Pokémon

[Sage + Onion Knight]

As it doubtless was for several other children of the 1990s, these games were a huge part of my childhood. I can still vividly remember, on the day I got Blue, sitting cross-legged and engrossed in the wide open world conjured up by the monochrome graphics and tinny chip tunes. “World” definitely feels like the right word to use too, because this was probably the first game that felt to me like it really contained those depths: beneath the already rich surface of the game were increasingly bizarre playground rumours about how to get Mew, and there was even the unintentional Lovecraftian horror of MissingNo.

Gold and Silver took things even further, blowing my mind with the day / night cycle that allowed my child self to (gasp!) go out at night.

One thing I love about this aspect of the original Pokemon is how it has fed into some of my favourite indie games. I can definitely see how games like Undertale and Anodyne have put their own spin on the sense of mystery and curiosity that Pokemon's world inspired in the imaginations of its players.

[Necromas]

I think the most important thing about experiencing Pokemon as a child was just how ubiquitous the franchise was. It seemed like every kid in my entire school was playing the games, trading not just pokemon, but hints and strategies, their thoughts on the TV show, and even trading cards once the TCG came our way.

My fondest memory is when my mother laminated my copy of the official strategy guide that I got by subscribing to Nintendo Power so I could take it to school and share it without it falling apart. That guide made me feel like the most popular kid in my class as everyone scrambled to get a look at it and learn about the different move sets and evolutions of their pokemon.

When I think back on my memories of pokemon I always go back to another monster collecting series my school friends and I played, Dragon Warrior Monsters I and II, which play similarly but focused heavily on 3v3 battling and breeding monsters to get unique offspring of a new species with unique abilities. I wish pokemon would have taken some risks as it evolved and introduced mechanics like that into it's sequels rather than sticking with almost the same exact gameplay formula for over twenty years.

[Mr Ixolite]

I first heard of Pokémon from a Danish newspaper clipping read by my mom. "Apparently theres a new Gameboy game called "Pokémon" thats a big deal abroad. Have you heard of this?" This was the first time I'd heard videogaming acknowledged in mainstream media, despite the Gameboy having long peaked in popularity here. What on earth could this "Pokémon" be?

To say it was a big deal would be an understatement. Everyone from my sister to the class bullies were in on it, with Pokémon marking a gradual dampening of hostilities with the latter as they would borrow my copy of Pokémon red, play it for hours, but return it without overwriting my save.

I myself played Pokémon red for countless hours, somehow hooked despite playing the games in the most boring way possible. After picking a Charmander and running into the first rock-type gym I did not take this as a sign I needed to build a diverse team, but a sign that my Charmander needed beefing up. And so Flamer the grossly overleveled Charizard was my lone superstar, crushing all opposition singlehandedly. This approach carried over to my playthrough of Silver where I ran daily laps through the games endgame challenges in order to build a level 100 team of the aforementioned Charizard, "Jaws" the Feraligator, "Zappy" the Zapdos, and "Crusher" the Tyranitar. I never even played other humans with these guys, just crushing the game underfoot was enough.

Somehow I also found time to get to 251 entries on the Pokedex by using the nifty loophole of Pokemons traded back and forth still being counted as yours. After that the magic seemed to dissipate, to a degree that I've never really gotten back into the series. To my shock, my younger self was apparently so done with Pokemon that I lent my Silver cartridge to someone else, and thus lost my completed Pokedex.

The games are a bit too slow and grindy for me now, but theres still a twinge of desire to raise those scaly beasts all over again - I'd probably even use the same names



3 Word review: EATER OF BATTERIES

[Rhaegyr]

I either lost or had stolen my 'complete' copy of Pokemon Blue (all badges, all Pokemon) as a teen.

My friend gave me a new, boxed Gameboy version of Pokemon Blue as a present when I was his best man roughly 25 years later - that's an admission of guilt if I ever saw one!

[chase210]

The dodgy mic didn't ruin the excellent quality of the podcast!

[Miririn]

The dodgy mic didn't ruin the excellent quality of the podcast!

Agreed! Listening now while doing a dull translation and really enjoying it. Thanks, guys!

[Magical_Isopod]

I've got two quick questions and two quick stories.
1.) What starters do every one pick?
Personally, I'm a Water Starter for life.
2.) How does everyone feel about the MissingNo cheat/glitch?

Christmas morning, the year Yellow came out. I remember being super excited about being the first one of my siblings to start their's. I ran through all the way to Pewter City. Then, disaster struck my batteries died.
When I asked my mom to get more she said next week. My siblings threw their heads and laughed maniacally as they flew past me on the game.

I used the MissingNo cheat for infinite rare candies and Master Balls. However I had a rude awakening about rare candies. I had a level 99 rare candy team. (Blastoise, Pidgeot, Raichu, Golem, Alakazam, Flareron.)
My opponent had one naturally trained level 99 Charizard. He mollywhopped my entire party with one shots. Moral of this story is to this day roughly 20 years later, I still never use rare candies on my main team.

I have a different preferred starter for each game, but I skew toward Grass I think... Bulbasaur, Cyndaquil, Mudkip, Turtwig, Snivy, Chespin, Litten, Sobble.

I used MissingNo as a kid, but nowadays, meh. It always freaked me out, how the game would start bugging out.