What got me into Pokémon?
I got Pokémon Red as my first video game when I was about four years old, and Pokémon has been a permanent fixture in my life ever since, for better or for worse. I actually don't have much nostalgia for RBY or GSC like a bunch of people do—despite my prized level 77 Ledian that carried me all the way through Silver, I didn't care that much about the games until just before the release of Ruby and Sapphire. I remember going on Pokémon.com at my grandparents' and seeing the flawless Pelipper on full display, labeled as one of the newest generation of Pokémon. Man oh MAN, I just couldn't go on my merry way without picking up THAT glorious bastard. And the more RSE Pokémon designs I saw, the more I wanted RS: Cacturne, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Shiftry, and Manectric actually still are in my all-time top 10 favorite 'mons list!
When I finally got Ruby for my birthday in like 2003, it affirmed my love for the series and drove home the feeling of exploring a brand-new world. For all its faults, Hoenn was full to the brim with secondary nooks and crannies separate from the main storyline where you could go off and explore. Places such as Shoal Cave and Meteor Falls and events like the Regi trio sidequest delivered the purest sense of satisfaction for my exploration-craving self. I missed this magic in later generations because I became much more entrenched in Pokémon websites and forums, so I knew far too much ahead of time about the games thanks to early Japanese releases and the inevitability of spoilers. :'(
As for competitive Pokémon specifically: I spent many hours on Pokémon forums despite limited computer time, wanting to make a Pokémon game of my own and recreate that sense of wonder for other people. I ended up stumbling onto the competitive section of that forum, and then I found the wonder that was Smogon analyses. I actually printed out just about every DPP OU analysis at the time so that I could flip through them offline and stored them all in a massive binder (shh don't tell my mom, she never found out why we went through two ink cartridges). I played DPP UU for a while before finding my niche in BW NU after the next generation, and then I gradually progressed to spending several hundred hours writing analyses and running tournaments on Smogon instead of doing my homework like a big dumb idiot.
What are my favorite Pokémon memories?
Like most of the other interviewees, my favorite memories are more about the people I've met rather than about the game itself. Between being the tier leader of NU for several years and my duties as a Tournament Director, I've had the chance to meet many fantastic people who have all been pleasant and really encouraged me to open up. There have been a couple rotten eggs, as you might expect of any group of a few thousand people, but I think for the most part I would involve myself in this community a hundred times out of a hundred. Official team tournaments in particular are the source of most of my fondest memories with competitive Pokémon, and I think that holds true for just about every tournament player who has been a part of them. Hosting official team tournaments, on the other hand...
Someday in the near future I'd love to start going to VGC tournaments and meet some of my friends IRL, too!
How has Pokémon affected my life?
Oh, geez. I think it's been both a curse and a blessing for me, because it opened my eyes to what I want to do with my life (game development!) but also actively sapped the time and energy I should have been spending on setting those dreams into motion. Pokémon has had such a major impact on the direction of my life that it'd be completely and entirely different from what it is now if I had never gotten into Pokémon in the first place. I'd have vastly different friends, I'd have completely different interests, I'd probably have a decent job and not still be living with my parents... Heck, I'd be a whole different Zebraiken-except-not-because-I-wouldn't-have-used-that-as-a-username-so-probably-something-else!
For real, though, working with the community has really opened me up as a person, and I'm much more confident and socially aware than I would have been without those opportunities. Regardless of the time sink that Smogon and Pokémon have been, investing that time into an enjoyable hobby that I can share with a bunch of close friends sounds pretty good to me.