Kanto + late Johto parts of OS and Best Wishes!
In most other series, I was only watching for the Rockets, but Kanto was fun to watch all together and late Johto had really nice cameos (Ritchie, Lapras) and good storylines (Larvitar's story was very moving and satisfying, the baby Lugia and Red Gyarados stories too, as well as Pryce and his lost Piloswine, the Ninetales from Just Waiting on a Friend, Whirlpool Cup...).
Best Wishes! was the first time I was genuinely invested in the protagonists and watching for them instead of the world (watching a tape I got as a very little kid, not a regular viewer yet) or TRio (when I joined the fandom).
Iris and Dent were refreshing, quirky and fun, endearing, especially in Japanese. Wishfulshipping was the first ship I really got invested in among the protagonists too (Contestshipping was cute and clearly meant to he canon, Pearlshipping was cute too but I preferred them as best friends, but I was still always stuck on Rocketshipping and never fully invested like with Wishfulshipping).
I never watched Pokemon for the heroes before BW!, I could've just lost interest because the TRio I joined the fandom for weren't acting like themselves, but!! I loved the genuine friendship and the BW! trio's natural, funny and balanced dynamics too much. They easily carried the plot, BW! had good variety in episodes, and never had very very very veeeeery dull fillers that dragged like DP tended to do. I loved all the different rivals, too, everyone got their own, the many tournaments brought fun interactions, etc.
BW!'s style is so charming, too! A cuter, slightly more modern take in the old style.
