Have the games helped you in any kind of way?

Like, mentally and/or emotionally?

I know they've helped me, but that's probably because I've played since Pokemon Yellow. I feel like they've always been there for me when I needed them the most. They usually help calm me down in worse case scenarios, or at least... pretty close to it. I forget my troubles when playing them.

They've given me a lot of joy and happiness. So yeah I suppose. GSC/HGSS hold a special place in my heart.

Literacy, sociability, rough times and a thousand other things which have made Pokemon a wonderful facet to my life. It also got me into writing in a serious way - though my first and last Pokemon fanfiction was an atrocity of the first order - and it made me go online to talk about the franchise. That equated to friends and good times. Completely eroded nowadays but they can always be replaced and recreated. However gruellingly.

I also found a soul animal in Mankey because it is always pissed off. It feels good to identify with something.

Pokémon holds a dear place in my heart and always will, no matter how unhappy I am with the direction things are heading in, nothing can change how special this franchise will always be to me. Pokémon has given me beautiful memories, so, emotionally, I'm sure it has.

They helped me learn English when I just moved to the US. =) So yes, they're very important to me and I'm still thankful!

In the very early years of school, I was far ahead of everybody else in terms of reading level.

It's probably because I was playing FireRed/LeafGreen, and making attempts to read all the dialogue boxes.

The Pok?mon games did help me in a way, especially early in my experience with them - not just the literacy component, since the script helped me discover new words and phrases, and I was also going through some "transitions" in my life (such as my maternal grandmother falling ill and passing away, and then various other stressful events in my life) around that time when I was new to Pok?mon.

It would be of no exaggeration to say that Pokemon games helped me significantly emotionally and mentally. Whenever I would have stressful days in grade school, it has always helped just firing up my DS and playing Pokemon to escape the Real World and jump into the world of Pokemon for a change. It just made my day so much brighter level grinding for then next Gym Leader or E4 member or for the post-game challenges or whichever next obstacle awaits me.

I mean, there's not much more to it. The very adventurous and exploration-based style of the old sprite games helped me when I was in my dark times in life, and I'm not sure where I would be without them.

Pokemon games solidify decision-making skills, teach financial management, and facilitate learning about one's true self and personality through in-game choices.

Ah yes, hardly anything is so special to me as Pokémon is. It's my favourite form of escapism, I suppose. It fills me with a joy that rarely ever gets old. And if it does, I know it will always rekindle at one point or another. If we're talking more practical stuff, It has been a great help in learning English. If I recall correctly I started playing when I was 7 - although I don't recall living without it - and since pokémon was basically my second life from the beginning, it pretty much made English my second language.