^^So much this^^Pokemon Gold was my first Pokemon game, and from there I went onto Crystal, Blue, Yellow, and then the GBA and DS games. I loved my choice of Totodile in GSC and so I've been picking the Water starter ever since. In the remake HeartGold the Totodile family's movepool and coverage only got stronger, which was totally boss. Obviously, the Totodile family is also the best looking out of all the starter families.
Gold was my first - I was a pokemon fan before then, but lacked the understanding on how to play videogames. My starter was my first pokemon ever - a Chickorita named Chicky. I remember picking it because it was the starter used on a screenshot on the back of the box, of all reasons. I came to love that thing, even though it was painfully apparent how weak it was early on. When HG came out, I coulnd't resist doing the same thing over again :).
I think my fondest memory was going after Lugia. I loved that thing so much (probably from the hype of the 2nd movie), but my limited intelligence took a long time figuring out how to properly incapacitate it. It wasn't until I finally caught it that I felt like a real champion.
I found the old cart a few days ago, and went so far as to replace the internal battery so it can save again! The nostalgia trip is great, and it's so fun playing through after using the three-starters glitch. Feraligatr + Typhlosion just kill everything, lol. Awesome glitches and pokemon that are usable regardless of "nature" - that's what I miss about the series. It's cool to catch a random Heracross and know that it's almost immediately usable for Stadium 2.