The Tales We Share

Hi everyone! I am fairly new to this forum community. I have been working on a little project writing about my experiences with the Pokemon games throughout the years. This was a personal project for me to reminisce about my childhood, but I figured I would share it with a community. I think this is where I would post it (sorry if it isn't!) A lot of us share some awesome experiences with Pokemon, and if you're curious, I plan on sharing mine. All the way from the beginning of my Pokemon journeys in 2008, to now. I hope you will find some enjoyment out of reading my experiences, maybe even laugh but I'm no comedian. You will probably cringe at my lack of experience at the beginning. Any thoughts, comments or criticisms on my writing would be greatly appreciated!

Part One:
It was December 24th, 2008. My family has a tradition of letting me and my brother open one present on Christmas eve. I remember quickly choosing the gift that looked like a DS case. To my excitement, I quickly unwrapped the gift and read the bold letters on the case: Pokemon Diamond. Now, this would be my first journey into the Pokemon games. I would watch reruns of Pokemon Master Quest after school so I knew what Pokemon was. I did not know much though. The only thing eight-year-old me was thinking about was getting a Pikachu. So I took the wrapping off the case, put the cartridge in my DS, and began what would become a passion for years to come.

I reached the part where Starly attacked my character and my buddy Jake (I wasn't exactly creative with choosing names). In about 30 seconds, I knew who would become my first Pokemon partner ever. All of the options looked awesome, but I knew in my heart it was a no-brainer to go with Chimchar. I could not resist what seemed like a monkey with his butt on fire. He was the first Pokemon I ever evolved, and he just got cooler every time. He was also the first Pokemon I had to reach level 100. His final evolution, Infernape, is still my favorite Pokemon to this day. I feel an emotional attachment to my first Chimchar more than any Pokemon I have ever trained. It's hard to explain how I can be attached to a bunch of pixels on a screen, but I just was. He really did feel like a pet; I believe wholeheartedly that pets are family so I guess you could say he was family to me. Anyway enough about my love for my starter.

Like any eight-year-old kid would do, I would only train my starter and use my other Pokemon as sacrifices to revive my starter in battle. The first gym was a pain until I grinded Chimchar's level so he could evolve into Monferno. Crasher Wake was my worst nightmare when I got to him. All of my Infernape's moves were ineffective against his Gyrados. I eventually got a win through luck. Little did I know, my journey was about to become a drag.

A few days after Christmas, my parents were going to a New Years party. Of course, I had to bring my DS along and show all the kids my Monferno. I had no idea the kid I would meet was a Pokemon fanatic. He had Pokemon posters all over his room, a Pokemon bed, Pokemon Cards, Pokemon toys, the Pokemon Ultimate Handbook, I could go on for a while; this dude had it all. While I was on reruns of Master Quest on TV, he had DVDs of all the episodes of Battle Frontier. The kid was a few years older than me so I knew he was a seasoned veteran when it comes to pokemon. Of course, little me had to ask the question that was bugging me as soon as I entered his room: "Do you have a Pikachu?" Not only did he tell me that he had one, but he also said he would trade it to me. I was ecstatic, I also had no idea that I could catch one for myself in the Trophy Garden. He told me to trade him whatever so I gave him a Buneary (your sacrifice will never be forgotten). He also decided to help me out by using an Action Replay on my game. He gave me 999 of every item, but I didn't understand how that was helpful at the time. He also made it so I had the national dex. He used this one cheat that made it so your character could walk through trees and buildings (since I did not know how to fly yet). He walked my character all the way back to Professor Rowan's lab so I could get the national dex dialogue. By that time I had to go home so I saved and turned off my DS. When I got home I was in for a surprise when I realized I could no longer walk through trees, still didn't know how to fly, and had no idea where to go. It stressed me out so I avoided the game for a few days. Eventually, I got back on track, but it took me a few hours to figure out where to go. Also, maybe I didn't know how to use him, but Pikachu sucked in battle. I swear he would get knocked out every time I used him.

A few days after that, I was on my way home from school on the bus. I was telling my friend how I was at some point in the game before the 7th gym and showed him my party. He saw my high leveled Infernape and the rest of my party that was not so high level. He offered to help me out a bit. Eight-year-old me wasn't going to pass on some free help (cause it worked sooo great last time). I let him borrow my cartridge for a few days. I get the game back and I have this high-level party, including a Dialga. Now we didn't explain the terms of what he was going to help me with, but I didn't think he was going to play through the rest of the game for me. He did leave me with a party I fell in love with though: Gengar (which he named Gaspar so I thought for awhile his actual name was Gaspar), Abomasnow, Aerodactyl, Staraptor, Dialga, and my Infernape. A bunch of internet guides later to figure out where the heck I was in the game, I decided to head to the battle tower. I did the quest at Stark Mountain and was excited to battle Heatran since he would technically be the first legendary I got to fight. In my inexperience, I did not save before the battle. I was struggling to catch it; its health was in the red, but I was unaware how giving it a status effect would boost my chances of catching him. Like the amazing trainer I was, I thought of the bright idea to lower his health just a tad bit more. Well, that worked wonders as I heard its cry and watched it faint. So... that sucked. I finished my journey by going against the Elite Four again. It was no easy task, but I was proud to accomplish something on my own (sort of). I had no idea what type matchups were so I would just pray for any move I used to be super effective against Cynthia's Garchomp. That Pokemon still haunts me.

The game definitely took me a while as I checked recently my Pokemon Diamond game was up to 207 hours. For some people that is a normal playthrough for them as they do everything the game has to offer. For me, I do not have a Pokemon game that has that many hours on it so I have no idea how I made it to that point. My journey did take a little longer than the average person since I didn't know what I was doing, but over 200 hours? I did do a ton of trading back and forth with other gen 4 games. Trading wasn't exactly quick back then. I remember having to catch "useless" Pokemon on one game cartridge so I could trade them for the Pokemon I wanted to put on the next game. Luckily my younger brother had his own DS so I could just borrow his to trade back and forth.

Anyway, that was my first Pokemon journey. Looking back, I was so young and inexperienced. I totally sucked at the game; however, the fact I remember all this shows how memorable that first experience was. I am sure most of us have had those "first experiences" with pokemon that changed our lives forever. Pokemon Diamond introduced me to one of the coolest franchises on the planet. Thank God I asked my parents for a Pokemon game (or gods if you believe in all that; if you don't, I won't discriminate). Even though I was a terrible trainer, I would soon get a chance to redeem myself once I snagged a copy of Pokemon Sapphire. Would it be redemption, or would I repeat the same mistakes… I guess we'll never know.


Just kidding, I have more reminiscing to do.

Hello! So I only skimmed a little bit of this and it did read like a fun journal entry reminiscing past memories. I think having it here is fine, though I might have this tagged as Nonfiction as that's what it seems it is.

Also I want to mention one of the rules of this section is to post your writing instead of linking it. You can easily copy and paste it into your first post. If you do more, I wish you luck!

My 10th birthday was coming up, and I wanted to get into some Pokemon games I missed in the Gameboy era. I settled on Pokemon Sapphire and begged my parents to get it for me. I did not expect to get it because my mom told me it was very expensive. I was quite surprised to see it on the kitchen table the day of my birthday. My very cool uncle got it for me brand new. Finally, I had another chance to prove to myself that I could beat these games. Too bad it did not turn out that way.

I was getting through Sapphire in the only way I knew how: Grinding the level of my starter (Torchic) up and hoping I could get through the game with him. It was tough, but I did eventually get to Kyogre. I missed obtaining the master ball and accidentally knocked Kyogre out. For some reason, I still did not understand the concept of restarting a fight that did not go my way so I kept going, without Kyogre. Somewhere along victory road, I gave up. My patience was running thin, I was terrible at training Pokemon and all my friends were talking about a new Pokemon game: Pokemon Platinum. Listening to all the cool changes that they made from Diamond and Pearl, I just had to get it.

I got on a few months late, but I convinced my parents to buy Platinum. This time for sure I knew I was going to beat this game. I still didn't change my strategy. Solely training my starter (Chimchar again) just had to work, right? I got tripped up again on the water gym, but I did make it to the Distortion World to catch Giratina. I finally caught a legendary by myself! Don't get too excited for me, I used a master ball; I was still proud of myself though. When my trainer made it back to the Pokemon world, I was quite confused about what happened to my Giratina. This definitely is not how it looked when I fought it in the Distortion World. At that time I had no idea it changed forms or how to change it. I eventually got to victory road and I wanted to quit again. However, I just had to beat a Pokemon game this time, no matter what. I wanted to say that I finally completed one myself. Plus all my friends would talk about is how cool they made the Elite 4 compared to how they looked in Diamond and Pearl. Some sweat and tears later I did it, I finally passed victory road. I stocked up on potions and took my over-leveled Infernape, Giratina, and any decent leveled Pokemon I could find on victory road. It was time for battle.

So I lost, quite a few times actually. I had no strategy and I had no idea how type advantages worked. I just prayed that Infernape could get some hits in, and Giratina and the rest of my party could stall enough so I could revive Infernape when he would faint. I would get to Cynthia and just get obliterated. Yes, that Garchomp gave me nightmares. Again, I still did not understand the concept of saving effectively so I would restart the entire Elite 4. I was running out of money to pay out to Cynthia. Eventually, the levels my Pokemon gained from getting smacked around so much came in handy. I was able to defeat Cynthia and actually complete a Pokemon game. I was so happy I wanted to keep the momentum going. So I begged my parents for another Pokemon game.

I got Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Darkness. I went through the game as a Torchic and had a Pikachu as my partner. It took me days to defeat Primal Dialga since I kept losing, but I eventually did it. I swear that fight felt like forever, he had to have tons of Health. I eventually got Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs and completed that as well. By the time I finished those games a new mainline game was out, Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. The Pokewalker was a pretty good gimmick as all the guys in school had one. I just had to get my hands on one. But, I didn't. My younger brother got Pokemon Heart Gold so I would tell him I could help out his Pokemon while I was at school. He would let me borrow his Pokewalker to use. I figured he would get burnt out playing Heart Gold and I would just play it. It was a terrible decision not to beg my parents for Soul Silver as I have not played through it to this day. To try to get the authentic experience on my DS now is going to be pricey. However, I understood the concept of the game since I played Crystal on an emulator. I definitely missed out on a great game though. Soon I would get back to the mainline Pokemon grind since a new adventure was about to unfold. I was pretty confident that I gained some Pokemon game expertise, and I was ready to get into the next game. The steps to get through my next journey weren't so Black and White.

It was 2011 when I began my journey through Pokemon Black. It was definitely the best story the games have had to that point; in my opinion, I would argue it holds up even today as one of the best stories of the mainline games. The clash of truth and ideals was truly something extraordinary. I also loved the cutscenes. I still didn't get the memo to train other Pokemon so my starter wouldn't be the only one I could rely on. I lost against N and Ghetsis quite a few times and struggled against the elite 4. However, somehow I made it through with my over-leveled Emboar and my Reshiram. I also started a tradition for myself to buy the Pokemon games day one of release starting with Pokemon Black (If not day one then within the first week of release). I pestered my mom into helping me change the wifi settings so I could connect my DS to the internet. I really wanted Victini. I used all the free ultra balls I was given and ended up catching Victini in a great ball, but I was so excited to have him. I was even more excited to know that a sequel was coming to one of my favorite games in the series. When it came out in Japan, youtube was flooded with videos. I was too excited to wait so I watched the first few hours of gameplay even though I could not understand what was happening. Eventually, it came to North America and I bought a copy. The brand new fusion Pokemon was so exciting to me and I thought it was awesome they continued a storyline instead of just enhancing it with a third game like the previous generations. Again, I was still a pretty lousy trainer and I was lazy this time around. I brought some over-leveled Pokemon from the last game to get me through the Elite 4. Shame on younger me.

Then the 3ds era came along. Back in 6th grade, I would take any job I could find just to make some extra money to get a 3ds. I eventually got the aqua blue one that I still use today. I also had to get Pokemon Rumble Blast for my first 3ds game. I was in 8th grade when Pokemon X and Y were released. I don't remember a lot about this one, except that it was ok. It was great to see all the Pokemon I loved come to life in 3D (especially after seeing models with the 3d Pokedex they released beforehand). Besides that, this game didn't feel that special to me. The evil organization was alright and Yvental was cool, but coming off of Pokemon Black and White and their sequels, I wasn't that impressed. However, I was a big fan of mega evolution. Back then I remember there was a lot of backlash about it and "Digimon copy" insults being thrown around. I didn't care though, I thought it was a great edition. The games were getting easier though as even a hopeless trainer like me got through it with little issue.

I hoped my excitement for the Pokemon games would return with the release of Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby. Being a freshman, I kept my enjoyment of Pokemon a secret as I didn't wasn't to seem like the only one not "growing up". That didn't stop me from playing the games at home though. I played through the original Sapphire again since my first playthrough I didn't catch Kyogre or beat the elite 4. This time around I caught Kyogre but failed to get through victory road again. For some reason, I did not have the patience for the older games. I ended up getting Omega Ruby after that. It ended up being a good decision because I eventually sent my Kyogre from Sapphire and got the blue orb; I was able to use both Kyogre and Groudon's primal reversion. I went with Treecko as my starter. I usually go with the fire type but in X and Y they gave out that Torchic that had the Blazikenite so I had that in my party. It was a fun run and definitely brought back some memories of the first time I went through Pokemon Sapphire. The Delta episode was also great. Even so, I knew that I wasn't as excited for Pokemon as I was when I was younger.

All of a sudden it was cool to play Pokemon in high school. The release of Pokemon GO took the world by storm. Everyone I knew was playing some Pokemon GO. I didn't have a phone so I didn't get to start playing until a year after its release. A lot of the hype died down by then and only the consistent player base was still going strong. I wasn't upset about it though; my excitement for Pokemon was still on a decline. I didn't pick up Pokemon Sun until 2018, my senior year. For context, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon came out in 2017. I didn't even finish Pokemon Sun. I thought it started way more interesting than most of the other mainline games, but the starters just weren't exciting for me, and I got bored with the game 4 or 5 hours in. I was also interested in playing a lot of different games from all sorts of genres so Pokemon was put on the back burner and eventually, I let go. I thought that would be the end of my relationship with the Pokemon series. I had a good run with it and I was satisfied. I was bummed that I wasn't excited for the games anymore but I had no regrets, Pokemon brought me some really great childhood memories. I packed up my 3ds for what seemed like the last time and moved on. At least I thought I moved on. Maybe I wasn't done after all.

2018 was the start of my college experience. I didn't bring any gaming systems with me so Pokemon continued to be a distant memory. I also didn't own a Switch so I was not interested in anything going on with the next generation of Pokemon games. I thought I was going to take a break from video games, but my neighbors ended up having video game consoles so that didn't happen. My R.A. owned a Switch and put on Smash tournaments for the residents to play in. At that point, I haven't played Super Smash Bros in years. It felt good reliving the excitement again. So about a quarter into my 2nd year, I saved up enough money to buy a Switch. My roommates and I would play Smash whenever we could. However, I felt the need to buy more games. I figured why pay for a 300 dollar machine if I was only going to play one game on it. I heard about the Pokemon games on the switch but I wasn't entirely convinced I wanted them. I figured at least the Let's Go games should be a bit cheaper since they were already a year old. Well, I was wrong. I learned that lesson really fast; Nintendo games do not go on sale, and when they do, you will probably get 10 bucks off at most. I had better luck picking up Let's Go Pikachu for 30 dollars on ebay. I was aware that the Let's Go games had the same catching mechanics as Pokemon Go, but besides that, I didn't really know anything about it. I wanted the best experience possible so I was interested in getting a Pokeball Plus. I didn't want to spend 50 bucks on it though so I waited until Black Friday. I waited in line and instead of $50, I got a brand new Pokeball Plus for $20. The price was fantastic, but it was so cool that the Pokemon cries could be played through the speaker in the Pokeball Plus.

I began my Let's Go adventure and I recognized instantly that this was an updated version of Pokemon Yellow. I didn't grow up with Yellow, but I played it online so I knew how important it was in the series. I made sure to get the Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander through in-game events, I had my Mew from the Pokeball Plus, oh and Pikachu of course. It was crazy having such an overpowered Pikachu. It had a move for everything and could counter all of its weaknesses. Somehow for multiple generations, I have had a Pikachu in my party and have been disappointed by how bad it was. Not this time. Of course, the developers knew this Pikachu was ridiculously strong because you can't transfer it to Pokemon Home. Going through the Kanto region again was a blast. I loved the updated graphics, the way pokemon could follow you again, and the in-game events that made the bond between my Pikachu and me seem so much stronger. The return of Mega Evolution was a plus and being able to fight Red, Blue, and Green was a lot of fun. Spam catching Chanseys in Cerulean cave was also exciting for me because of how simple it was to grind experience for my Pokemon. All in all, Let's Go made me fall in love with the series again. I know people had a problem with the wild Pokemon encounters, but it is literally called Let's Go. This game was the bridge between Pokemon Go players that only play Pokemon Go and the main series of Pokemon games. I would gladly play a Let's Go version of any region.

With my rekindled relationship with the Pokemon series, I kept the momentum going. I picked up Pokemon Sword and Pokken Tournament DX. Pokken Tournament was...ok. It was cool playing Pokemon in a different way, but if you are into storytelling, it wasn't great. However, most fighters/ arena fighters I have played have a pretty bland story in my opinion, so I wasn't that caught off guard. I still enjoyed the game. Pokemon Sword was an excellent experience. For some reason, it is the most hated game in the series. I understand the critiques but I go with the flow. I'm not going to trip about some tree textures. I also have never been the type of guy to "catch them all" so the national dex not being implemented wasn't the worst for me. My main critique is that the game was insanely short. It was actually kind of ridiculous. I liked the story and making it any longer I probably would have found it boring, but when you take a game that is usually around 30 hours to complete and make it under 10 hours, it makes sense why people are upset. On top of that, the game has a $60 price tag. Now I believe if you are going to pay 60 bucks for a game, you better buy it on day one. Two weeks after release someone is at least selling the game for 50; I believe paying a hefty price tag of $60 is for the convenience of having the game as soon as it releases. However, this doesn't excuse that a game that is usually 40 bucks has less content at 60 bucks. Besides that though, I had a great time. I liked the DLC format instead of having to buy another game for a few hours of extra content. The DLC helped me add around 50-60 hours to my game so that was nice.

So I have returned to playing Pokemon games. However, I wasn't satisfied waiting for the next installment; I wanted more. I brushed off a dusty 3ds case and brought out Pokemon Diamond. It was time to take my journeys back to the beginning. I also thought about giving Pokemon Sun another go, but I will save that story for next time.

For the holidays in 2020, my family decided to go on a road trip. I made sure to pack my 3DS so I could begin playing through Pokemon Diamond. I gave myself a pep talk about how I wasn't going to train only my starter. At this point, I have played through Pokemon Diamond (sort of) and I have beat Pokemon Platinum twice off some luck. I have plenty of experience in Pokemon now, understood type advantages, and had a vision for my team. I just had to succeed. I originally started Pokemon Diamond on December 24th 2008, I coincidentally began my return to the game on December 24th 2020. It took me 3 or 4 days to play through it. I had no trouble with any of the gym leaders this time around since I knew type matchups and I was training all of my team. I even took an extra hour or two when I was teamed up with Riley to train since he would heal your Pokemon for free. I caught Dialga on my own without the master ball, everything was good. Until I reached the Elite 4. I swear I have battled every trainer I have had access to and I was still underleveled. I took an extra hour or two to keep training but I would still lose. So I did what I do best; cheesed the game. I still had a bunch of my older Pokemon chilling in my brother's Heart Gold PC holding rare candies. So I used some to level up my team just enough to win. I feel the judgment on me right now, "Bro how could you do that?" I know y'all, I failed to complete the game with my own skill once again. I got really impatient and I was trying to get to playing some other games I got myself for Christmas. It was fun being able to play where it all started for me again. This time being somewhat better at the game.

A few weeks later I figured it was time to give Pokemon Sun another shot and that I judged it too harshly. Well turns out I was wrong about the game. It is actually fantastic. I forgot I had Ash-Greninja from the demo and he was a lot of fun to use again. Z-moves are still my least favorite from their "gimmick" additions but I appreciate them now a little more. The family dynamic between Lillie, Gladion, and Lusamine was also impressive storytelling. Black, White, and their sequels still hold my opinion for the best narrative but Sun and Moon come close. I liked Ultra Beasts and the post-game was interesting as well. I am glad I gave Sun another go and now I felt a bit more complete when it came to playing the mainline games; well almost complete. I still had one thing left to do.

I picked up Ultra Moon as soon as I could. I have always had a physical copy for Pokemon games and I wasn't going to break that tradition. I switched over to Moon this time around because I figured this wasn't a direct sequel to the original Sun and Moon. I wanted Lunala because I had two Solgaleos from Sun and another two in Pokemon Sword. I figured there would just be a few additions to the story and maybe some extra content at the end like Platinum. I was definitely wrong. They basically rewrote some of the rising action and the whole climax of the original versions of the game. They reworked Necrozma into the plot and gave Solgaleo and Lunala even more background. I really enjoyed what they did with the plot. It added enough for it to feel like a different game almost. Necrozma's fusion forms with Solgaleo and Lunala were really cool. They didn't stop there though. Ultra Necrozma has got to be one of the coolest Pokemon ever. Imagine taking an 11-year-old kid's light force for a Z-move. It was a really interesting Pokemon. That protagonist we use has to have some serious strength in them to pull it off. The addition of some new Ultra Beasts were cool as well and going through Ultra Wormholes to catch older legendaries was cool; however, with the luxury of how simple it is to just do Legendary raids in Sword, and Shield, I found it tedious. I will say it again, I am glad I convinced myself to give Gen 7 another shot, it was incredible. I planned to go through the rest of the Pokemon games again as it has been a while, but as of right now that is on hold. I love Pokemon, but I also love video games in general so there are some I want to play through first before I go replay some games. I patiently wait for the Diamond and Pearl remakes and Legends Arceus. I'm excited about what is to come. Maybe a sequel to Pokemon Conquest? A guy can dream.

A bit off-topic but I wanted to talk about that music video the Pokemon company dropped in 2020. That was a rough year for a lot of us I'm sure and to take a nostalgia trip like that was emotional, to say the least. I may or may have not started balling when the Sinnoh characters popped up. A lot of emotions from people of different walks of life watching that video. I still get goosebumps when a clip of it pops up on my Instagram feed. It was the perfect representation of how far the series has come. It is just crazy how influential a video game series has been on people including myself. Whether the Pokemon company cares about their fans, or just has corporate greed keeping the series going, only we can choose what to take from the experience. No company can tell you how to feel. I personally get excitement and happiness from the series, whichever game it may be. Some people may not feel that way and that is ok too. However, I have seen a lot of toxicity in the community lately (not this forum specifically). It may be hard to believe but people can enjoy things that you don't. Bashing anyone for enjoying something as harmless as video games isn't right. It is your right to complain constantly about the direction of the series if you like, but you need to grow up if you are bashing someone for enjoying a game you don't.

I know I haven't clicked on this post over 100 times, so whoever is still here thanks for going down this trip on memory lane with me. I might have to update all of you when I get to replaying the rest of the Pokemon games but we will see. I hope you have found some amusement in my story. Pokemon has made my life better. I forgot for a while but eventually, I was brought back to the series I love. We all have experiences with the Pokemon series that I am sure a lot of us can say made our lives better. Whether you just got into Pokemon or have been around since Red, Blue, and Green, I hope you enjoy what Pokemon has given us. You could just be going with the flow of the series, be someone who only likes the older games, be someone who doesn't care for the older games or anything in between; It is all ok. We all have our different reasons for enjoying the series. It could be entertainment, friends, a new challenge, a competitive career, or just something to pass the time. Whatever it is for you, I'm sure there have been ups and downs. However, I hope that you can cherish the experiences and memories you have created through Pokemon. Those are the tales we share.