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- Seen Jan 2, 2016
Just thought i share this lil bit of story to Pokemon fans, especially those who were around the time of Gen 1 and 2. I had a rough childhood growing up. Me and my mom always struggled to make ends meet.
It was around that time that I discovered Pokemon. It was everywhere: in the commercials, the toys were selling like hotcakes, the chubby Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle were advertised all over. But most importantly, the game was advertised on TV.
Unfortunately i was around 2nd or 3rd grade. I didn't have a Gameboy and my mom obviously couldn't get me everything i wanted. One time when my single mom brought me to the park, she suddenly ran towards me and found a gameboy with Pokemon blue version in it. It was crazy....my first chance to play Pokemon suddenly falls on my hands and my heart is beating fast like a silly girl. But then an older teen comes and then he says he lost his Gameboy.
Now, i had it in my pocket and i had every opportunity to say "sorry, i never saw it" but i gave it back to him because the guilt would be too much (but i verified it was his so i don't look like an idiot giving away the gameboy to the wrong person). But obviously it stung a bit....i didn't blame my mom at all, and it looked like she took it harder than me. Luckily i forgot about it the next day but i don't think my mom did. A year later my mom buys me a gameboy color, and as an additional present, she got me Pokemon Silver. Now most kids would probably think that Gold was better just by the name at the time, but my mom knew i liked Silver as my personal preference.
When i started to play Silver, i was amazed by the game. Each time i played, i saw a new pokemon that i just had to get. It felt entirely different from the Anime series because i get to capture them and nickname them. They were all mine. And considering the anime was a little behind in the US, i was able to see Pokemon i haven't seen in the anime yet. It was so much fun. I had a friend who had Red, but when i started to play Red, i was glad it wasn't my first Pokemon experience because the sprites looked ugly, and the design just was too lacking for me. I can understand a scaled down version of Silver, but the Pokedex just really looked ugly to me compared to Silver's.
One of the things i wanted to do though was share the experience, so i really wanted to play with my mom since she was the one who gave me such an amazing present. This time my mom was a little better than before, so i managed to convince her to buy a Gameboy color, Pokemon Gold version, and a link cable to play together (she didn't get all of them at once). I bet my mom was just doing it just for me, but when she started to play, she started to love it as well. She asked me so many questions, like which Pokemon evolved and which didn't. It was a great bond. Another thing we didn't know about Pokemon was that there was some Pokemon that couldn't be found without trading them to the other game. So we felt even closer. I was even forgetting about the anime series because we were so wrapped up in the game.
I know it sounds cheesy, but Pokemon Gold/Silver really helped me and my mom through some rough times in my early childhood. And if i'm going to be honest, i get a little teary-eyed when i think back. When my Mom and I thought we finally completed our Pokedex (we didn't know about the Unown Dex at the time) Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were announced.
The "third" generation of Pokemon and me and my mom were excited. But, money was an issue and we were so content with our Gameboy colors. We decided to play a previous Pokemon games we didn't get to play before. Luckily they were cheaper than before. We ended up getting a bargain for a lot. One of them was Pokemon Crystal....which both me and my mom took turns and LOVED IT even more than Gold/Silver.
After the gameboy color pokemon marathon (lol), me and my mom were able to get two GBA's and a link cable but no Pokemon. We were still working on it until a few friends lend them to me since they already beat the games. And lucky us, they were Sapphire and Ruby. This experience felt more nostalgic than a whole new experience. The more we played Sapphire/Ruby the more it reminded us of Gold/Silver. The one thing both me and my mom missed was the day/night feature. But it was still enjoyable. This time both my mom and myself had a few questions as to which pokemon evolved. We learned as we played. Ruby/Sapphire isn't as special as Gold/Silver was as obvious reasons, but it was still a journey to play the games. One of the things that was new was which team was better. I chose aqua, my mom chose magma. But one of our earlier discussions was also how much we missed team rocket. We also had a chance to play Leafgreen. It was good that it was close to the original though.
It was sometime that passed and we got ourselves Nintendo DS ahead of time (this time no link cable!). So when we got Diamond and Pearl, we were already prepared. We also didn't care about the Pokedex anymore as each generation we feel more and more overwhelmed. The game was good, it brought back the day/night feature. But the nostalgia didn't hit as hard and the features just weren't "amazing"....it wasn't bad though, me and my mom still had loads to talk about. We both managed to choose the same starter Pokemon on this one Pulpip, but Turtwig has always been a close second for both of us.
And then...HeartGold and SoulSilver.....boy did me and my mom got crazy for this game. We played it and beat it. Completing the Pokedex was easier, and the Kanto region had more content....But one important thing that affected me....the game kind of tarnished the old memories a bit....i remember playing the GBC version, and i see the design and how much was left to imagination. But playing SoulSilver left little to the imagination, it also left little to the original design. it was still enough to say it was a remake, but i always felt remakes were designed for those who didn't get a chance to play the original. Also added a lot more story that wasn't there that for me, didn't care for it.
This is when me and my mom stopped playing new Pokemon games. With Mystery Dungeon, Conquest and all this other stuff, we tried to salvage the old memories....and it was a good decision.....when Pokemon Black and White came out, we looked at the starter Pokemon and didn't get excited. And when they made a sequel, that's when me and my more were disappointed in the Pokemon series. Pokemon X and Y felt like it was going back to the original...the mega evolution of the starter pokemon looked beautiful....Venosaur, Charizard, and Blastoise had beautiful mega evolutions....but then i see the other Pokemon and that's where i see their near the bottom of the barrel. Overall, this is my history. Pokemon didn't end in a bang, but me and my mom are still fans of Gen 1 through 4.
One of the greatest things though is that through ROMs we've been able to play Pokemon on our smartphones and play some that we never got to play such as Pokemon Pinball or Pokemon TCG2 that was just recently translated. GSC will forever be our favorites...it has the right balance of retro design and imagination that never gets old.
It was around that time that I discovered Pokemon. It was everywhere: in the commercials, the toys were selling like hotcakes, the chubby Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle were advertised all over. But most importantly, the game was advertised on TV.
Unfortunately i was around 2nd or 3rd grade. I didn't have a Gameboy and my mom obviously couldn't get me everything i wanted. One time when my single mom brought me to the park, she suddenly ran towards me and found a gameboy with Pokemon blue version in it. It was crazy....my first chance to play Pokemon suddenly falls on my hands and my heart is beating fast like a silly girl. But then an older teen comes and then he says he lost his Gameboy.
Now, i had it in my pocket and i had every opportunity to say "sorry, i never saw it" but i gave it back to him because the guilt would be too much (but i verified it was his so i don't look like an idiot giving away the gameboy to the wrong person). But obviously it stung a bit....i didn't blame my mom at all, and it looked like she took it harder than me. Luckily i forgot about it the next day but i don't think my mom did. A year later my mom buys me a gameboy color, and as an additional present, she got me Pokemon Silver. Now most kids would probably think that Gold was better just by the name at the time, but my mom knew i liked Silver as my personal preference.
When i started to play Silver, i was amazed by the game. Each time i played, i saw a new pokemon that i just had to get. It felt entirely different from the Anime series because i get to capture them and nickname them. They were all mine. And considering the anime was a little behind in the US, i was able to see Pokemon i haven't seen in the anime yet. It was so much fun. I had a friend who had Red, but when i started to play Red, i was glad it wasn't my first Pokemon experience because the sprites looked ugly, and the design just was too lacking for me. I can understand a scaled down version of Silver, but the Pokedex just really looked ugly to me compared to Silver's.
One of the things i wanted to do though was share the experience, so i really wanted to play with my mom since she was the one who gave me such an amazing present. This time my mom was a little better than before, so i managed to convince her to buy a Gameboy color, Pokemon Gold version, and a link cable to play together (she didn't get all of them at once). I bet my mom was just doing it just for me, but when she started to play, she started to love it as well. She asked me so many questions, like which Pokemon evolved and which didn't. It was a great bond. Another thing we didn't know about Pokemon was that there was some Pokemon that couldn't be found without trading them to the other game. So we felt even closer. I was even forgetting about the anime series because we were so wrapped up in the game.
I know it sounds cheesy, but Pokemon Gold/Silver really helped me and my mom through some rough times in my early childhood. And if i'm going to be honest, i get a little teary-eyed when i think back. When my Mom and I thought we finally completed our Pokedex (we didn't know about the Unown Dex at the time) Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were announced.
The "third" generation of Pokemon and me and my mom were excited. But, money was an issue and we were so content with our Gameboy colors. We decided to play a previous Pokemon games we didn't get to play before. Luckily they were cheaper than before. We ended up getting a bargain for a lot. One of them was Pokemon Crystal....which both me and my mom took turns and LOVED IT even more than Gold/Silver.
After the gameboy color pokemon marathon (lol), me and my mom were able to get two GBA's and a link cable but no Pokemon. We were still working on it until a few friends lend them to me since they already beat the games. And lucky us, they were Sapphire and Ruby. This experience felt more nostalgic than a whole new experience. The more we played Sapphire/Ruby the more it reminded us of Gold/Silver. The one thing both me and my mom missed was the day/night feature. But it was still enjoyable. This time both my mom and myself had a few questions as to which pokemon evolved. We learned as we played. Ruby/Sapphire isn't as special as Gold/Silver was as obvious reasons, but it was still a journey to play the games. One of the things that was new was which team was better. I chose aqua, my mom chose magma. But one of our earlier discussions was also how much we missed team rocket. We also had a chance to play Leafgreen. It was good that it was close to the original though.
It was sometime that passed and we got ourselves Nintendo DS ahead of time (this time no link cable!). So when we got Diamond and Pearl, we were already prepared. We also didn't care about the Pokedex anymore as each generation we feel more and more overwhelmed. The game was good, it brought back the day/night feature. But the nostalgia didn't hit as hard and the features just weren't "amazing"....it wasn't bad though, me and my mom still had loads to talk about. We both managed to choose the same starter Pokemon on this one Pulpip, but Turtwig has always been a close second for both of us.
And then...HeartGold and SoulSilver.....boy did me and my mom got crazy for this game. We played it and beat it. Completing the Pokedex was easier, and the Kanto region had more content....But one important thing that affected me....the game kind of tarnished the old memories a bit....i remember playing the GBC version, and i see the design and how much was left to imagination. But playing SoulSilver left little to the imagination, it also left little to the original design. it was still enough to say it was a remake, but i always felt remakes were designed for those who didn't get a chance to play the original. Also added a lot more story that wasn't there that for me, didn't care for it.
This is when me and my mom stopped playing new Pokemon games. With Mystery Dungeon, Conquest and all this other stuff, we tried to salvage the old memories....and it was a good decision.....when Pokemon Black and White came out, we looked at the starter Pokemon and didn't get excited. And when they made a sequel, that's when me and my more were disappointed in the Pokemon series. Pokemon X and Y felt like it was going back to the original...the mega evolution of the starter pokemon looked beautiful....Venosaur, Charizard, and Blastoise had beautiful mega evolutions....but then i see the other Pokemon and that's where i see their near the bottom of the barrel. Overall, this is my history. Pokemon didn't end in a bang, but me and my mom are still fans of Gen 1 through 4.
One of the greatest things though is that through ROMs we've been able to play Pokemon on our smartphones and play some that we never got to play such as Pokemon Pinball or Pokemon TCG2 that was just recently translated. GSC will forever be our favorites...it has the right balance of retro design and imagination that never gets old.
