What got me into Pokémon?
I walked into my kindergarten at age six, went over to the rug where the cool guys hung out, and this kid named Brody had a Pokémon guidebook. I saw Charizard and was hooked. I started off by borrowing my friend Brad's Game Boy Color and playing GSC, and then for my birthday I got a Game Boy Advance SP along with Ruby version and it snowballed. Fast forward to the beginning of middle school; an 11-year-old me is talking to my new friend Patrick, and he asks if I was into Pokémon, saying that Diamond and Pearl looked really cool. I went home, looked up these new monsters on pokemon.com (being most impressed by Garchomp, I was wondering how they'd follow up my beloved Salamence...), and from there searched DP playthroughs on YouTube. The first person I came across was a guy named PokemasterEmil. From there I discovered Marriland, and his Wi-Fi battles opened to me the world of playing competitively (my only experience prior was getting my ass kicked by some way older dude at Nintendo World, I'd give anything to find out who he was). EVs, IVs, all that good stuff. When I turned 13 (respecting COPPA) I started a YouTube account under the fantastic name BlazeKickinChicken for my own battles. A year later, I wanted more challenging battles, so I came over to the place where I heard the best players were, Smogon.
What are my favorite Pokémon memories?
This is me basically picking between my kids, I could fill a book with this stuff. Playing FireRed for the first time was really high up there, I kept bumping into things at the store. Running into Drake's Salamence and getting the "I have to have one" feeling (he was my first level 100 Poké). Realizing I could get all three starters in Yellow. Evolving Dragonair into Dragonite in Silver. Parents letting me come down past my bedtime because the show was on TV. Getting my hands on every single guidebook or magazine I could find. A million other things. Figuring out Toxic Spikes being used a second time would inflict bad poison my first time playing Diamond. Blitzing through Japanese Platinum, HeartGold, and Black (even though I eventually got stuck and to this day haven't finished...) because I couldn't wait for the American release, no way. Playing White 2 while in the hospital.
On the competitive side of things, having an amazing Wi-Fi or ladder battle against a great player. When I got into tournaments, there are way too many to choose, but some include winning in Smogon Premier League 3 semi-finals against McMeghan (when my team was done if I lost), winning my first Smogon Tour, being a part of US East in the indescribable, the unbeatable atmosphere of the World Cup (especially the part where I won the decisive finals game in 2013, I really like to win), and too many other things to count, like having one of my idols, husk, tell me my SubRoost Aero team was cool.
And for the other parts, meeting amazing people almost seemingly non-stop. Not just online, but in real life; when I went to California I met roscoe / liberty32 (who I've known since I was 13), I've been to and stayed at CasedVictory's house several times after we went down to DC for Worlds '14, and Worlds '15 in Boston was just as great. It's become a hobby to harass people year-round saying "come to worlds" because it is so much fun even if you don't partake in VGC. This isn't to discredit the online experiences, though, mainly on IRC; in real life, you can't spam all-caps lol at your poor friend unfortunately getting destroyed by someone in a Tour because his opponent got absurd luck or made dumb moves that worked. Plus, I can't count the number of times I've figuratively bawled my eyes out late at night (over something trivial, most likely, but these are our formative years, and I hear that's a part of the experience) only to have some of the great friends I've made be there for me much like a "real" friend might—it's obviously not the exact same as an "IRL friend", but the common suggestion that they're not legitimate couldn't be further from the truth. It definitely sounds melodramatic, but there have been tons of moments over the years where my online friends have helped me get through some real rough patches that come with the lows of real life's many obstacles frequently rearing their heads (and in the teenage years of nearly everyone on the site, it's almost always those cursed, elusive "girls" who bring us misery usually reserved for getting haxed in a big tournament battle).
How has Pokémon affected my life?
To draw a rather lofty comparison, black metal legend Burzum found solace and inspiration in the Lord of the Rings world in his younger days. Pokémon has served a similar function for me, be it through the games when I was younger or the online friends I made as I became older. Being around the generally older Smogon community also helped me sharpen my thinking and made me more confident overall. Plus, it's turned me on to a huge amount of my preferred music, including my favorite album of all time, and there's a huge group of people you can talk about your non-Pokémon interests with at any time. The competitive game itself is sometimes incredibly frustrating with RNG antics, but sometimes there's nothing like a ladder battle, saying "gg" at the end to a person you don't know, and getting it back because you both want the other to know that you enjoyed it, like when Ash exchanges friendlies with one of his many opponents. We all have a special spot in our hearts for the games and (first season of the) show (and early movies), and we probably always will; the fact that we've been able to learn lessons from it (and some of us even making a bit of money!) proves that it's not a phase and it's not a waste of time, Mom. Maybe when I'm finally a full-fledged Pokémon master, she'll come around...