it, but looking back, I don't think I was enjoying it as much as I had wished. Truth be told, I wasn't much of a fan of Y, and the Gen 6 visuals and mechanics, and didn't really care for Mega Evolution. I had rarely played Y and I was already sick of it. Unfortunately, the nostalgia wasn't enough alone. By April-ish, I was at the point where you were in Slateport, delivering the Devon Goods, right before your first Archie encounter. For some reason that I'll probably never know, I fell in a funk again and just stopped playing for a long while. I didn't know how to continue or if I wanted to, and Pokémon was starting to fade away from me for real this time.

Fast forward to summer, I had noticed there was a Pokémon concert near me to happen in July. I naturally got tickets as soon as I could. Long story short, it was my first Pokémon-related outgoing social experience (barring the playdates with friends), and it was just indescribably amazing. The various songs throughout the generations, the passion from the fans, the exhilarating electricity in the air; it's probably quite clear that on that day, I was a fully-fledged Pokémon fan again. The concert gained me back my love for the series and pushed me to play AS once again and beat it, as well as start a new file in Y afterwards. I played through the rest of, and was able to more thoroughly-enjoy AlphaSapphire and the nostalgic goodness it brought me, as well as Gen 6 as whole.

The effect AlphaSapphire and that concert had on me was just, unbelievable. In more ways than one, 2015 was not only my 10th year of playing Pokémon, but also the year I fully came back into it. Together, both of those things reminded me of why I loved Pokémon as a kid, brought my many flashbacks from the music, locales, and dialogue (The air is tasty here!), Pokémon cries, etc., and allowed me to appreciate the games today more now than ever. Today, Pokémon is once again my favorite thing.

Throughout playing AS post-burnout, I was constantly remembering moments or periods in my life when Pokémon was involved, particularly from playing Emerald in school and with friends. I realized that AS and that concert together were a love letter from my past self about why I loved Pokémon so much as a kid, and telling me to get a hold of my love for it again and never let go, and that is a promise I hope to keep forever. That is why AlphaSapphire means so much to me, emotionally and spiritually.

I picked Blaziken as my starter, and was given an Eevee egg to evolve into Leafeon (one of my absolute favorite Pokémon) for my journey. I came to love the Gen 6 features, mechanics, and visuals, and I learned much more about Pokémon mechanics in general and the meta. I loved seeing my childhood enhanced with the remixed versions of music I heard a long time ago (most of the new tracks are great, but I think about/hum the amazing Gym Leader theme at least once a day <3), refurbished old locales, once again meeting the characters from the older games, the fluid and sometimes epic cutscenes, and mixing in the new with the old (mega evolution/Kalos elements in the story, as well as Pokémon exclusive to other regions migrating to Hoenn). I have to say, through and through, this game means everything to me and then some. It was a heck of an emotional trip down memory lane, mixed in with everything that's so good about the modern Pokémon games. Needless to say, this was the Pokémon game for me in my current situation. I don't know if I'll ever let go of Pokémon again in my life, but I can guarantee that will not be any time soon.

There were many, many memorable moments I had with this game. Travelling on Latios' back to Southern Island with Steven, meeting, protecting, and falling in love with Latias, who became my favorite Pokémon from that moment on. Watching the age-old mighty beast of Kyogre reawaken, witnessing Hoenn going into turmoil from the torrential rains, travelling the depths of the Cave of Origin to watch the indescribable Primordial transformation in front of my very eyes, then capturing and taming the beast, and saving Hoenn from potential disaster. Proving my worth at the Pokémon league, teaching Steven the many things I have learned about in my journey through my love and connection with Pokémon. Those and many other amazing moments were had, and through all of them I was thinking back to my earlier Pokémon days, and how far I, and the series, have come. And then beating Steven, watching the emotions flow from once again becoming the Hoenn Champion, having learned so much about myself and my Pokémon, and seeing the credits roll and memories go by. Following the mysterious and endearing Zinnia around, getting to learn the age-old lore of Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon; meeting the green dragon of the heavens itself and protecting Hoenn once again. It's all so perfect. This whole game just brings me a sense of...happiness that I doubt can ever be rivaled.

Ever since AlphaSapphire and the concert, I've been getting closer to Pokémon once again in many ways. I've been buying merchandise (plushies, shirts, etc), playing various spinoffs (Battle Trozei, TCG, Shuffle, Super Mystery Dungeon), getting settled in Pokémon communities like Reddit and this place, watching movies and the anime (catching up with XY), finally[i/] learning how to play the TCG, learning more about the game mechanics, getting into competitive, and many other things. I've been bringing up my old friends from Emerald through White to the modern games, so I can see them and battle with them once again. It's safe to say that Pokémon is once again on top for me, and it'll stay that way for a long time. I'll be sure to be here for the ride and all of the future, upcoming adventures, with so many more memories to have and friends to make. :)


I'm sorry if this is too late... >.<