[Life] Days gone by... - Memories & Nostalgia club

Welcome to the Memories & Nostalgia club!​

Did you do something today that triggered a very specific memory which made you feel fuzzy on the inside? Did you stumble upon a video you've first seen 10 years ago? Or did you just randomly remember that your mother baked some fresh cookies when you finally caught that Ragirock in Pokemon Ruby all those years ago? Come on in and share it with us here!
The goal of the club is to create a space where people can share the moments that they look back fondly upon in their life and hopefully connect with others through it. Your story can be as short as a single sentence or a whole wall of text - if a memory is precious to you, it shouldn't be confined by a word count. It doesn't need to be a story from your childhood; nostalgia is a subjective feeling and as long as enough time has passed for you to feel nostalgic about it, go ahead. Feel free to include images to complement your story!

Current memebers:​

Club achievements:​

To apply, use the application form like in the example below:
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What's your name?
LucarioBread

Which era did you grow up in?
2000's

Favorite toy(s) as a child?
Probably a Thomas the tank engine set from Tomy, the one which came with special rails so Thomas would say something when he went over them. And not really a toy, but a picture book called "Owl Babies" about the three owlets waiting for their mother to return from the hunt.


Share a memory or 2!
Waking up at my grandma's place and hearing the doves calling in the morning. I made sure to wake up in time for the new episode of Pokemon Advanced and it was the Devon corp. episode with Max and Mr. Stone.

When playing Pokemon Ruby for the first time and awakening Groudon, I thought to myself: "wow what a mess, I can't be bothered right now" so I went to play outside. I picked up a freshly cut apple branch (it was pruning season) and stuck a piece of paper on it to form a wing, pretending I'm a narrator in a dinosaur documentary and I was explaining how the wings of Sordes functioned.

Playing World of Warcraft and leveling in Nagrand on my Warlock for the first time when my mom calls me to come downstairs for the blueberry pie. To this day I always associate the 2.
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I'm looking forward to getting comfy and feeling fuzzy while exchanging stories!

Name: Miss Wendighost

Era: 2000s

Favorite Childhood Toys: Rose Gold Nintendo DS and Littlest Pet Shop



Memories: Watching Finding Nemo and Charlotte's Web (1973) on loop with my grandparents



Trying (and failing) to beat The Devil Went Down to Georgia in Guitar Hero and Eating those to-go containers of ceral while watching my dad's Star Wars VHS collection

What's your name?
CiCi

Which era did you grow up in?
1990s

Favorite toy(s) as a child?
My video game consoles. The Playstation, the OG one, was my first. I don't have it anymore, pretty sure it broke. But I still have my old Gamecube that I dropped down the stairs accidentally, lmao. And my stuffed animals! Most of the ones I have currently are ones I had back then. I got rid of some a long time ago and regret doing so. Wish I had them back :(

Share a memory or 2!
Nothing too specific, just lots of memories of playing video games and watching cartoons as a kid. Spyro the Dragon, Oblivion, Fallout, Animal Crossing, Sonic Adventure 2, among other games. And Ed, Edd, n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, Arthur, Pokémon (obvs), YuGiOh (mmm, evil Bakura 🖤), among other cartoons.

Welcome both of you to the club! Glad to have you on board!

Miss Wendighost said:

Favorite Childhood Toys: Rose Gold Nintendo DS and Littlest Pet Shop

Memories: Watching Finding Nemo and Charlotte's Web (1973) on loop with my grandparents

Trying (and failing) to beat The Devil Went Down to Georgia in Guitar Hero and Eating those to-go containers of ceral while watching my dad's Star Wars VHS collection

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Thank you for including the images - I hope you had your dose of nostalgia while looking for them :)
Littlest Pet Shop was a throwback. I remember the TV commercials and when you were going to a female classmate's birthday, Littlest Pet Shop was a very safe present choice.
Star Wars VHS collection, eh? My aunt had (and still has) the first movie on VHS. That was my first exposure to Star Wars, although I had no clue what was going on at the time because I could barely read and my english was very rudimentary at the time. I remember we were eating Turkish delight while watching it; like with Nagrand and blueberry pie, I still connect Star Wars and Turkish delight to this day.

CiCi said:

Favorite toy(s) as a child?
My video game consoles. The Playstation, the OG one, was my first. I don't have it anymore, pretty sure it broke. But I still have my old Gamecube that I dropped down the stairs accidentally, lmao. And my stuffed animals! Most of the ones I have currently are ones I had back then. I got rid of some a long time ago and regret doing so. Wish I had them back :(

Share a memory or 2!
Nothing too specific, just lots of memories of playing video games and watching cartoons as a kid. Spyro the Dragon, Oblivion, Fallout, Animal Crossing, Sonic Adventure 2, among other games. And Ed, Edd, n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, Arthur, Pokémon (obvs), YuGiOh (mmm, evil Bakura 🖤), among other cartoons.

Click to expand...

I still have my Playstation and it's still working just fine. My brother and I got it from our much older cousin once he didn't really play on it anymore. We still fire it up from time to time and play some Crash Team Racing.
I kept most of my stuffed animals from my childhood - while the majority are vacuumed and stored in the attic, I still keep some of the most sentimental ones in my room, notably a giraffe plushie that I received from my parents when they went to Vienna.
We didn't really get Nick shows over here, only Spongebob, but we did get CN shows like Ed, Edd n Eddy (which I remember enjoying, but can't remember many specifics about the episodes), Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken and Powerpuff Girls. I didn't watch YuGiOh despite the craze around it and I kinda dodged the entire franchise as a kid.

What's your name?
starseed

Which era did you grow up in?
I was born in 1988, but I mostly grew up in the 90s.

Favorite toy(s) as a child?
Hm... I really loved playing with Hot Wheels cars. This was before they started really expanding and stuff. Oh, and Rugrats Studio Tour on PS2 (or 1?). I still have my original disc too! It doesn't work anymore, but it means a lot to me still.


Share a memory or 2!

90s Nick/Cartoon Network/Disney. Back whn cartoons actually had meaning and weren't shitty like today. I get really nostalgic about these things because they were an important part of my childhood. One of the shows that really speaks to me was Shining Time Station. It was based on the original Thomas the Tank Engine stories. This show sparked my love for trains at a very young age. I loved watching this as a kid, but I feel like people don't know it exists. :( Also, Pokemon Yellow because that was the first time I got into Pokemon... look at me now. :D

What's your name?
Lil MuDkiP849

Which era did you grow up in?
1990's

Favorite toy(s) as a child?.
Nintendo 64

Share a memory or 2!
Outside of general gaming, I really miss going to arcades. There was this one big arcade center called sports plus around where I live. It was a giant kind of "sports center" it was called, but it was really a gigantic arcade with all the classics. Time Crises 2, The Simpsons arcade, Marvel vs Capcom 1, House of the Dead 1 and 2, it had it all. I went there since the 7th grade every weekend, with my then friends using the big ice skating rink it had to hang out, before it turned into weekly DDR sessions. How did that start? Well...I remember the DDR 4th mix machine being placed out in the middle of the entire big center, and my anxiety looking at it wanting to try it out. DDR is an arcade game where it plays a song, usually J-pop or techno, to 4 directional arrows you have to press in accordance with the beat, basically a rhythm dancing game. And yes, it was common for crowds to check out the people playing it. So looking at it my initial thoughts were "What if people laugh at how bad I am? What if I mess up? What if I fell in front of everyone playing it?" Were my initial thoughts looking at the machine. When I finally stepped up and tried it, my anxiety grew with how loud the game was. "DANCE...DANCE...REVO-LUTIONNNN!!" I just wanted it to be quiet at the time, so nobody would notice me if I messed up xD.

I can still hear the exact sound of the announcer in my head as I type. I don't remember what songs I played on easy, but I remember as soon as I just started playing, my anxiety evaporated and I had a lot of fun. Quarters turned to dollars, dollars turned to tens, then twenties, it always felt every weekend I wanted to play more but ran out of quarters extremely quickly. Sooner or later, my other friends stopped going, but I continued going every weekend even by myself. I met newer friends, I even met my first girlfriend playing DDR there together with her in public. Months went by, the school week felt like it lasted forever waiting for my DDR weekend. I was very happy with myself at the time, the game itself made me fit, I was very social and outgoing, it lifted my anxiety in those kinds of situations playing hardcore songs in front of so many people, and it created moments clearing the hardest songs in front of crowds memories that will last forever.

But nothing does last forever, not Sports Plus at least. As the years continued to go by, the quality of the people going there dwindled, and more and more security precautions had to be taken right at the front door. You had to pay $20 to even get inside, due to hoodlums going in and wrecking machines. Outside at night, eventually it became a toxic risk factor for second hand smoke there were so many people outside smoking and hanging since they couldn't get in. It got so bad, even I myself stopped going and went to another arcade(which is another story in and of itself!). I didn't know it at the time, but my leaving and I'm sure many other people leaving and more factors built up to the eventual closure of the big arcade. I discovered as such driving by it one day looking over to see it, only to see a bunch of dust and construction in what remained of it. Seeing that hit me like it knocked the wind out of me, it felt like it just..came and went almost..like as much as I treasured I left it and didn't treasure it enough. There is still nothing like it to this day, and I'm posting about it here since today waking up...I saw and felt as if I was my old 7th grade self walking through those bright doors on a sunny weekend afternoon, seeing that DDR machine for the first time again...

First of all, welcome to the club! Enjoy your stay!

starseed said:

Favorite toy(s) as a child?
Hm... I really loved playing with Hot Wheels cars. This was before they started really expanding and stuff. Oh, and Rugrats Studio Tour on PS2 (or 1?). I still have my original disc too! It doesn't work anymore, but it means a lot to me still.


Share a memory or 2!

90s Nick/Cartoon Network/Disney. Back whn cartoons actually had meaning and weren't shitty like today. I get really nostalgic about these things because they were an important part of my childhood. One of the shows that really speaks to me was Shining Time Station. It was based on the original Thomas the Tank Engine stories. This show sparked my love for trains at a very young age. I loved watching this as a kid, but I feel like people don't know it exists. :( Also, Pokemon Yellow because that was the first time I got into Pokemon... look at me now. :D

Click to expand...

Heck yea, Hot Wheels! My brothers and I had a lot of them. We had no tracks, so what we'd do is, take VHS tape boxes as buildings and our animal and plant toys and we'd make like a racing track through a zoo or something. Mostly under the influence of Re-Volt (a racing game for the PC) where one of the tracks was a botanical garden.
I think there's an argument to be made whether or not all cartoons today are shitty, but I get that there wasn't as many cartoons made for the lowest common denominator. Shining Time Station is something I've never heard of; my experience of Thomas as a kid was mostly through books and a DVD that my dad bought over amazon when I was little. I'll ask him about it, but that might've been one of the first online purchases we've ever made. It wasn't subtitled and I couldn't understand English, but I was still entertained and watched it countless times. I supposedly already liked trains before Thomas, but it definitely contributed to my fascination with miniatures today.

Lil MuDkiP849 said:

Share a memory or 2!
Outside of general gaming, I really miss going to arcades. There was this one big arcade center called sports plus around where I live. It was a giant kind of "sports center" it was called, but it was really a gigantic arcade with all the classics. Time Crises 2, The Simpsons arcade, Marvel vs Capcom 1, House of the Dead 1 and 2, it had it all. I went there since the 7th grade every weekend, with my then friends using the big ice skating rink it had to hang out, before it turned into weekly DDR sessions. How did that start? Well...I remember the DDR 4th mix machine being placed out in the middle of the entire big center, and my anxiety looking at it wanting to try it out. DDR is an arcade game where it plays a song, usually J-pop or techno, to 4 directional arrows you have to press in accordance with the beat, basically a rhythm dancing game. And yes, it was common for crowds to check out the people playing it. So looking at it my initial thoughts were "What if people laugh at how bad I am? What if I mess up? What if I fell in front of everyone playing it?" Were my initial thoughts looking at the machine. When I finally stepped up and tried it, my anxiety grew with how loud the game was. "DANCE...DANCE...REVO-LUTIONNNN!!" I just wanted it to be quiet at the time, so nobody would notice me if I messed up xD.

I can still hear the exact sound of the announcer in my head as I type. I don't remember what songs I played on easy, but I remember as soon as I just started playing, my anxiety evaporated and I had a lot of fun. Quarters turned to dollars, dollars turned to tens, then twenties, it always felt every weekend I wanted to play more but ran out of quarters extremely quickly. Sooner or later, my other friends stopped going, but I continued going every weekend even by myself. I met newer friends, I even met my first girlfriend playing DDR there together with her in public. Months went by, the school week felt like it lasted forever waiting for my DDR weekend. I was very happy with myself at the time, the game itself made me fit, I was very social and outgoing, it lifted my anxiety in those kinds of situations playing hardcore songs in front of so many people, and it created moments clearing the hardest songs in front of crowds memories that will last forever.

But nothing does last forever, not Sports Plus at least. As the years continued to go by, the quality of the people going there dwindled, and more and more security precautions had to be taken right at the front door. You had to pay $20 to even get inside, due to hoodlums going in and wrecking machines. Outside at night, eventually it became a toxic risk factor for second hand smoke there were so many people outside smoking and hanging since they couldn't get in. It got so bad, even I myself stopped going and went to another arcade(which is another story in and of itself!). I didn't know it at the time, but my leaving and I'm sure many other people leaving and more factors built up to the eventual closure of the big arcade. I discovered as such driving by it one day looking over to see it, only to see a bunch of dust and construction in what remained of it. Seeing that hit me like it knocked the wind out of me, it felt like it just..came and went almost..like as much as I treasured I left it and didn't treasure it enough. There is still nothing like it to this day, and I'm posting about it here since today waking up...I saw and felt as if I was my old 7th grade self walking through those bright doors on a sunny weekend afternoon, seeing that DDR machine for the first time again...

Click to expand...

Thank you for such a detailed story, it really transported me to the place and atmosphere you were describing. I guess the largest barrier of stepping out of your comfort zone is the fear of other people's opinion. I'm glad it turned out great for you :)
I don't think I have a place from my childhood that is just straight up gone today. I have, however, lost 3 birding spots last year, including the one I used to visit when I first started and which "raised me", so to speak. I still remember going there the for the first time, hoping to see a Hen Harrier that was supposedly wintering in the area. It was early spring, song of Yellowhammer and Chiffchaff everywhere. Black Redstarts were returning and there was a LOT of them. I remember seeing a Great White Heron for the first time. It's a magical period when you start birding and you keep seeing species you've never seen in real life. No luck with the Harrier though.
About a year ago, the meadows and hedges there got buried under gravel and sand and the vegetation in and on the banks of the stream were stripped and replaced with concrete. The area became off limits as it's currently being used as a spot to store building materials and machines while the works on a nearby railway are in progress. Whenever I come home from Zagreb at the end of the week, I pass by this spot and always feel the same way you feel about the arcade - "I didn't treasure it enough, I should've been here more often".

Lil MuDkiP849 said:

What's your name?
Lil MuDkiP849

Which era did you grow up in?
1990's

Favorite toy(s) as a child?.
Nintendo 64

Share a memory or 2!
Outside of general gaming, I really miss going to arcades. There was this one big arcade center called sports plus around where I live. It was a giant kind of "sports center" it was called, but it was really a gigantic arcade with all the classics. Time Crises 2, The Simpsons arcade, Marvel vs Capcom 1, House of the Dead 1 and 2, it had it all. I went there since the 7th grade every weekend, with my then friends using the big ice skating rink it had to hang out, before it turned into weekly DDR sessions. How did that start? Well...I remember the DDR 4th mix machine being placed out in the middle of the entire big center, and my anxiety looking at it wanting to try it out. DDR is an arcade game where it plays a song, usually J-pop or techno, to 4 directional arrows you have to press in accordance with the beat, basically a rhythm dancing game. And yes, it was common for crowds to check out the people playing it. So looking at it my initial thoughts were "What if people laugh at how bad I am? What if I mess up? What if I fell in front of everyone playing it?" Were my initial thoughts looking at the machine. When I finally stepped up and tried it, my anxiety grew with how loud the game was. "DANCE...DANCE...REVO-LUTIONNNN!!" I just wanted it to be quiet at the time, so nobody would notice me if I messed up xD.

I can still hear the exact sound of the announcer in my head as I type. I don't remember what songs I played on easy, but I remember as soon as I just started playing, my anxiety evaporated and I had a lot of fun. Quarters turned to dollars, dollars turned to tens, then twenties, it always felt every weekend I wanted to play more but ran out of quarters extremely quickly. Sooner or later, my other friends stopped going, but I continued going every weekend even by myself. I met newer friends, I even met my first girlfriend playing DDR there together with her in public. Months went by, the school week felt like it lasted forever waiting for my DDR weekend. I was very happy with myself at the time, the game itself made me fit, I was very social and outgoing, it lifted my anxiety in those kinds of situations playing hardcore songs in front of so many people, and it created moments clearing the hardest songs in front of crowds memories that will last forever.

But nothing does last forever, not Sports Plus at least. As the years continued to go by, the quality of the people going there dwindled, and more and more security precautions had to be taken right at the front door. You had to pay $20 to even get inside, due to hoodlums going in and wrecking machines. Outside at night, eventually it became a toxic risk factor for second hand smoke there were so many people outside smoking and hanging since they couldn't get in. It got so bad, even I myself stopped going and went to another arcade(which is another story in and of itself!). I didn't know it at the time, but my leaving and I'm sure many other people leaving and more factors built up to the eventual closure of the big arcade. I discovered as such driving by it one day looking over to see it, only to see a bunch of dust and construction in what remained of it. Seeing that hit me like it knocked the wind out of me, it felt like it just..came and went almost..like as much as I treasured I left it and didn't treasure it enough. There is still nothing like it to this day, and I'm posting about it here since today waking up...I saw and felt as if I was my old 7th grade self walking through those bright doors on a sunny weekend afternoon, seeing that DDR machine for the first time again...

Click to expand...

This kind of reminds me of a pizza chain that used to be in my area. You got a table, your drink and they had a buffet of pizza, cinnamon rolls, brownies and something else. In the back of the area was a mini arcade next to the bathrooms. I believe I had a birthday party there once as a kid, but I can't remember when. Now, I can only get it by crossing state lines or going upstate and it's now a Mexican place (not bad in all actuality).

Hi everyone! I'd like to announce the club's first mission/quest/event thing.
Over the course of this week, I'd like you to think really hard and figure out the following:
What is the first thing you remember?
And I mean literally the oldest memory you still have, mostly likely being just a moment or a single event.

For me, it's getting out of the bedroom and proclaiming to my parent: "I've grown all the way up to the ceiling!"
I'm very confident this is my oldest memory because a 3-4 year old me thought that you don't remember anything as a baby, but then you "evolve" from a baby to a little boy overnight and that's when you start to remember things. This memory, of course, being the indisputable evidence for the theory.
A couple of years back, I gathered some clues to figure out when the mentioned event occurred:
- I still have clear memories of my deceased grandfather who passed away in autumn of 2002, including a Christmas memory
- I could both speak normally and run, something I was capable of by the end of 2000
- when I was a kid, I used to sleep in a sleeping bag during colder months and on this occasion I did not sleep in it
Based on all of this, I think it happened in spring/summer of 2001 when I just turned or was almost 2 years old.

Was your first memory something silly like this? I'm looking forward to your replies!

What is the first thing you remember?

I have a horrible memory, but the first thing I can remember is going to Disney World in the 1st grade. I went up to Mickey Mouse and said "I've been waiting my whole life to meet you". Not a very big memory to discuss, but it's definitely quite meaningful. <3

The first memory I have is around 2004-2005. I went to a kindergarten and had a Dr. Suess pinata for someone's birthday or Read Across America day along with green eggs and ham. I also remember getting a kid's bible (remember, the kindergarten was next to a church) from my teacher with a verse everyday of the year with context, discussion and a prayer. I don't know the exact title or where it is.

Miss Wendighost said:

This kind of reminds me of a pizza chain that used to be in my area. You got a table, your drink and they had a buffet of pizza, cinnamon rolls, brownies and something else. In the back of the area was a mini arcade next to the bathrooms. I believe I had a birthday party there once as a kid, but I can't remember when. Now, I can only get it by crossing state lines or going upstate and it's now a Mexican place (not bad in all actuality).

Click to expand...

Ohh that sounds amazing. The mexican place still have that arcade? A buffet with pizza and arcade games sounds like a real nice recipe for nostalgia, though Mexican food isn't a bad second choice either.

LucarioBread said:

What is the first thing you remember?

Click to expand...

Honestly? Probably my earliest Christmas where I got opened out of my presents an old SEGA master system, as well as this Frankenstein toy. I probably recall this as earliest memory, since at the time being so young, this christmas I was like one of those kids you see on a presents opening montage.."Whoaaaa coooolll!!" to the Frankenstein, and of course my first ever gaming system. The Frankenstein I could open its chest, push buttons on his heart, his lungs, and he would even ask to be "shocked" to be fed haha. I remember when I shocked him he would go "Ohhh thank you!" lol! I nicknamed him "Franky", original I know ;P.

My first memory is labeling every plank of wood on the paneled walls of our old basement. I just asked my mom about it the other day and she said I was 3 years old when it happened. And that I made it to 88 before I ran out of panels. :P Good thing the back of the basement was unfinished or goodness knows how many I would've labeled before I got caught.

Then I was made to clean it up, which I don't remember as well, except for sitting on the top of the steps, cleaning the 4, and crying cuz I didn't realize that what I did was wrong. I don't remember cleaning the rest, but we did have very faded numbers on the panels before we painted them.

Lil MuDkiP849 said:

Ohh that sounds amazing. The mexican place still have that arcade? A buffet with pizza and arcade games sounds like a real nice recipe for nostalgia, though Mexican food isn't a bad second choice either.

Click to expand...

No, I think the arcade is now storage. I think I went to a branch in another state (WV) for my brother's birthday a few years ago. Dear Helix did that pizza and brownies taste good. I think there was also a Blockbuster next door until 2007-2008.

First of all, thank you all for participating in the club's first memory trip (I think that's what I'll call these "missions" from now)! I always loved how first memories can be the most random of things.
Second - as you might have seen, we've received the Club of the month award! It wouldn't be possible without the support you've all given to the club. Let's keep sharing stories with each other for many months, maybe years, to come!

With that out of the way, I thought of the club's second memory trip. This time the question is:
What did your first playthrough of a Pokemon game look like and do you have any specific memories about it?

For me, Pokemon Ruby was the first game. Note that I was a that point familiar with pretty much all Hoenn Pokemon through the anime and a
Pokemon Advanced sticker album (which I ended up completing).
I still remember the team I beat the Elite Four with for the first time. It was a lineup of Swampert (with Mudkip being my first Pokemon ever), Shiftry, Altaria, Walrein, Seadra and Flygon. Some other friends I had along the way, but ultimately boxed were Beautifly, Mawile, Manectric, Kadabra and Torkoal.

So what did this adventure look like?
Here are some small things I remember. I caught a Wurmple hoping it would become a Dustox, which it didn't. Brawly was really tough. Second battle with May took me 3 or 4 tries. I was scared of going into New Mauville because of the music . Winnona's Altaria kept wrecking my team with Earthquake. I had no idea how contests worked, but I enjoyed them despite loosing most of the time. I kept Water Gun on Swampert over Earthquake because I felt like Water Gun was its signature move. Since my english was pretty poor at the time, I got stuck after Mauville and didn't know how to get to Lavaridge (I thought it was beyond the boulder in the Fiery Path). I caught a Horsea and Abra because I liked both Kingdra and Alakazam respectively, but didn't have anyone to trade with. Seadra stuck on my team for some reason and I remember it had Dragon Dance and Return, probably Hydro Pump and some water HM as well. I thought Battle Tower was the most unfair thing ever. I caught Groudon in the Master Ball and had a lot of trouble with Latios later.

A larger story I'd like to tell is that of how I caught Regis and the bonding experience between my dad and me.
They were in my sticker album, but where do I get them. Dad comes in like a champ, finds an entire walkthrough (with pictures!) online and prints it out. As I mentioned earlier, my english was pretty poor, so the walkthrough was basically useless without my dad being there. We sat down one evening (after eating mac n cheese for dinner) and my dad read me the instructions and together we embarked on this scavenger hunt. I had no idea you could fish a Wailord, so I actually trained a Wailmer to 40 for this occasion. We opened the ruins and I remember we went for Regice first because I thought he was the coolest (no pun intended). I failed to catch it a couple of times before it was bedtime. I caught it after I came back home from preschool, but was now stuck because I had no idea how to open the other 2 chambers. That afternoon was one of the longest ones ever as I awaited dad's arrival. That evening we managed to catch the other 2.

That walkthrough he printed... the images were in mediocre to poor quality. And in one of the images, the player was using a Deoxys, a Pokemon that wasn't in the sticker album, so I was like :O
Because of poor quality, I thought Deoxys was an Aipom evolution. To me it looked like an orange Aipom that now had 2 feathers for its tail instead.

My first Pokemon game was Red version waaaayyy back when. I remember some bits but nothing too major. I liked to sit in Lavender Town and just play the music cuz it was my favorite (even back then, I was a young edgelord. Some things never change).

I remember specifically being in the middle of a battle and getting called to eat dinner. I had the game off to the side while I ate, and when I came back I didn't remember that I was in a trainer battle. The trainer had a Bellsprout and I was ecstatic cuz it was a Pokemon I didn't have. So I tried to catch it. I'd never tried to catch a trainer's Pokemon before that so imagine my little 6-year-old face when the Poke Ball got slapped away. xD

I don't remember too much about that original playthrough, though. Don't even know if I beat it, but I'm pretty sure I made it to Victory Road.

My first Pokemon game was Platinum around 2009. Here's a quick list of memories from that time:

• Naming my rival after my third grade hampster for some reason
• Giving my starter the nickname of Cutie in all caps on accident
• Accidentally setting my location to Afghanistan on the Nintendo Wi-Fi thing
• Crying because I couldn't beat Gardenia because I didn't know about typing
• Abusing the snot out of contests
• Trying to get Rotom in the TV at the Old Chateau in broad daylight
• Wasting copious amounts of time and virtual money at the Veilstone Game Corner
• Getting scared by the Old Chateau music
• Exploring Mt. Cornet

I don't think I finished that copy though, but I got plenty of time to do it.

LucarioBread said:

What did your first playthrough of a Pokemon game look like and do you have any specific memories about it?

Click to expand...

Mine was Pokemon Yellow. I don't really remember my first playthrough but... I remember standing in Route 1 and Lavender Town and listening to their songs over and over. <3

If there's something that the lock-down allowed many people to do, it's to catch up on all kinds of movies and series. For me, my brother and I randomly pulled one of our VHS tapes with cartoons that our grandma recorded for us when we were little. This gave me the idea for our 3rd Memory trip: Which cartoons and shows do you remember watching as a child?

Early 2000s were interesting in terms of the children's programming on the Croatian television. It was very diverse: educational program was of high quality and memorable, anime like Pokemon, Digimon, YuGiOh and Shaman King were airing early in the morning, as well as a bunch of British cartoons.
The British cartoons have a special place in my heart. I rarely find people of my age that remember them unfortunately. My favorite of those was... I'd say Percy The Park Keeper, a series of stories about a gardener and his animal friends taking care of parks. Probably had a hand in me developing an interest in gardening.
Some others I remember are Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Lost Toys and Kipper.

As it seems to be the trend in every Slavic country, Czech and Slovak cartoons found their way into the programming. I absolutely loved Krtek. I mentioned it in the birding club (rip), but the Sedge Warbler became one of my favorite birds because it appeared on the show. A Je To! was funny even though no words were spoken. There's a slav meme going around that goes something along the lines of: "as a kid, you watch A Je To for the laughs, but as you grow older you realize it's actually the primary text book of the slavic engineering".

From Croatian cartoons, Little Flying Bears and Hlapić were huuuuuuge. Especially Hlapić, I remember all the merchandise you could buy: from candy, snacks and juice to plushies, notebooks and key chains. I think it might've been an attempt to make Hlapić what Krtek is to Czechs, but he seems to have fallen into obscurity today. The cartoons at the very least, the book it's based is still a mandatory read in schools and anyone you ask can at least somewhat tell you the story.

Got any room for me in the nostalgia club?

Earlier I was listening to Happy Angel, and it brought back heart-warming memories of dancing with friends to drr as a teen. It spurred me to finally knock on this door. There are some songs that just transport you back to more innocent times, and the pokemon theme songs still make my heart flutter with excitement and fill me with nostalgia and joy.

What's your name?
Sam or VisionofMilotic if you prefer, I answer to both.

Which era did you grow up in?

I was a kid during the 90s-2000s

Favorite toy(s) as a child?

Lego blocks, Play-doh and Barbie dolls-- I had all the Disney-themed dolls, and saved up my allowance to buy a big Dollhouse for them all. I also very fond of a set of talking Ren & Stimpy dolls with pull strings and Toy Story collectibles-- especially Woody.

Share a memory or 2!

When I was in daycare both of my parents were working, but I would at the end of the day go to my Grandmother's house that was just across the street. She took care of me. I would be hungry at the end day, and I looked forward to eatting a plate of her baked chicken and egg noodles. It was a simple-working class dish, but to me it was so flavorful and savory, warmed me up on those cold autumn days as I waddled inside. My Grandmother was a calm presence, and I felt safe with her.

I have a memory also of giving my grandmother a toy ring. There was an old Hasboro toy called Treasure Rocks. It was a jewelry making kit for kids with big plastic costume jewelry settings to make rings, bracelets, tiaras etc. The kit came with rocks, and when you added water to them and a special solution to pebbles would change colors to look like they were gemstone--it was a cute and creative idea, and I was amazed by it. On my grandmother's birthday I presented her with a big purple ring I made courtesy of Treasure Rocks, and she treated it like it was really worth gold or diamonds and humbly displayed it in her jewelry box with her most prized heirlooms. It made me feel proud, as though I had done something special ^_^

To answer more recent questions, What did your first playthrough of a Pokemon game look like and do you have any specific memories about it?

My first playthrough of a Pokemon game was Yellow. I was small, so I was pretty bad at it, and I did a lot of silly things like not knowing that I could change the order of my party, so I started every battle in the game with Pikachu, but it became a natural level 100 Pikachu, no rare candies.

I had a Haunter was on my team, but didn't really understand how all the moves worked so I deleted hypnosis on Haunter at one point but kept Dream Eater, not realizing that a Pokemon needed to be asleep for Dream Eater to work, and there's no move relearned in gen 1, so I could not have a hypnosis haunter. Because I liked Haunter thoughI developed a strategy around it. One of my other star players was a Vileplume, and I would use Vileplume to put enemies to sleep with sleep powder then switch on my Haunter with Dream Eater. It worked pretty good for me actually, because I had better accuracy than Hypnosis with sleep powder, and since victims of sleep take a full turn waking up on a sleep I didn't mind having to forfeit a turn to switch out.

I was also clueless about how evolutionary stones worked at first, and thought using one triggered pokemon to all Pokémon to evolve as long as you had the right type of stone. I foolishly bought a firestone in Celadon City for my Chameleon, thinking he would immediately become a Charizard I could sweep Erica with.

Which cartoons and shows do you remember watching as a child?

Pokemon of course! I lamented that I often missed Pokemon during the weekdays because by the time the bus would take me home from school after riding around some hours the show would be over. I was literally the last kid on the route to be taken home tragically, so I usually only got to watch Pokémon on Saturday mornings or during Summer break, but there was sometimes a special treat for me.

On Fridays my mother worked a different schedule and could pick me up from school. I not only got home earlier, but because it was the end of the week and didn't want to cook we might get take out. She would pick up a pizza, or drop by a local deli on the way home, get us some subs, sodas, fries etc. I would raid the cookies and candy. I was thrilled because there was a video store right next to the deli, and they had pokemon titles, both movies and games. It was very exciting, and if my mom thought I was well-behaved them I could rent something for the weekend. I remember renting pokemon Snap and playing it on N64, and also Super smash Bros and being Pikachu! One time I rented the Second Pokemon movie Power of One, and on different occasions I would find different episodes of the tv show, what they had in stock varied from week to week. Sometimes they were old episodes I had already seen before, but I didn't mind, any pokemon was good pokemon.

Further back in time there was another tv show that I think is largely forgotten now called Papa Beaver's story time that I remember when I was wee high. It featured fables and fairy tales, something I loved to this day.

Other children show's I loved as a tot were Sesame Street, Muppet Babies and all of the shows featuring muppets, or Puppet's of any kind, another forgotten but sweet one was Eureka's Castle. If any children's show counts and not just cartoon characters then I loved Mr Rogers' Neighborhood, and would have loved to have him as my real neighbor.