How did you get into Pokémon?

i can't remember which thing happened earlier so i list both of them below.

my cousin played DP on NDS and i wanted to play too, so i got into Pokemon games.

Pokemon anime on TV featuring Satoshi challenges Indigo League and Orange League attracted me, so i got into Pokemon anime.
 
Essentially from anime. I’ve been watching Pokémon for as long as I can remember, and the friends I’ve made, the memories I’ve captured are all the reasons as to why I still love Pokémon as much as I do — every aspect of the franchise is just phenomenal to me. It’s something that’s always be going to be with me.
 
When I was a small little child, around 7 years old, in school we were playing pokemon cards, I didn't knew there was an anime, because I didn't had the channel on my tv :/ nor a game.
Then, one day, I ate at a friend's house and he showed me his father DS (I'm from a traditional family and my parents don't like technology (I discovered Internet at like 12 yo xD)) and we played pokemon pearl.
Later, when I passed 9yo, I asked for a ds with super mario bros, that was the first video games console in my family but I was stuck in the first world of mario bros (really). For Christmas my grand mother gave me pokemon HeartGold, and being able to play a game this huge was insane for me, I was playing it under my pillow (story time : to OHKO red's pikachu, i trained my Typhlosion to level 100 and teached him Blast burn, that was probably the first time I tought in this game)
And because of Pokemon's magic, I'm still here today 10 years later...
(Sorry for my english, I will never stop eating some good old frog tights)
 
It's a long story how I got to where I am with pokemon.

I was first introduced to pokemon in any capacity during some summer camp (I know longer remember exactly when), when some of the other kids were discussing and trading the cards. A couple were generous enough for me and my sister to get a few free cards, almost certainly junk commons. While I would be fairly well-aquainted with the video games before I bothered to actually learn the rules of the TCG, it was still engaging enough having trade discussions purely on aesthetics that we eventually picked up some games for our DSs. Since we were still pretty unfamiliar with the concept of save files, we got different games under the assumption that we would swap at some point. My sister got Ranger, I had Mystery Dungeon Blue.

The games were certainly worth playing (my lack of touchscreen skills aside), but the biggest benefit to me was outside of them. A large number of kids in my Cub Scout group were into pokemon, and knowing enough to have a meaningful conversation took me out of being an outcast practically instantly (I'm autistic, so socialization is hard). After a sleepover with said group, I had decided on my first main series version: Emerald (this was still before gen 4's release). I never actually cleared victory road until a lot later, due to continually resetting the save file as it passed between siblings. Me and my sister started getting separate versions come DP.

Pokemon has continued to a decent substitute for small talk with the right people, including the most worthwhile of my University's orientation events (they had members of the gaming club appointed as gym leaders in important buildings to familiarize new students with their locations). Though I admit I seem to have shifted to tabletop games going into grad school. I blame Dexit being announced on my undergrad convocation date.

Sorry for the rambling, I read a bit too much news today and wanted to reminisce about good times.
 
I think i was in, 1st grade when i first heard of pokemon cards and was intrigued by the idea of collecting them. Then later on I got a DS and my first game, which was Pokemon Platinum. Tiny me couldn't beat Fantina, let alone figure out any type matchups except the ones you learn right at the beginning of the game. Then I started watching the anime and bought every game past Platinum close to its release date. Been around since then and don't plan on going anywhere!
 
In my early years in elementary school (around 1st to 2nd grade) all the people in higher grades had the epic TCG game known as Pokémon. At that time I only knew about the TCG and not the video games. I think around that time GEN IV was starting to get popular and I wanted to get a GEN IV TCG pack. I’m pretty sure I got the Palkia pack, but I can’t remember. I started to love these TCG sets, so I did some research with my friends, and then pretty soon I learned about the games. I think I knew this at around Platinum’s release, so I quickly fetched myself a copy. I loved it, and that’s why a have a soft spot for GEN IV. But then, Pokémon started to lose it’s magic. I got into other games such as the Mario franchise. It then came back at around Black 2 and White 2’s release. I never got the games, but I did get a Reshiram TCG pack, and that’s when I went all out for Pokémon. Couple years later, I found out about the anime, and that’s when I knew my love for Pokémon would never fade. Fast forward to today, and I’m chilling in Smogon and other Pokémon related stuff.

Holy cow, that was long! I hope my love for Pokémon doesn’t ever leave.:blobthumbsup:
 
Been playing since I was 3 (so like 2003-2004). Pokemon Stadium was one of the games I had on the N64, I think my dad bought it because Charizard and Blastoise looked cool. I didn't actually clear it until recently, but I've always been interested in the Stadium formats. After I got Stadium, I got a Game Boy and Pokemon Yellow, which is when I started to go down the Pokemon rabbit hole. I eventually got Pokemon Crystal, then got a GBA and GameCube and so on. A slow process, but me and my family were pretty poor back then. My dad had cancer and is in a better place now...but he did so much for me, and I wouldn't be the person I am today without him.

I eventually got into the TCG. I don't play it these days as I got bored and prefer Yu-Gi-Oh, but this was the card I pulled in my first pack:
absol-ex-power-keepers-pk-92.jpg

I got into VGC the second it started in 2009, though the UK didn't have any big tournaments for it. I was really bad, but it prompted me to start learning. Eventually, I got pretty good at it, and now I'm here!
 
never played a game until swsh, but watched pokemon videos on yt, drew pokemon, and played showdown a lot. honestly the main appeals to me are the designs, which are just the right level of complexity (for the most part, Eternatus ick) to draw in a reasonable amount of time and still have fun doing, and the battling. I think of it as a strategy game on the level of scrabble or chess to me, im not particularly good but it’s still fun. i already had a switch when sword/shield came out so just bought sword. fun game but honestly no replayability, will stick to what I used to do haha
 
Hi all! I’m really new here, but I’ve been playing Pokémon my whole life. When I was a kid, my older brothers and I would play all the time. We got into Smogon Competitive in Gen 4 and since then I’ve wanted to get more into VGC. Now that I’m older and work and social obligations get in the way, I try to play as often as I can. Luckily, I have an incredibly supportive and amazing girlfriend who wants to play Pokémon with me, even going so far as to try and understand the meta.

Now that I’ve got some time to play more, I’m happy to be able to share such a massive part of my childhood and adult life with the woman that I love. I really do have these games to thank for so much. From helping me through my anxiety, to just helping me mellow out after a long day of work, there’s never been a game series like this, and there really never will be.
 
I remember I went to target with my mom and grandma a few days before my 8th birthday. I asked for Pearl on a whim, and my gram bought it for me. I remember I played it nonstop, though I reset my original save because I could not figure out for the life of me how to get to spear pillar. after which I started a new save where I somehow made it through the game with just torterra and rapidash.

to be honest, I could go on forever. pearl is so deeply ingrained in my memory that I could recount so many details of that playthrough (which I still have the save file for!)
 
I was 3 in 1998 and the two neighbor kids across the street (just slightly older than me) that I played with got me super interested in the idea of Pokémon. When I was 4 I got Yellow and a Gameboy Color for Christmas. Never stopped being into it since, though I've dipped out of playing the recent mainline games lately. Mostly play Showdown + replay Crystal or Red or other old carts, sometimes BW.

edit: this thread makes me feel Fandom Old lmao o_0
 
Being rather old, I remember getting the first Gameboy Advance. I had two games on it, one of them being Super Mario Advance, and the other being Pokemon Red. Playing Pokemon Red when I was a kid really kicked off Pokemon for me. I haven't missed a single mainline game other than B/W and ORAS(If you consider ORAS a mainline).
 
Red came out when I was like 6-7 years old depending on the date, 1996/97 or even 1998 living in England though I think it was globally released? Anyway solo'd with Charizard up until Lt.Surge and learnt from someone in my last year of junior school where to get pokeballs from. Loved interacting by the time GSC was out with family/friends everywhere since and played with many over the years, good games against a lot of better players than myself perhap seeing as it has been a long time for some people who have been around even longer than me lol.

We just come at different times but our journeys are the on the same road just stopping and starting differently in everyones own time. I joined Smogon and knowledge coming with my young memories of gen 1 and 2, that gen 3 was out and real big because it allowed us to battle competitively online, batting frontier for our own unique pokemon everyone couldcompete with at VGC as well (though myself never ever attended despite EV traning RSE/DP/BW ingame), and especially online simulators like NetBattle, Shoddy and Pokemon Online. I play live tournaments now just to keep myself fresh like others, still though I have not owned a copy of a game since gen 5 so my best days were those gens.

I did miss some of gen 6 not buying the games for console, which was upsetting but I was what? 23-25 and my life was a lot different having played online since I was 15 and after 10 years it isn't so simple to just sit and play like I did when there's things to do. Pokemon Go came out around gen 6/7 and it helps me play something I can share with past, present and future with all you guys as well as playing on Showdown (#tournaments/#pokemongo players and room much love).
 
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1. i discovered pokémon when i was a child, i remember of myself watching the anime on the television at night or at lunch time, there was a channel that everyday in the same hour it was passing for the public and i didn't lose any episode of pokémon that time, i still do it with cartoon network, even if i don't watch it everyday.

2. i'm still looking to pokémon because i became a fan of this anime, i just love the feeling that i raised up together with the series and how i discovered things about it. when i discovered pokémon showdown it was also a surprise because first i learned about the theory and the series, but now i can learn about the competitive part and also get a look for another things, it's just amazing and make me feel look to it forever.
 
I was about 3 or 4 years old when my older cousin let me play Pokemon Platinum, I never made it to the first gym because I was you know, dumb. But I loved the cute pokemon and music, pretty music everything. Then, another cousin had PokePark Wii (Im still 3 or 4 here) and that was the start of my love for pokemon. Vine swing thing :heart:
 
When I was five years old, I got into Pokemon when seeing an anime episode. Back in 1999, when the Pokemon anime just got aired where I live, I saw the episode where Ash's Metapod evolved into Butterfree. Since that moment, I've been a Pokemon addict all my life.

Then, I also got into collecting TCG cards, plushies, figurines and the games, starting with Crystal, Colosseum and later LeafGreen and Emerald.

As a teenager, I got into competitive battling and became a Smogon lurker, despite not being a forum member. During Gen 3 and especially 4, I was on ShoddyBattle a lot. Starting out with just OU, and branching out to Ubers and UU in Gen 4. I was never the very best like no one ever was, but popped up on the leaderboard several times, especially Gen 4 UU.

When Gen 5 started, I was done with competitive battling, but still EV trained my Pokemon in the games, as well as looking out for natures and nice IV's. Then, I got into shipping (PokeShipping, Ash x Misty) and the anime fandom on another Pokemon website. I started writing fanfics and doing fanart. Because of that, I even met my first girlfriend and later my current girlfriend, who is just as Pokemon-obsessed as I am.

Nowadays, I'm not as active as a shipper as I used to be. I don't care about the newer seasons of the anime. But I still have a giant plushie collection, am Pokemon-obsessed, write fics every now and then, and signed up here mostly because I found the Gen 3 and 4 Battle Frontier threads and wanted to try getting Gold Symbols there. I also occasionally replay the games, mostly Gen 1/2, trying to challenge myself (solo runs, monotype runs, item/healing limits). I just finished a Grass monotype run in Pearl, with a maximum of three recovery items per battle and no Revives in battle. At this moment, I'm working on a SoulSilver playthrough and am planning to restart Emerald.

I'm 26, and still a PokeManiac. And I will probably be a PokeManiac until the day I die.
 
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I watched the Pokemon anime on german tv back in 2003 when i was 7 and then my parents bought me Pokemon Leaf Green & Pokemon Sapphire for Gameboy Advance one year later and i quickly loved the pokemon, music & everything, which would be the start of my life as a pokemon fan and eventually competitive player from 2011 - summer 2020.

I'm not as enthusiastic about Pokemon anymore like i used to be for most of my life, but it will always be a part of my life and i'm gonna remember fondly all the cool people on german pokemon sites and smogon i've had the pleasure to interact with during all these years.
 
I was playing Pokemon emerald with absolutely no clue what was going on or what Ii was doing but the idea of being immersed into a fantasy world filled with animals was one that really appealed to me as a young kid. I liked the idea of travelling searching for animals back then. Now, i think it's really the community and friends I've made along the way that keep me interested in Pokemon.
 
I am nearly 62 years old, disabled and always loved games. Some 7or so years ago I was hospitalised with PEs (clots in the lungs) and pneumonia, so sick I literally died twice. I lost the ability to walk, and so I was in hospitals and rehab facilities until I got my legs working again. During that time, I seldom saw my family or friends, and that hospital system did not have patient internet. I don't watch much TV as a rule, but for that time I did. My iPad was refusing to allow me to watch stored movies, or play already loaded games, so the TV books on the iPad and a note taking app were all I had to stop myself going insane. That was when I realised a need to have easily transported activities to broaden my choices.

About three years passed. I had a number of hospitalisations in that period, and it dawned on me that I had a valuable source of ideas in my children, both gamers from early in their lives. So having discussed this with them, my kids suggested I try out a 3ds to see if I liked it. My wonderful daughter loaned me her 3ds and a Pokémon X game... It was about noon that day when I first saw a Pokémon. At first it was awkward, learning the controls, the strategy and the reason why THIS was necessary and THAT was just fun. I was... hooked. I even protested loudly when my daughter came to steal her 3ds back... at 3AM....

And then, the very next day, my kids bought me a 2ds of my own... and my girl just gave me her game, replacing it for herself. I've been collecting the mainstream games ever since. Would anyone be surprised that my kids LAUGHED at me for my new addiction?

I just signed up here today, thinking that maybe I would enjoy a structured introduction into competing. So I'm looking to learn the mechanics, etiquette, and garner tips for such. I figured this was a good place to look.
 
It all started when my brother had a Cobalt Blue Gameboy Advanced SP, he had a copy of Pokémon Emerald, by this time, I was about 5-6, anyway, my brother had a copy of Pokémon Emerald which we got as a gift from one of my sister's friends, and my brother played through it and I would always be in awe, because for me Pokémon battling each other and leveling them up was an awesome experience, so I would also play Pokémon Emerald, I remembering roaming around Lilycove City, and the Lilycove Department Store, and the route 214 having double battles, eventually, my brother got Pokémon Pearl, and I would watch him play, and sometimes he would let me borrow his DS, and I would roam everywhere, when I was about 8, I was gifted my first Pokémon game, Pokémon Diamond, enjoyed it to the fullest, then I got hooked ever since!

I didn't really like SW/SH, I didn't like how GF cut out all of the things, that in my opinion, made Pokémon, Pokémon.

I have stuck so long because, I enjoy competitive Pokémon, simple as that.
 
All the kids in school played r/b/y and the other kids made fun of them like pokemon was a nerdy thing to do, I didn't play back then but was curious about the game. First pokemon game I played were the stadium games for n64 using rental pokemon and i thought this was real cool and fun but still didnt know much more about beating the game than super effective moves.

When i was about 16 or 17 ruby/sapphire just came out so I just went and bought it to check it out and got really into it, learned about all ev training and eventually battling then I found something called netbattle where you can battle online like an old showdown. After ruby and sapphire for whatever reason i couldnt get into the other gens so never really bothered but still followed up on new games just reading about them not really playing.

Up until last year when swsh came out i didnt play pokemon at all, id watch some battle vids on youtube when i was bored but that was it. Well i did play random battles on showdown but im not sure that really counts. So when swsh came out I bought a switch and got back into it and i had alot to learn, had to learn all about the older pokemon when they got released and it took me a while to get used to dynamaxing and i really didnt like that at first but don't mind it now.
 
I think I can say with confidence most of us got into Pokemon after playing it from either childhood or getting the earlier games. The story was so fun to me and I was so drawn to it. I never really got into competitive pokemon until now, when I was playing a Minecraft Pokemon mod. It was super fun and interesting learning about EV training and just how important IVs are. I really am starting to love Pokemon and my growth as a player, going from someone who would find any and all legendaries to someone who now sees the value in Pokes I thought were trash like Lopunny.
 
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