How were you first drawn to Pokemon?

[archangel_94]

My dad bought me Pokemon Crystal when I was,I don't know...When I was 5 or 6 maybe,I don't remember.I played it for a while,didn't know how to save at the time,kept on training my Croconaw,while catching random Pokemon.

I cut a raw deal with my cousin,who at the time was a Pokemon master to me,and gave me his Pokemon Red and Blue in exchange for my Crystal.I took the deal,thinking that 2 games are better than 1.(I was five at the time!)

Anyway,I got a team in Blue that usually took down the E4 without damage (Blastiose,Articuno,Mewtwo...shit,that's all I remember.)

And then I got Gold,did the same thing again,got Croconaw,and reduced the E4 to bits.

And from that point,I got Sapphire,Emerald,Diamond,Platinum,HG,SS.

So that's my story.What's yours?

 

[Outlaw]

Well, I was a young lad in Texas visiting my cousins one summer, when I spotted a box with a freaking dragon that had fire on its tail and I had only recently gotten a Gameboy Pocket. So I was all, "I want." and parents were all. "Ok."

 

[afterburn]

I still remember...

When I was 6, I switched on the TV because I was real bored, I saw this yellow mouse running with a boy with a red cap running around, I switched the TV off. The next day I saw the same thing, and since there was nothing to do, I started watching. Day after day I became more and more interested, until I bought the games.. Fire red first, then leaf green, ruby, sapphire, yada yada

 

[Fishy]

I honestly cannot remember what made me WANT to get pokemon red, I just remember being at my grandmother's when I was like 5 and getting it for my birthday. Opened it up, Charizard in my face, pumped and ready to DO THIS.

 

[Losa]

There was this huge commercial thingy in Finland. I saw Squirtle. And that was it. After watching the show a friend of mine downloaded Blue to my computer. It was fun and all but then I got GBC and Yellow for my birthday. And now I have every game but Gold. And Squirtle still rules.

 

[xeroslash]

A friend of mine had a Japanese copy of the original Red version before it was localized in America. Even though he could not read Japanese he was able to play a good portion of the game and he kept telling me how he wished that there was an English version of the game available. I was still 8 at the time (and my friend was 9).

Later that year, Pokemon was localized and it was a huge hit. I didn't have a Gameboy at the time so my friend gave me a floppy disk (yes, those existed once upon a time) with a GB emulator and a Blue rom and told me that I could play it on my computer. Every day after school I would rush home to play it.

My first starter was a Squirtle. I don't remember what I did, but I actually managed to make it disobey me very, very early on (before the first gym).

 

[cantab]

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2640939&postcount=14

 

[Lasty91]

I was, I think six or seven, when I first played my brother's Blue Version. It was actually the first video game I ever played. The same year I recieved my own Red Version, and my fate was sealed. This was my life now.
I didn't even know that there was show about it for quite a while after playing.
I still remember the team that I raised to level 100 in Red, lol it was so unoriginal, but I thought it was the best team ever.
Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Raichu, Pidgeot, and Mewtwo
Then Pokémon Stadium came out, and I was horrified to discover that just because your Pokémon are at level 100 doesn't mean they're good.
I literally cried.

 

[earthpeople]

I don't really remember why I wanted to play it. I was in Guam when Red and Blue came out. I think I got them for Christmas in '98, so I was 7 at the time. I was very excited and I've been trapped since then.

 

[TaiCrunch]

when i was 10 i got a videocassette in the mail about some upcoming thing coming to America "later this year" so i figured why not i'll check it out. it was pretty much some middle-aged announcer overhyping it while they showed clips of the anime. i remember seeing the scene from the first episode where ash is crying over pikachu while he's being chased by the spearow, at which point i said "this is retarded" and turned it off.

later that year one of the kids in my neighborhood had bought blue and was going around playing it showing off. the videocassette i got earlier gave me the impression that pokemon was just some weird cartoon, not a game. so we're sitting there watching and the game actually looks pretty badass, so we all rush out and have our parents buy it. everyone was getting blue so i got red. i remember starting off with squirtle and beating brock with wartortle. good times.

 

[Eraddd]

I got a gameboy for free from a family friend. I had no games on it. My parents, my brother and I went to superstore to buy one. I knew previously about Pokemon because a few of my friends had it (A kid had a freaking game boy color. That was THE shit at the time). And I saw Charizard, and I'm like "THAT ONE." Never looked back.

Oh and the funniest moment was I didn't know how to exit the house, because I didn't know the rug meant an exit. I had to ask my friend for help LOL.

 

[Shroomisaur]

Well, this was back when Pokemon was just starting to come stateside. I was in still in gradeschool at the time, and had never heard of Pokemon, until one day my best friend called my attention to the "coolest" new thing in stores: Pokemon Trading Cards. He showed me a few of his cards and gave me a pack of my own. I remember opening that first pack and being amazed at the creatures on the cards (still remember my first rare card, Electrode)!

Shortly after being introduced to the cards, I saw the first episodes of the anime on Cartoon Network, and I was hooked. My parents were vehemently against video games, but I finally got my new Gameboy Color along with Pokemon Red version when I was 9. The rest is history... but it all started with that one pack of cards.

 

[Johann]

When I was 6, I went to get a gameboy (the horizantal one). When I got it the man at the counter gave me crystal for free. I was like, ok, lets try this out. I spent all of kindergarten getting my feraligatr to level 100 before beating the elite four and then plowing may way through kanto. It was totally awesome.

 

[FattyButt]

I first got a Gameboy Color when I was really young (1st grade?). Either way, I'd bought this crappy Dinosaur game that I'd thought was the shit at the time. Then I came home from school one day and my mom said "I'd heard these were popular. Here."

It was Pokemon Gold. I then spent the next half hour figuring how to get out of that damn house (that red thing didnt look anything like a door to me).

The Dinosaur game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney%27s_Dinosaur_(game)

goddamn that thing sucked.

 

[xxxthebxxx]

My dad bought me Pokemon Crystal when I was,I don't know...When I was 5 or 6 maybe,I don't remember.I played it for a while,didn't know how to save at the time,kept on training my Croconaw,while catching random Pokemon.

I cut a raw deal with my cousin,who at the time was a Pokemon master to me,and gave me his Pokemon Red and Blue in exchange for my Crystal.I took the deal,thinking that 2 games are better than 1.(I was five at the time!)

Anyway,I got a team in Blue that usually took down the E4 without damage (Blastiose,Articuno,Mewtwo...shit,that's all I remember.)

And then I got Gold,did the same thing again,got Croconaw,and reduced the E4 to bits.

And from that point,I got Sapphire,Emerald,Diamond,Platinum,HG,SS.

So that's my story.What's yours?

Wow you've almost followed my whole path! I was actually like 8 at the time when I started. My parents gave me an old Pokemon Crystal just to keep me busy. I played the game constantly, and surprisingly never beat it! I really sucked at the time (I taught my Typhlosion all HM's. Idiot!). But, after that, I picked at Sapphire, began watching the show, and besides a few bumps in the road, have never looked back! I've gotten way better, to the point now in Diamond/Heartgold where I'm better than all my friends! But, no other game was more close to me than LeafGreen, and that's what ensured that this passion was going to stay for awhile.

 

[bugcatcherjasonn]

misty.

when i was ten, i thought of her as the pinnacle of all womanhood.

 

[BlakBlastoise]

Kids around my apartment complex started to collect pokemon cards, so I bought a pack from wall mart. I remember they had them behind a glass counter. The attendant pulled out the box of booster packs, and asked me to pick one out. I'd heard rumors that a pack which contained a shiny was heavier than the rest, so I decided I'd try out my skills. I picked up about 3 packs, and from the three determined which was slightly heavier. And guess what? I found a shiny Blastoise in my first pack. Fuck yes. That's where Blastoise became my BFF. I used to pwn all the other dudes with my 100 HP Holo Blastoise card. And that's how Pokemon began for me.

I didn't collect for long, shit wasn't that great once everyone had holographics. Then about 3-4 years from then, one of my friends came over to my house and brought his Game Boy pocket with RED version in it. I fired it up and started to play. He was in the pokemon tower and I wasted all his pokeballs trying to catch a fucking ghost. To this day, the Pokemon tower/Lavender town music are among my favorite poke tunes. I really liked the idea of training my own Pokemon so I saved up my money, and got a game boy color. Then I went to the swapmeet and purchased a red version which didn't save. Haven't stopped playing since. <3

 

[The 1 and Only Lady Gaga]

I am always behind in trends, so yeah. When I was 8 all my friends played it, and I decided to get it when I was 10. By THAT time Pokemon turned from "cool & trendy" to "childish and gay". Tsk. Still, it is a very fun game.

 

[THE_IRON_...KENYAN?]

Gold version, Easter 2001

 

[IronBullet]

I first got into Pokemon with the Trading Card Games, which the kids around my block used to play. From then I got into the anime, and the video games. The first version I played was Pokemon Sapphire, back in 2003.

 

[Deschain]

my uncle gave me his old gameboy when i was like 10, and some of my friends were really into pokemon. they had red, so when i had saved up enough money i got blue.

started with Squirtle.

i played through the E4, but then my clepto little brother stole my gameboy with the game in it, and lost it somehow.

i was so upset that all that time i put in went to waste.

i didn't want to spend more of my hard earned cash on another copy, so that was it.



fast forward to 2007. i had heard the DS had a massive catalog of amazing games, so i got one for Christmas. first game i played was Phantom Hourglass, but then i saw there was a new pokemon game out, and picked up Diamond. played through the game and had a freakin' blast.

but then i stumbled upon the competitive world, and got completely sucked in. i lurked Smogon for months before posting, and i knew jackshit about the metagame when i started battling, but fuck, i've been hooked ever since. one of the most strategic games i've ever played, so much fucking fun. <3

 

[WarriorPrince]

I was watching T.V. and a Pokemon commercial came on. My dad asked me had I ever watched it.[I was 7 or 8 years old and it had just come to America]. I turned to WB and it was on. That changed me forever. Ash and Pikachu just got owned by Spearow. I got Blue when I was 8 or 9 and a lot of pokemon cards. Crystal 2 years later and more cards.

I got Sapphire a week after it came out. I got another Ruby and Sapphire from my cousin. I bought Emerald in late 2005. I found and joined serebii.net on 6/6/06 as Dj06. Serebii is what really hooked me on pokemon.[ev training, wifi battling, and trading snatched me uo]

In 2007 I got Pearl and Diamond a week after they came out. I played Pearl first but didn't play Diamond for almost a year. I haven't battled with my DS since October. Haven't shoddy battled in a while either.

I fell off, hard.

Thats my story.

 

[Alex Practice]

I saw the episode with Haunter and Sabrina and then I became a total pokemon fanboy.

 

[DeathKurai]

i am a fan since i watched a pokemon episode on a boring day with a gym leader battle.
so i have seen that ash has a big, red dragon => charizard.
cause i loved this dragon so much i have watched it every day. and few weeks (or month i don´t know) released the red and the blue version of the videogame. i´ve bought me the red version and played it every day. since than i am a fan!

 

[DanLite]

Strangely enough, it was a book that I picked up at my school book fair - The Official Pokémon Handbook - that got me really interested in Pokémon. I would've been happy to get a clunky GameBoy and Pokémon Red/Blue, but I was delighted when I got a GameBoy Color and Pokémon Yellow one fateful Christmas (thanks mom and dad)!

In fact, that would've been my first very own Nintendo game.