Me and some buddies were talking about this, good times.
It's been over 11 years now, but I got my copy of Pokemon Red for my 11th birthday in March 1999. Why I got it, I don't know. I hated Pokemon, and hated people who liked it. However, I did own a Pocket Pikachu toy, which is why my parents got me the game for my birthday I guess. Anyway, I decided to play it. I am trying to remember as much as I can about my first playthrough.
1. I got the game before my family had internet access, so I had to play the game without any help or any kind of guide/walkthrough, my only "help" being my friends who also owned the game, and the "guide" in the booklet that game with the game that ended at Mount Moon. But I really didn't use my friends for help much at all. Therefore I got stuck in areas for long periods of time because I couldn't figure out what to do. This was also my first exposure to Pokemon, as I had never watched the show or seen someone play the game. Such as the very beginning of the game. It took me at least 3 or 4 hours to find out how to LEAVE MY HOUSE in Pallet Town. I walked all over that damn house trying to figure out how to leave, and somehow finally found out that you have to walk down the carpet to get out. What a relief when I finally found out how to get out of there.
2. I picked Charmander as my starter. Why? Because my Game Boy's D-Pad froze up and stopped working for some reason and I couldn't move over to check out the other Poke Balls. Therefore, with Charmander being the first ball, I picked him. I named him FERDIE, but I don't remember why I chose that name.
3. That old man in Viridian City that wouldn't let me go through... that bastard. Took me quite a while to figure him out too. I don't even remember getting Oak's Parcel or anything, I must have wandered quite a while.
4. It took me a while to figure out what Poke Balls were for. I must have wasted a few trying to catch a trainer's Pokemon. By the time I figured out what they were for, I wasted them. I caught about 5 Rattatas and Pidgeys and named them weird names like AJ. I also remember catching a Metapod and naming it Eel. This coincides with the end of the first day I had the game. I must have spent 10 hours playing the game the first day I got it and only got to Viridian Forest, with my team being my Charmander, 2 Pidgeys, a Rattata, Metapod, and Weedle if my memory serves me right.
5. Mt. Moon. Good Lord. Without a guide, playing that for the first time, not knowing where to go, damn. Took me 2 or 3 days on that one, because I ran into a Zubat every 5 seconds. At 11 years old I felt helpless. I lost to that trainer with the Level 16 Raticate with Hyper Fang at least 3 times. At least because of this I got to level up my Charmander quite a bit. He was the only one I used though, don't ever remember using any other Pokemon I had. It was like a Level 20 something Charmeleon and 5 weak Pokemon still at the levels I caught them.
6. Misty. I spent 2 WEEKS trying to beat her. I lost to her damn Staryu/Starmie with Bubble Beam at least 50 times. Since Charmeleon was the only Pokemon I had leveled, it was a loss every time. I lost to Misty so many times I don't even remember beating her when I finally did. Misty would be the only gym leader or Elite 4 member I lost to in my first playthrough.
7. Cut. Took me forever to figure out how to chop down that tree to get to Lt. Surge's gym. I had HM01 all along but didn't know what it did. When I finally figured out what TMs and HMs were, I went crazy with my TMs. I remember getting excited about teaching Water Gun to my Rattata because that move raped me vs. Misty.
8. Rock Tunnel. I never picked up Flash, and had no idea it was possible to use it, so I had to navigate the Rock Tunnel in total darkness. Again, something that was near impossible. Thankfully the Greenish color of the Game Boy allowed me to at least barely see the place. I don't remember how long I spent in there, but I do remember finally getting out of that place when I was in a car ride driving South to my grandmother's house for Easter Weekend.
9. Easter Weekend 1999, I played Pokemon probably the whole time and only got to the Safari Zone. That had to have been at least 20 hours of play time. It took me forever to find out how to get past Snorlax, and I made it to the top of the Lavender Tower without a Silph Scope, but in retrospect I am proud of my 11 year old self for getting the Silph Scope/Pokemon Flute and navigating that part of the game by myself without any help. It took a lot of Trial and Error but I did it all on my own.
10. Silph Tower, what a total pain in the ass without a guide. Again, another part of the game that took me forever to complete because those warp tiles were ridiculous.
11. Seafoam Islands, I was the dumbass that thought you had to go through Seafoam Islands to get to Cinnabar. Again, a place I got stuck in like Mt. Moon and Rock Tunnel. And I didn't have Strength, so I basically wandered in there for nothing. Finally found my way out and did the right thing - flew to Pallet Town and surfed to Cinnabar that way.
12. Victory Road, again, something that without a guide was very frustrating. Had no idea you could push the boulders into the "holes" for the longest time.
13. Elite 4. Beat it on my first try with a team, from what I remember, of Charizard with Slash/Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Dig, Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Starmie, and Hitmonlee. Beat the Elite 4 in Early May of 1999, so it took about 6 weeks for me to complete the game the 1st time without a guide.
14. Why did I start a new save? Because I was around 135 in my Pokedex, but had no nuggets to duplicate with Missingno to get enough money to buy coins for a Porygon. I thought I was screwed, and started over. I was wrong about this, could have just rebattled the Elite 4, got enough money to buy Protein or something and multiplied it and sold it
15. Choices for my 1st playthrough: Starter- Charmander, Fossil- Omanyte, Eevee Evolution- Jolteon, Master Ball- Mewtwo, Fighting Dojo- Hitmonlee
16. Completed the Pokedex for the first time right before 5th grade ended for me, in later May 1999. I ran through the game the 2nd time pretty fast.
17. Fell for the April Fools Joke in EGM about getting Yoshi by evolving a Dragonite in Mewtwo's spot with a Fire Stone. Me and my friends tried it at least 50 times in different ways, with the worst being we thought we had to level up the Dragonite to level 55 WITHOUT rare candies.
18. Other first playthroughs: Yellow- December 1999(got it for Christmas), Gold/Silver- January 2000(I was the dumbass that downloaded the ROM and tried to play it in half butchered English/half Japanese,, I regret this), first played it for real in a cartridge in March 2003. Crystal- Never, Fire Red/Leaf Green- March 2005, Ruby/Sapphire- April 2005, Emerald- June 2005, Diamond/Pearl- April 2007, Platinum- Never, Heart Gold/Soul Silver- When I am done with school for this year
Feel free to share your stories
It's been over 11 years now, but I got my copy of Pokemon Red for my 11th birthday in March 1999. Why I got it, I don't know. I hated Pokemon, and hated people who liked it. However, I did own a Pocket Pikachu toy, which is why my parents got me the game for my birthday I guess. Anyway, I decided to play it. I am trying to remember as much as I can about my first playthrough.
1. I got the game before my family had internet access, so I had to play the game without any help or any kind of guide/walkthrough, my only "help" being my friends who also owned the game, and the "guide" in the booklet that game with the game that ended at Mount Moon. But I really didn't use my friends for help much at all. Therefore I got stuck in areas for long periods of time because I couldn't figure out what to do. This was also my first exposure to Pokemon, as I had never watched the show or seen someone play the game. Such as the very beginning of the game. It took me at least 3 or 4 hours to find out how to LEAVE MY HOUSE in Pallet Town. I walked all over that damn house trying to figure out how to leave, and somehow finally found out that you have to walk down the carpet to get out. What a relief when I finally found out how to get out of there.
2. I picked Charmander as my starter. Why? Because my Game Boy's D-Pad froze up and stopped working for some reason and I couldn't move over to check out the other Poke Balls. Therefore, with Charmander being the first ball, I picked him. I named him FERDIE, but I don't remember why I chose that name.
3. That old man in Viridian City that wouldn't let me go through... that bastard. Took me quite a while to figure him out too. I don't even remember getting Oak's Parcel or anything, I must have wandered quite a while.
4. It took me a while to figure out what Poke Balls were for. I must have wasted a few trying to catch a trainer's Pokemon. By the time I figured out what they were for, I wasted them. I caught about 5 Rattatas and Pidgeys and named them weird names like AJ. I also remember catching a Metapod and naming it Eel. This coincides with the end of the first day I had the game. I must have spent 10 hours playing the game the first day I got it and only got to Viridian Forest, with my team being my Charmander, 2 Pidgeys, a Rattata, Metapod, and Weedle if my memory serves me right.
5. Mt. Moon. Good Lord. Without a guide, playing that for the first time, not knowing where to go, damn. Took me 2 or 3 days on that one, because I ran into a Zubat every 5 seconds. At 11 years old I felt helpless. I lost to that trainer with the Level 16 Raticate with Hyper Fang at least 3 times. At least because of this I got to level up my Charmander quite a bit. He was the only one I used though, don't ever remember using any other Pokemon I had. It was like a Level 20 something Charmeleon and 5 weak Pokemon still at the levels I caught them.
6. Misty. I spent 2 WEEKS trying to beat her. I lost to her damn Staryu/Starmie with Bubble Beam at least 50 times. Since Charmeleon was the only Pokemon I had leveled, it was a loss every time. I lost to Misty so many times I don't even remember beating her when I finally did. Misty would be the only gym leader or Elite 4 member I lost to in my first playthrough.
7. Cut. Took me forever to figure out how to chop down that tree to get to Lt. Surge's gym. I had HM01 all along but didn't know what it did. When I finally figured out what TMs and HMs were, I went crazy with my TMs. I remember getting excited about teaching Water Gun to my Rattata because that move raped me vs. Misty.
8. Rock Tunnel. I never picked up Flash, and had no idea it was possible to use it, so I had to navigate the Rock Tunnel in total darkness. Again, something that was near impossible. Thankfully the Greenish color of the Game Boy allowed me to at least barely see the place. I don't remember how long I spent in there, but I do remember finally getting out of that place when I was in a car ride driving South to my grandmother's house for Easter Weekend.
9. Easter Weekend 1999, I played Pokemon probably the whole time and only got to the Safari Zone. That had to have been at least 20 hours of play time. It took me forever to find out how to get past Snorlax, and I made it to the top of the Lavender Tower without a Silph Scope, but in retrospect I am proud of my 11 year old self for getting the Silph Scope/Pokemon Flute and navigating that part of the game by myself without any help. It took a lot of Trial and Error but I did it all on my own.
10. Silph Tower, what a total pain in the ass without a guide. Again, another part of the game that took me forever to complete because those warp tiles were ridiculous.
11. Seafoam Islands, I was the dumbass that thought you had to go through Seafoam Islands to get to Cinnabar. Again, a place I got stuck in like Mt. Moon and Rock Tunnel. And I didn't have Strength, so I basically wandered in there for nothing. Finally found my way out and did the right thing - flew to Pallet Town and surfed to Cinnabar that way.
12. Victory Road, again, something that without a guide was very frustrating. Had no idea you could push the boulders into the "holes" for the longest time.
13. Elite 4. Beat it on my first try with a team, from what I remember, of Charizard with Slash/Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Dig, Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Starmie, and Hitmonlee. Beat the Elite 4 in Early May of 1999, so it took about 6 weeks for me to complete the game the 1st time without a guide.
14. Why did I start a new save? Because I was around 135 in my Pokedex, but had no nuggets to duplicate with Missingno to get enough money to buy coins for a Porygon. I thought I was screwed, and started over. I was wrong about this, could have just rebattled the Elite 4, got enough money to buy Protein or something and multiplied it and sold it
15. Choices for my 1st playthrough: Starter- Charmander, Fossil- Omanyte, Eevee Evolution- Jolteon, Master Ball- Mewtwo, Fighting Dojo- Hitmonlee
16. Completed the Pokedex for the first time right before 5th grade ended for me, in later May 1999. I ran through the game the 2nd time pretty fast.
17. Fell for the April Fools Joke in EGM about getting Yoshi by evolving a Dragonite in Mewtwo's spot with a Fire Stone. Me and my friends tried it at least 50 times in different ways, with the worst being we thought we had to level up the Dragonite to level 55 WITHOUT rare candies.
18. Other first playthroughs: Yellow- December 1999(got it for Christmas), Gold/Silver- January 2000(I was the dumbass that downloaded the ROM and tried to play it in half butchered English/half Japanese,, I regret this), first played it for real in a cartridge in March 2003. Crystal- Never, Fire Red/Leaf Green- March 2005, Ruby/Sapphire- April 2005, Emerald- June 2005, Diamond/Pearl- April 2007, Platinum- Never, Heart Gold/Soul Silver- When I am done with school for this year
Feel free to share your stories
