Countdown to XY: A Nostalgia Thread

Stellar

of the Distant Past
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C O U N T D O W N ● T O ● X Y
[ 0 DAYS REMAIN ]
As the days creep by and we draw closer and closer to the international release of Pokémon XY, let's take a moment to reflect on our experiences with previous Pokémon games: the joy we shared upon starting a new adventure, the sense of wonder we experienced as we explored new vistas, and the challenges we overcame as we worked our separate ways toward the coveted title of Pokémon Master.

For many of us, XY will be our sixth generation of Pokémon; for others, it will be their first or second. Each of us experienced, and continues to experience, the magic of Pokémon in different ways. No two people share the same memories, no two the same exact emotions. This thread is a vehicle for our nostalgia: within it, we will consider our past experiences with the Pokémon franchise. Each day, I will post a new question for you to answer. You may answer in as many or as few words as you wish. All I ask is that you answer each question truthfully and treat this thread seriously.

Day 1: What is your first memory of Pokémon?
Day 2: What was your first experience with a shiny Pokémon?
Day 3: How close have you come to "catching 'em all"?
Day 4: What was your first level 100 Pokémon?
Day 5: What is your favorite Pokémon and why?
Day 6: Which Pokémon rumors did you believe when you were younger?
Day 7: Which aspect of XY are you looking forward to the most?
Day 8: What are your Pokémon "quirks"?
Day 9: What is your favorite region and why?
Day 10: If you could change one thing about the Pokémon games, what would it be?
Day 11: What is your favorite mini-game?
Day 12: Which song/theme is the most nostalgic?
Day 13: How do Colosseum/XD compare to other main-series games?
Day 14: If you were given a pill that erases all memory of Pokémon, would you take it?
Day 15: Which past feature do you want to return in XY?
Day 16: Did you enjoy the experience of starting fresh in BW?
Day 17: What is your favorite Pokémon movie/anime episode?
Day 18: If you could erase one Pokémon from existence, which one would you choose?
Day 19: What is the most unfortunate thing that has happened to you while playing Pokemon?
Day 20: How much did you spoil yourself before launch in previous generations?
Day 21: What are your plans for release day (October 12)?
Day 22: Who is the coolest NPC in the Pokémon games?
Day 23: Which Pokémon was the biggest disappointment when you used it in-game?
Day 24: What is the cutest Pokémon?
Day 25: Are you going to buy Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, or both?
Day 26: What is your opinion of mega evolutions?
Day 27: Are you disappointed in or excited for Pokémon Bank?
Day 28: What type combination were you most looking forward to in XY?
Day 29: How are you spending your last day of freedom before XY takes over your life?
Day 30: What is your favorite thing about Pokémon XY?
 

V4Victini

再起不能
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My first memory of playing a Pokemon game was this random kid in the barbershop. He was frustrated at his Charmander on FireRed, so I offered to evolve it for him. Since I never had a pokemon game of my own it wsa a blast ^_^
 

Hulavuta

keeps the varmints on the run
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:D

My first memory of Pokemon unfortunately did not really involve much of the Pokemon stuff, as I didn't have any of the games or the cards. In preschool and kindergarten, Pokemon was the really big thing (that and Bionicle, which I did own a lot of ), and although I didn't have the games or cards, since everyone else was into it, I heard about it all the time. And we would play Pokemon on the playground and pretend to be the Pokemon; I am sure a lot of kids did that. We did have a TV though, so I was able to watch the anime.

For the strangest reason...and I shit you not, kids would tell on you for saying Pokemon, or as they called it, the "P word". It was a long time ago, so the memory is vague, but I think kids might've even gotten in trouble for it just because some kids tattled on kids who said Pokemon...for some reason. We were also not allowed to sing "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles. Yeah, I don't get it either.

...Yes, I understand this is not one single event, but that entire time period is sort of mushed together in my memory so that all is just the general idea :P
 

dwarfstar

mindless philosopher
My first memory of Pokemon was the day that I got into it (I believe it was summer 1999). I found an Omastar card from the Fossil TCG expansion on the ground, and I was fascinated by it. I went next door and asked one of the neighbor's kids what Pokemon was, and he explained the basic point of the games. I was hooked - I started collecting the cards and I watched the anime whenever I could. I wasn't able to get my own system and game until Ruby came out, unfortunately, but I've been obsessing over it for years because of that one card. Omastar is still one of my favorite Pokemon to this day.
 

Flora

Yep, that tasted purple!
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When I was traveling aboard on a plane to Europe (I was idk like 10?), I stuffed my GameBoy Color (with Blue version in it) in the seat pocket in front of me because we were going to eat. It's only moments after we leave the plane that I couldn't find my GameBoy and... later realized I left it in the airplane. That was quite a sad experience... but my daddy bought me a new gameboy and the new Pokemon game at that time: Pokemon Yellow! I hope whoever found my GameBoy Color had a thrill finding it and a fun experience with my Blue!
 
A quick check on dates and whatnot, I would say my first contact with Pokemon was the anime. We used to record the episodes on VHS. That, or the Trading Cards. Most likely the anime though.
 
My first memory was getting the Original 151 Pokemon toys from a Hungry Jack's meal XD. Caterpie (still remember it pwning Team Rocket in the 1st? season), Weedle, Geodude, Mankey (i thought it could learn rapid spin lol), Koffing (that was cute). I think i got them when i was 3 (2000)
 
I remember watching the show a lot more than playing the games when I was young, and I'm pretty sure I watched before I played. I remember watching this one VHS of 3 Pokemon episodes (all of which I do not remember) frequently that played the Pokerap at the end. And man I loved the Pokerap.
 
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I remember watching the show a lot more than playing the games when I was young, and I'm pretty sure I watched before I played. I remember watching this one VHS of 3 Pokemon episodes (all of which I do not remember) that played the Pokerap at the end. And man I loved the Pokerap.
Before my family started using the computer a lot more, we used to borrow Pokemon videotapes from the library. I remember there was one where there was the Sandshrew going through a training regime, and one where this kid was on a treadmill naming Pokemon. And Pidgeot was overhyped
 
For me, I remember watching the anime as a 90s kid, then being super excited when I got my gameboy color and Yellow version. I rocked it with Pikachu, Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise, Alakazam, and Articuno (previously Pidgeot)! So many tough battles and pokemon to capture, but it worked out in the end. I was hooked.
 

cant say

twitch.tv/jakecantsay
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It's almost like there was that one single VCR in circulation at that point, with the 3 episodes including Ash's gym battle against Misty, AJ's 100th win and that trainer school. Watching that tape over and over I think is my earliest experience, but like @Hulavuta said, it was all so long ago it's all morphed into one memory. My first copy of the was a yellow version that my friend gave me because my mum couldn't afford it at the time. Actually now that I think about it, I think I started collecting cards first, or the same time. Years 7-10 were wild for me, it's all a blur
 
First memory was when I was god... 3-5 years old maybe? Hard to re-call... anyway I got Pokemon Blue from my aunt cause my brother got Pokemon Red. My first Pokemon was a Squirtle and I refused to evolve it at level 16 cause I didn't want it to change. Ahhh, memories.
 
My first memory of Pokémon? I still remember it as though it were only yesterday.

I was bored out of my mind one day, so I turned on the TV, hoping there was something that was on that didn't suck. That's when Pokémon was airing. I fell in love with the anime. The Pokémon, Brock's hilarity, Ash's stupidity, it was all amazing. I heard about the games, so I persuaded (constantly nagged at) my mom to drive me to a game store to buy one for me. As soon as I had my Pokémon Silver at hand, I knew I would love Pokémon even more. And of course, I still love Pokémon to this day.
 

DHR-107

Robot from the Future
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Orange Islands
Wow... Look at all these guys with GameBoy Colours and stuff.

My first experience was Pokemon Red in the back of our car and it was the first Brand New Game I had ever had. I was pretty late to the home console party (We got a Sega Mega Drive II as the PlayStation was about to launch). I had an old fat Original Gameboy which I adored using for Tetris, Battletoads and Yoshi's Cookie :D That first intro battle scene between Gengar and Nidorino drove me crazy and then when I got into the game I started with Squirtle and never looked back. My brother later got Blue and we proceeded to trade and collect as much stuff as possible. I got into the cards and the anime too, and distinctly remember begging my mother to let me record some of the episodes during the Kanto Pokemon League (Specifically the Bellspout episode) whilst I was at an after school club.

In a trade that went horribly wrong (Hitmonlee for my brothers Kabutops) I lost my Hitmonlee and we gained two Kabutops... Obviously we didn't have the internet then, but we essentially discovered cloning. I was so distraught about losing my beloved Metronome Hitmonlee (Which taught me Ice was SE vs Dragon when it called Blizzard against Lance in the Elite 4) that I restarted my whole file over. I chose almost an identical team on my second play through (Blastoise, Jolteon, Hitmonlee, Gengar, Pidgeot (Later became Articuno/Zapdos) and Dugtrio) and still loved the whole experience. I don't remember a lot of things during those games apart from managing to beat Giovanni at Silph Co with a pretty much dead Blastoise that was Poisoned... All I can say is thank god for Surf. I remember getting so lost in the Seafoam Islands that I had nearly nothing left alive and I was beaten down on the Hunt for Articuno. I managed to reach it with 2 mons left, I smacked it once threw a ball and caught it first time. @_@ I have never been so lucky with legends since. I've explored every rumour that was around about Bills Secret Garden, Mew under the garbage truck etc... And none of them work apart from the infamous 99 Item Trick. My brother screwed his game over by accidentally doing this on a HM... They are not numbered, so it would spawn 1 individual one if you moved it... So in the end his whole inventory and PC were filled with HM03 xD

My Red Cart died a long long time ago, but my blue (which I inherited once my brother grew tired of Pokemon) still seems to function. His team is a little wacky but it works for just wandering around killing stuff :P
 
I'm pretty sure I was 4 when Pokemon came out in the US(1997, right?). I remember getting one of the games that Christmas and then freaking out about how awesome it was and then played it the whole day and ignored everything else. I don't have much memory of it because I was so young though and I could have been 5 getting it in 98, idk because I could read the whole thing at the time and it was before Yellow.
 

Stone RG

Megas are broke
3 years do fly by quickly, dont they? I guess right now my most memorable intial pokemon experience was my blastoise pulling through lance in Fire Red, i didnt have more hyper potions since it was my first time going against the League, i didnt wate my money (and i still dont, even now), i hit 4 blizzards in a row, only now do i realize how much i should have enjoyed that.

I actually had previous experiences, back some weeks ago, i had seen Lil play with some friends In HG/SS, not competitively obviously. Just a week after that i bought a hacked game i still keep though its broken, i found lvl 3 wild charizards near new bark town, and i found wild slowkings in victory road. But overall, my first grand memory is my first play through Fire Red.

Sorry, gotta go cry somewhere else.
 
back in '07 I overheard a guy in my class saying he wants pokemon emerald. I was then intrigued and ask if I can borrow it. I've watched the anime since I was a small kid. I got the game and immediately got addicted lol.
 

Codraroll

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My cousin had bought a used Nintendo64 and a GameBoy Colour from a neighbour. This was back in 2000, I think. Three (or four, can't remember) games came with the N64, but none with the GameBoy. However, my cousin went and bought the then-shining-new Pokémon Yellow at a store, and immediately went to my place to try it (as I live closer to town than he did). That summer, we spent a lot of time playing the game, occasionally sleeping over and waking up stupidly early to play the game on N64 through Pokémon Stadium. I never got any first-generation games myself, but my cousin eventually got all three, and we beat them all together. When my little sister got a GBA after a surgery a few years later, I bought Pokémon Crystal for myself. I've stuck with the series since.
 
My first memory of Pokemon is when I turned TV on when Ash's Butterfree made all the beedrills sleep.

From games it is that my friend choose me female protagonist and picked Chikorita as my starter in Crystal. Well, I beat the game with those.
 
I remember the commercials which predated the release of Red and Blue or the anime in the US. The one with the weird bus driver with a bus full of pokemon drawn to Pokedex scale where he'd find new and obsessive ways to cram the original 150 into a gameboy and game pak (not a typo), like leaving the bus in a trash compaction area. He'd snigger and say "GOTCHA!"
 
I suppose my 1st memory would be when I was 7. one of my mum's friend's son gave me his Sapphire cartage, and he was on the bridge out side of the Weather Institute. So I reset the game, as he told me how to. I played it, now I really like pokemon, and now im on smogon :D
 
I remember the commercials which predated the release of Red and Blue or the anime in the US. The one with the weird bus driver with a bus full of pokemon drawn to Pokedex scale where he'd find new and obsessive ways to cram the original 150 into a gameboy and game pak (not a typo), like leaving the bus in a trash compaction area. He'd snigger and say "GOTCHA!"
Omg I remember those now!! It seems like a weird commercial now, but wasn't that weird then.
 

LilOu

PO poopyhead
Day 1: What is your first memory of Pokémon?

My first day with Pokémon...I'm crying I swear. I was 7 years old. I asked for a GameBoy Advance SP. My italian aunt bought me one and sent it to my country. I received it with two games. One was Pokémon Yellow. The other one was Pokémon Versione Argento. For those who don't know, Argento = Silver. Both games were in Italian, but it didn't matter, I was so excited for having my first portable gaming device and two faboulous games that were my dream. Those games weren't new, my italian cousin had played them before, and as a good cousin, he gave them to me, introducing me to an incredible journey where I was going to become the master of all.



I knew zero Italian, but, since it's similar to Spanish, it wasn't the big deal. The game was already started and it had many incredible Pokémon. The one I remember the most is an Espeon. I did the first thing that came to my mind, walked around and went to the tall grass where I found a Vulpix. I was like "OMG, OMG, OMG". This is because Vulpix was THE SHIT in that time in the Anime, burning Brock's face to ashes. Well, I tried to catch it, threw a Poké Ball and "GOTCHA, Vulpix was caught!". Then happened something I didn't understand at all. It wasn't in my party. My party was full, so I went to the Pokémon Center and tried to get rid of one of the six Pokémons in my party.

I released the Espeon. Yeah, I did it, don't ask why, I was a 7 years old child. I was happy and went to catch the so-wanted six tailed fox. Once captured, it did appear in my party, so I was really proud of my capabilities. Suddenly, mom told me it was time to sleep, so I just turned off the GameBoy and went to rest.

The next day, I turned it on and realized that my Vulpix wasn't there, instead was that Espeon. I couldn't understand why, so I released it again and got another Vulpix. I turned the game off and resumed it the next day. Espeon was there again. My mind simply couldn't process what the hell was happening, so I tried to catch several Vulpix to break this curse. It didn't work. Finally, I gave up and selected the option "NUOVO GIOCCO" (New Game).

The cute Totodile was my first choice. I leveled it up until it became a powerful crocodile named Croconaw. I was so tired because of hours playing that I decided to investigate a little inside the Menu that popped up whenever I pressed Start. There was an option that said "SALVA IL GIOCCO". Salva means save, but I linked that word with the phrase "Save me" and I linked "Giocco" with some kind of animal in danger of extinction. I said "Oh, they are doing some good work here, I guess I can click that button". So I gave a supposed "vote" to help the poor endangered animals like the polar bear.

I stopped to play several days I can't remember why. But the next thing I remember is that whenever I started the game, my character appeared next to one of those route indicators sign. It was annoying! I couldn't progress in my adventure and therefore I got frustrated. It was one day when a friend told me that the way to save my progress was selecting "SALVA IL GIOCCO". It wasn't an endangered animal, fuck Game Freak, they lied to me.

My real journey started, I got Feraligatr, Pidgeot, Noctowl and a Dragonite. You may be asking how the hell did I get a Dragonite in Pokémon Silver. Well, I got the Game Corner Dratini I guess, (or was it the one they give to you at Dragon's Den?) and started training it by battling with wild Gyarados. I spent my whole f****** life using the Super Rod and beating Gyrados with my Dragonair until it evolved into a fucking Dragonite with safeguard and Dragon Rage, dammit :[



I got my purpose, to win the Pokémon League. I felt proud of myself, and...and...I don't remember what else happened. The only thing I know right now is that I still have that Pokémon Versione Argento in my bedroom. I have a GameBoy Advance SP. The problem is that the internal battery of my game is dead, so I can't play. But it doesn't matter. I love that game and it's my favorite region and generation.



Oh, yeah. I beat Red if you're asking.
 
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While I watched the anime and was a fan, I didn't start playing Pokemon until Emerald, despite having a Game Boy Color. I got hooked immediately. I traded cartridges or gave money to my friends to get LeafGreen, Red, Silver. I remember looking on Pokemon websites like serebii and Psypokes to just absorb all the info that I could find.
 

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