Let us start out with a big WOOOOOOOOT!!!! Pokemon fans of varying ages are celebrating the 20 years that Pokemon has been on the Nintendo consoles. Ranging from the original brick, the Gameboy, to current gen console, Nintendo 3DS, Pokemon has come a great distance. Card games, puzzle games, stuffed animals, toys, posters, you name it—Pokemon has made it.
I am going to reminisce for a minute because Pokemon helped shape me into the gamer that I am today (as well as Final Fantasy and such, but its not that day). When I was young, getting new consoles was not an easy task considering we were not well off. I didn’t own a Gameboy till the Gameboy Advance was released, but I was lucky enough that my dad, being the forever computer nerd he was, could build a computer and download an emulator out of something we already owned. With GB emulator in place, Pokemon Red became the one.
I spent hours on my computer playing, starting over and trying every Kanto starter, I am torn between Charmander and Squirtle as a starter to this day. I was lucky enough to beg my way to get a Pokemon Red strategy guide and read that thing till I memorized every path in caves, the ocean, you name it. I knew what to do and where to get legendary Pokemon like I knew the back of my hand.
Those of us, which is quite a large number of people, who have played the original Pokemon trilogy experienced many things. We had to make the toughest decision off the bat, picking our Pokemon companion for the journey. Then our mom basically kicked us out of the house to experience the world for crazy ol’ Professor Oak while battling his dickhead grandson on the way. We have been challenged by many trainers, have learned lessons from gym leaders, have defeated enemies who were trying to use Pokemon for evil, Team Rocket. We went to Lavender town and experienced sadness about the building of grave sites of Pokemon who came, conquered, and loved—and learned about Cubone, who is basically the saddest Pokemon in all of ever. We conquered the Elite Four, and became the very best like no one ever was. We searched for the legendary birds in lands untouched and challenged and caught the most unnatural and notorious Pokemon, Mewtwo (and eventually Mew).
This article isn’t so much a review of the last 20 years, it is a remembrance of the journey since 20 years ago. I played, did the teenager thing and stopped, then in my adulthood I returned to my childhood. No matter the Region—Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Kalos, whatever—we trained and loved our Pokemon companions.
I woke up this morning, 20 years later, and downloaded Red, Blue, and Yellow on my 3DS. I sat down with my coffee, grabbed my Charmander and began my new journey…
Article by Meghan Rodriguez (Twitter @collins_m81)
You can pick up the trilogy for $10 a game on the Nintendo eShop.
