Ironically, it was the anime, which I wouldn't watch nowadays even if I'd get paid for it.
I just liked anime in general so I gave Pokémon a try because it was on TV, and while watching the first season I learned that it was based on a video game so I decided to get and play the GB games.
Watched up to half of the Hoenn season, then gave up on it because I was pretty much hating the series at that point and so sick of how repetitive it was, it started feeling like a complete waste of time. It was a totally different story with the games though, which I still like and play nowadays from time to time.