The time: Fall/Winter 98
The place: My house
I'd just gotten my latest Disney Adventures magazine in the mail. As I paged through the stories, comics, and features; one ad in the technology section caught my eye: a bunch of weird creatures about to be caught in a huge net. One of the creatures caught my interest: a tiny yellow mouse with a thunderbolt for a tail. I kept the little guy in mind as I put the now finished magazine on the bookshelf with all my other issues
The next day, at school, I was in art class doodling and talking with one of my best friends. Out of the blue, I asked my friend just WHAT was this "Pokemon" thing that was taking the school (a junior high/middle school, mind you) by storm. My friend calmly reached into his backpack and showed me a figurine of the mouse creature! He tells me its name is "Pikachu". We spent all of art class trying to draw "Pikachu" as he tried to explain about the show to me: "Pikachu" belonged to a boy named "Ash", who traveled with his friends "Misty" and "Brock" in hopes "Ash" would become a "Pokemon Master".
Later that day, I was watching TV and having a snack, and a commercial with "Pikachu" in it came on. That was the last straw--I got Blue the next day.
And the rest--is history!