In which generation did you get into Pokemon?

[Linkachu]

Around which generation of the series did you get into Pokemon? Keep in mind that this isn't just "discover" it, it's when you became an active fan (may it be hardcore or casual).

The categories I'm using are just guides for answering, and this does not only apply the video games. Kanto/Johto/Advance could also refer to the Anime. If your main interests in Pokemon were the TCG or some other random aspect of it then just refer to which games were hot/new around that time. As for the last category... It's more if you JUST got into Pokemon, like over the last six months-year.

Since the releases of the games are staggered from region to region (ie. Emerald in the UK vs in Japan) it's hard to keep this accurate, so just pick the best answer for you.


Anyways... I first discovered Pokemon through an overview article in Nintendo Power summer of '98, so by the time R/B were released in September I was already hooked. The Anime starting up in October only furthered that. Ahh... the memories ^^

 

[Doctor Oak]

Technically the original R/B/Y era - since that's when I joined Pokeschool, before I got my hands on Gold. But Johto Journeys had already started here so really it was a mix of both.

 

[QuagsireQing]

I had never heard of Pokémon until I was at my cousin's house one day (CrazyHobo for you old Taverners). He had a poster from his Nintendo Power showing all 151 (at the time) Pokémon, and I remember thinking they were the weirdest things I'd ever seen. The same afternoon I wound up watching the anime with him (he would never miss an episode) and within the next few months I slowly grew into it more and more.

Skip ahead to that Christmas, when I received my first video game system, an Atomic Purple Game Boy Color, and my first video game, Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition. By that time I'd seen every episode of the anime and knew all about every Pokémon, so I was pro. The sad thing was my cousin had grown disinterested in Pokémon, and I was now all alone.

I was never as excited about a video game as I was for Pokémon Gold Version, and to this date, that remains the game I aniticipated the most. I was in EB Games the first day it was out, and to boot, my entire family (except me) was going to Calgary to pick up my grandpa from the airport, which meant I had the house to myself for a good four hours. ^^ Christmastime two months later, I found out the cousin that got me into Pokémon in the first place had received Pokémon Silver Version, which made the Johto generation the best for me: it was the only time I'd ever (or ever had since) had someone to play Pokémon with! We were battling and exchaning Mystery Gifts and meeting at the Viridian Trainer's House every few weeks. Bliss.

This last generation has lost him again (he played Ruby and FireRed, but never completed either), but with any luck he'll pick up a DS lite when DP comes out. He has a tendency of introducing me to things (like Pokémon, video games and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) which I then take and turn into an obsession far beyond what I'm sure he intended.

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Kanto again. I got hooked way back in primary school, when I saw the first ep. A few summers later, I got my first games system (Gameboy Colour) and Pokemon Blue, while my sister got Red. We bought Yellow at our destination, Florida. Of course, with the first game comes confusion, hence the ten minutes of game time wasted looking for the exit to my house. From then I've collected the games with my two siblings, the latest edition being my brother's Dash. I'm still not the best trainer though, even if I continually top his hi scores. And then beat him on Emerald. Then beat my sister on Leaf Green.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Well, the games that got me into the series (I hated the anime back then... Mainly because it was season 1, it was badly dubbed, and, well, Pikachu. 'nuff said! X_X) were the original Kanto games (Ah, the memories of the night I burned on the Silph co. building with a brute-force team based around Charizard, Pidgeot, Lapras and I don't even remember what else! Hey, I was an utter n00b. So sue me. xD)

Back when I only first got into Pokemon, G/S were barely even talked about (and even then only as vague rumors about 'PokeMon 2'), but even when the games turned up, we firmly believed that Gold and Silver were hoaxes. When they were confirmed to be the real thing... We followed the unveiling of information about GSC pokemon with religious-like zeal as badly-translated Japanese ROMs fell into our hands (and I became addicted to Silver, and later Crystal.) By that point I was already very deep into it, so I had better teams. I think. xD

I was part of the R/S Cryptimon Hunt, and now I'm waiting eagerly for D/P...

 

[Alex Bock]

Some random person at school got me hooked on pokemon and then I got obsessed with Vaporeon. After that I started watching the show, then collecting the cards, and it all lead up to me getting my first handheld game pokemon crystal. When I look back on that day I can only laugh, I kept pushing select to try to get an item but it didn't work then after 3 days I discovered the start button was the one for withdrawing items.

 

[NonAnalogue]

Hooked since Generation 1. ^^

My friends at school (I was in the 5th grade) got into it before I did, since I didn't technically own a Game Boy. However, I eventually caved, and bought Pokemon Blue with my hard-earned cash, and borrowed my dad's old Game Boy.

I remember my team actually being decently balanced: Raichu, Venusaur, Dodrio, Ninetales, Alakazam/Mewtwo, and Sandslash. Of course, the moves sucked, but hey...

 

[Linkachu]

I remember my team actually being decently balanced: Raichu, Venusaur, Dodrio, Ninetales, Alakazam/Mewtwo, and Sandslash. Of course, the moves sucked, but hey...

Hah! Similar to my own XD

My first team evar, if I remember it correctly, was Venusaur, Raichu, Pidgeot, Nidoking, Vaporeon, and Arcanine. Mewtwo replaced Pidgeot once I caught it.

Yeah, mine probably all had crappy moves too. I evolved my Nidorino into Nidoking right away at Mt. Moon. Back then it seemed like a good idea. More power is good, right? x.x

 

[Nemesis]

I got in to it when Red was released here, and tended to play along with my sister who owned Blue. I had a few n00b teams, like my lv 100 Mewtwo, but restarted to play properly. That's when I got my fav team ever- Venusaur, Arcanine, Seadra, Chansey, Nidoking and Zapdos. I still have them on GS ^_^. I completed the RBY dex, with Mew, then got in to GS, which was my favourite for ages.. I completed that dex too.

I lost interest for a bit, and RS dissapointed me. Fire Red picked everyrthing back up though, and I got that, and Colosseum. And yesterday I just got my Pokdex diploma for the National Dex ^_^

 

[Zane Truesdale]

I got into it when I first watched the show. I was a little young then so I can't remember how I started watching it. But then my older cousin bought me a Blue version and I played it and then I got a Pikachu version. I've been a fan ever since and got every songle Pokemon games released here.

 

[daxx0r]

The very beginning! I've always been a fan, and always will be!!!

 

[PokemonMaster]

ive been a fan since kanto i dont remember much but i do know my friends got me into it and some of them still are fans but dont buy the games im kinda the only one who play me and one other friend and im not sure if he has fr/lg though but i did compleate the pokedex r/s which were the only one i ever completed and im trying to complete it on fr/lg and im trying to beat collosemum so i can play my xd

 

[Ultracow]

I was playing back when it first started....I had my big ol bulky yellow original gameboy with my red version.


Good times....good times....

 

[Blueboy66]

It was a wednesday morning. I woke up and saw the Koga's gym episode end.

Two years later Pokemon Silver came.

 

[Pichazard]

Well I loved the anime when first came over here, being the dorky little 4 year old I was then in January(my goodness has it already been 9 years???) I got a pokeman red and a blue gameboy for my birthday. Been a fan ever since

 

[Persian]

RBY...technically just the "Y," but whatever...

Ah, where to start...

Okay. So it was in the spring (April, if I remember correctly) and I was...uh...in...thiiiiird grade? Nah, second? Hmmm...well, I was young and I was in elementary school! Anyways, my cousins were visiting, and one of them (maybe both) had a GameBoy Color and Pokemon Yellow with her. I remember playing it with her, since she was trying to beat Brock. She had difficulties...she had only five Pokemon on her team, one of which was Pikachu and two of which were Pidgey (which, surprisingly enough, were the best against Brock @_@). I had soooo much fun playing with her, and I was so sad when they left...

Then my aunt, on the last day, gave me one of those translucent-y purple GameBoy Colors and a Pokemon Yellow of my very own for an early birthday present. I was soooo psyched...I trained my Pikachu, lost to Gary at the first battle cuz I used Tail Whip so many times, had no idea about that second battle with him so I skipped it, couldn't find that one ladder in Mount Moon so I had to get a strategy guide to look at the map...so fun. And, to top it all off, I had no set team. Pikachu was the only one who stayed, and Persian after that. I just randomly used Pokemon when I felt like it, so Pikachu got to level 40+ when my others were just in their 20s (or something).

I remember looking at the list of Pokemon, and being sooo depressed when I saw that Persian, my immediate favorite, was only found in Blue. Luckily, my best friend had both Blue and Red (maybe even before I touched Yellow), so she traded me a Meowth. ^_^;;

I also remember, though I don't know when, finding out about the anime, and watching my first episode...Island of the Giant Pokemon. I was so confused when I watched another one and the Pokemon didn't get subtitles. ^_^;;

I eventually got the cards, drew Pokemon in art class, became hooked on the anime, bought/read some "comics" (I was a manga fan before I even knew the word "manga!"), heard from my friend who had Gold (or Silver?) that it was soooo awesome and that Totodile rocked (I got so jealous), went to rent Gold/Silver but the store didn't have it (I almost threw a tantrum) and restarted on Yellow. I know Pikachu and Persian were in my team, but I can't remember the other ones. What I do remember is on the plane, going to visit my grandparents, I saved right before I challenged Giovanni (I was trained early on with the "save right before you challenge so if you lose it's no big deal" thing). Then, I took it out of the GameBoy...put it in...

And my game (and my Persian) were gone. I was VERY depressed, and my dad had a hard time cheering me up. He eventually convinced me to start over again, and I did, but didn't get very far (I was sad).

Eventually, the holidays rolled around (I was still in the 'city with my mom's parents), and for Hanukkah...I received my very own Gold version and GS strategy guide. I turned it on, was in my room...and promptly turned it off. I just couldn't believe it. ^_^;; So, I glanced through the first pages of the strategy guide, picked Cyndaquil, and started off. It wasn't until I heard the Violet City music I suddenly went "OMG! A NEW GAME! O_O" and freaked out, flipping through the strategy guide with much intensity.

So Gold is special to me. Same with Crystal (Silver's good, too, but I have no good memories from it). Crystal I had with me when I went to the Grand Canyon, and I played it a lot. I caught Suicune while we were parked at a Sonic Burger...ah, the memories...

Then I forgot about it, then rediscovered my intense fandom when I looked in...either the paper or the internet...and saw new Pokemon. It was the weekend before RS were to be released in the US (what gooooood timing). Those next few days were pure agony as I found Pokeschool, since they had a list of all the Pokemon with the names, and I emailed my friend in this pre-AIM conversation about them. I also watched the second Hoenn anime episode, which they had dubbed (along with the first one, but I missed it) to raise the hype about RS, and was all..."whooooaaaaaahh..."

Then my parents wouldn't let me go to the electronics store on the day they came out, since they were "too busy" and there was "no time." I was angry. Really, really angry. But then they took me to the store either the next day or the day after (maybe three days later, but I forget), and I grabbed Sapphire (so I could get Kyogre and Latias) and a strategy guide, and raced to the counter (and paid for it with my mom's money). Then I picked Treecko (randomly, this wasn't thought about...I spent ten minutes shifting back and forth while Professor Birch waited patiently for me to save him from the rabid Poochyena), and set off on my Hoenn journey...ah...so fun...

Of course, I am now past hooked, and waiting FIVE MONTHS for DP is waaaaay worse than my five days for RS. I am in sooo much danger of ruining the games, too! STUPID FANSITES WITH YOUR ABUNDANCE OF NEWS! GAAAH!

Yeah. Sorry for the long post...got kinda carried away...-_-

 

[Viper1]

I got into pokemon when I was five and Im 13 now. So I got into it when it first started and i got into it when i got my first pokemon yellow version game. No wait I got blue first. Im not sure.

 

[Saint]

I started getting into Pokemon as soon as it came to america. I saw the previews and couldn't wait till it came out. When me and my uncle started he painted pictures of pokemon 4 me, sent me pok-e-mail (lol), and bought me some games. I dont like the show as much anymore, but the game keep it alive for me. Me and my uncle still play pokemon and during the summer i go up to his house and we play for a week non-stop. ;DThe games I have and played are... Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Puzzle League, Puzzle Championship, Stadium, Stadium 2, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Ranger, Colluseum, Gale of Darkness, Diamond, and Pearl.

 

[oizen6]

I did start watching the tv show at the kanto region but i didn`t start the games until Honen
I got them in the following order
Pokemon Sapphire
Pokemon Crystal
Pokemon Ruby
Pokemon Fire Red
Pokemon Leafgreen
Pokemon Collseum
Pokemon Emerald x2
Pokemon Xd Gale of darkness
Pokemon Pearl
Pokemon Daimond

 

[Figs]

Around the R/B Era, when all my friends where playing it and i felt left out XD

 

[Firefly]

When I was about in first grade (or around there) my like 14 year old cousin wasn't into his Green Gameboy or his Pokemon Yellow. So he gave it to me. All that night I was hooked to it. I kept starting over because I didn't know how to get past the guy who needed coffee or something. But, I still [glow=red,2,300]loved[/glow] it.

 

[Gameshark]

I got my first Pokemon with the Kanto area..... Ahhhh, Pokemon Blue.... how good you were at passing time.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

I dabbled in Pokemon Yellow but it wasn't until the second generation (G/S/C) that I was hooked so I consider myself a second generation Pokemon trainer. Seriously, when G/S/C came out I didn't even care about Kanto (I did care for the original Pokemon though) until FR/LG. I loved Johto and I can't wait for a remake.

I 'perfected' my art in the third generation when I actually started creating somewhat good movesets for my Pokemon. So I never really played the original games and (flame me if want) I don't plan to play them.

 

[Carrie_Slovak]

Ah, RBY...good times...

My first game was on the Blue version, sometime around when I was five-six. I started out with a Charmander (squeee, so cute...!), not realizing that I picked the hardest Pokemon to start out with. I never fought with the legendaries, and if I remember correctly my team was: Charizard, Raichu, Lapras, Vileplume, Kadabra and Pidgeot. I hadn't even leveled the Eevee I received in Celadon, so when G/S finally came out I transferred my Eevee over to my Gold (when I got to Ecruteak, that is). I had started with a Cyndaquil in that game, and I didn't catch my Pikachu (later my second Raichu) 'til after the League. My brother, however, wanted to start a game on Gold, so I transferred my Eevee (only level 25 or so at the time) over, with my Pikachu and Lapras, to Silver (note, I didn't use the hack code for the Lapras. I raised him lovingly by hand, 'cause I didn't know about the cheat until six months after Gold). Now those three are all level 100 on my Silver Version, pumped up with lots of battle experience. I still miss my original team, though; they had serious sentimental value to me, because I played the game around the time my parents started fighting, so it helped a bit.

 

[00wolf]

I've been with Pokemon for 11 years now

 

[FullmetalSasuke9]

The first Pokemon I ever got was blue version.

 

[Sakamoto]

I started on Blue when it hit the UK. Me and a few friends all got the game for Christmas and we played it every day together at lunch break.

We're now all 18 and yet we're still carrying around Pokémon - only now we have DS and Diamond/ Pearl

It's the fact that me and my friends have always played it together that we never really grew out've it. It just became one of our things to have a Pokémon day like once a week.

 

[PokemonBR8642]

My first ever Pokemon game was Yellow. I'm not entirerly sure if I ever beat it. Even though I've beaten every other game I've ever owned. Cept for Pearl, but I'm really close to it.

 

[00wolf]

I started with red and since then I've had all the games
I've probably beaten them more than once

 

[Damion Lionheart]

My first ever Pokemon game was Yellow. I'm not entirerly sure if I ever beat it. Even though I've beaten every other game I've ever owned. Cept for Pearl, but I'm really close to it.

Ah! I started with yellow aswell, Ugh, I was such an idiot trying to beat brock with pikachu! xD Yeah, since the yellow days I played atleast 1 game from each new generation (aka not fire red/leaf green).Though I wish I did now, seeing as I need to beg for an electirizer. :'(

 

[Goemon2057]

I started with Pokemon Blue and was addicted,i had to do emulators back then when i couldnt buy the game,but it was still fun.I ended up getting bored cause i eventually found out about gameshark,and would constantly power level and dominate with super pokemon.

It really helped when i got to firered,cause now theres only a few 1st gen types i forget a lot (ice and flying).I'm still trying to get all the weaknesses and advantages of the other types into my head tho....

but anyway 1st gen was a blast,i played the game up to gold before the english version came out,and ironically it was the 1st gen remake (firered) that brought me back

 

[pokemon_fan]

well i started watching it in the Johto region and i have been in to Pokemon ever since then.

 

[chrono]

i got into pokemon in yellow version, i got a gameboy colour with pokemon yellow for christmas my team was charzard mewtwo onyx pigy (i would never let him evolve) joltion and dido.. i was hooked ever since generation 1

 

[chakrasecrets]

i started in the kanto i think. i've watched so many, i 4got which one i started on

 

[Trainer Sonjo]

My Red Version got me hooked.

 

[Satoren]

Although I got hooked on the 1st season of the anime, my first real experience was with Gold.

 

[Eevee Lover]

I got into Pokemon during Johto when I lived in Germany. It was on a bus, a guy was playing Gold, and he tricked me into thinking his character fell by riding past the Goldenrod train tracks and turning right right away. Then he showed me the Pokemon themselves, and I thought a few of them were absolutely adorable and so I demanded I get a GameBoy Color and a Gold Version. Since I got that game, I've been an avid fan, and do whatever I can to get the games.

 

[Kasai-no-Kitsune]

Aah, I remember when I got into Pokemon. It was kind of late, actually... My first game was Ruby. I had just gotten a GameBoy Advance (I forgot why... Maybe birthday or something) and I wanted a game for it. I had really liked the Pokemon TV show, so when I saw Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, I really wanted one. So, my dad bought Ruby for me, and I've been hooked ever since.

 

[Paper_Only]

I can't really say I ever got 'hooked' because I've been falling off that hook alot lately. I fell off that hook before they made Diamond and Pearl, because people were convincing me that Pokemon was stupid. but no longer! I have now been re-hooked (to the disdain of my parents) and unfortunately have no hope of getting a DS or DP. My first pokemon game was Pokemon Red (I had a level 93 Nidoking once I think.) I think, compared to what most of you have said on this site, that I am a n00b,because I ALWAYS stick to powerhouse teams because of the pokemon golden rule: if it hasn't failed once, how can it fail again? After reading a few things on this site, I am now starting to consider more tactical ways of playing the game. (whoops, I think I got a bit off topic there for a second...)

Ah, the memories. Probably the other reason I got un-hooked the first time was because I had noone to do it with. I still don't, which really sucks. Plus, everyone's into the newest edition, so I've also got no chance.If I wasn't trying to save up for a Wii, I probably would have bought a DS and Diamond or Pearl. Aw, well. There is a pretty good chance they'll make a pokemon game for the Wii. Since Wii is Nintendo's.

(Crap! I got off topic again! oh well, I'm done anyway.)

 

[Artemis]

Wow hard to think..... Iv'e seen all of the first 5 seasons. The show got me hooked. I got sapphire as my first game but it got lost so i played firered. It has become my fav game.

P.S. I finally found my Sapphire after 1 year. It was in s book. (I forgot that one day i used it as a bookmark lolz. ;D)