This shrine is pretty big - you can skip to these sections:
Introduction
I don't think I would have ever grown up to be a normal kid for a number of reasons. But one attributing factor comes from my love of Pokémon. It all started when I got a Groudon wind-up McDonalds toy in 2005.
It came with a Master Ball wind-up device that you'd close up around the toy, wind up the dial on the side, and release to make Groudon move. My brother has an identical one. A little research tells me this toy came from a Happy Meal promotion for Pokémon Advanced Generation back in 2003, even though I think I got it in a later year.
Needless to say, I haven't been the same since.
I don't consider myself a Pokemon Master, but I have always been enthusiastic about it. Something about the games just scratches my brain in the right way; the collection aspects of the Pokedex, the battling systems, the companionship, the real-world counterparts, the lore... it just makes makes me happy.
I have a deal with my brother - if I get one half of the pair of games, he gets the other. It's a very sweet deal; even when I wasn't invested in completing the Pokédex, if I needed a version-exclusive, I could rely on him to give it to me. In return, he could count on me to be a good opponent in his battle endeavours (at least, that's what I hope). He's the closest thing I ever had to a real life Pokémon rival.
I wanted to make this shrine to detail my experiences with these games - it's very close to my heart. I hope you'll stick around to read!
My current plushie collection. It's becoming a problem...
Pokémon Diamond
August 2008. I don't remember the date, but that day, I'll never forget.
My primary school at the time was completely overtaken with Pokémon Fever. I was lucky enough to already have a DS of my own (and so did my brother, who was probably too young for it but it was fair this way. Plus he was my grandpas favorite). We were at my grandparents place - I'd probably been begging my parent for the game for about half a year, and my slightly older cousins already had copies, so I reckon my grandaprents caved in and convinced my parents that we could get them. That day started our tradition - we bought both games (Diamond for me - blue is my favorite color), and booted them up at the same time.
I still remember the chills I felt. Trepidation, excitement, happiness. Without fail, each time I have gotten a new Pokemon game, I get the exact same chills. It's almost pavlovian.
My very first Pokémon was a Piplup, who I initially named BUCKY. Eventually I change his name to Jewel - I felt like it fit better.
I could probably talk about the game's snail pacing, or it's unbalanced wild encounters (it has a noteable lack of fire types), or how annoying the rival can be, or the number of genuinely tough trainers you can encounter on your journey. I could talk about the games plotline's ties to power, religion, psycho-cosmology, and it's connection to Hokkaido's collinisation, or how Amity Square and the Contest Spectaculars held my attention more than battles, or how awesome it felt to connect to friends in the underground, or just how great the soundtrack is. They're all good points - they're literally wired into the game. They're intentional.
But this is also the game that taught my brother how to read, because I would help him progress by reading out the dialogue. It's the game that taught me how to make friends, and how to be passionate about what I like.
I haven't finished this game, and I don't know if I ever will. I've caught Dialga, I've defeated every Gym leader - all that's left is to scale Victory Road and challenge the Elite Four. But something keeps stopping me. It almost feels like I lost my chance, that if I finish the game now I won't have a reason to go back to it. Like finishing the game will put out the flame that ignited my journey in the first place.
Maybe I'm just weird.
This may be the reason I'll never be able to call myself a Pokemon Master. But if that's the case, then so be it.
Pokémon HeartGold
I didn't get too far into this one. I remember picking Totodile as a starter and naming him Snappy! I remember grinding for days to get past Whitney and her Miltank. I remember having a lot of fun with the PokeWalker (I think I still have a poor beast trapped in there...).I remember my brother beating me in the PokeAthelon many, many times (on top of the times we'd battle eachother). I remember somehow having a Shaymin on my team. The last thing I remember was the Olivine Gym and Jasmine's Ampharos.
I remember this game feeling vibrant and warm, like it was drenched in sunlight. The originals were released before I was barely conscious, so I don't have a good understanding of how they held up to the originals. But I liked them. A part of me wants to go back and give them a proper finish. Maybe I will.
Whitney really is a beast though - if only I'd had a tanky female pokemon on my team...
Pokémon Black
I want to start this off with a tangential story - The events that lead up to me getting this game are... interesting.
I'm not a trickster. I like to think I'm pretty humble and happy to play whatever hand I get when it comes to what life deals me. But on this occasion, I was really jonesing for this specific version of the game. I think I was just really drawn to Reshiram's whole blue-eyes-white-dragon deal in the end.
But so was my brother. It was the only game we ever fought for custody over.
It was pretty simple - I just ended up convincing him that Reshiram was the mascot for Pokemon White. After all, all the games leading up to it had mascots that matched their titles - why wouldn't the white dragon be in the white version?
All according to Kekaku (that means plan).
Ten years later, we're talking and eating dinner, and my dad brings up the games. My brother tells the story, except for one detail - he never realised I convinced him on purpose.
Pokémon White2
Despite the fact that I got this game back in 2013, I didn't get into playing it until recently.
Pokémon X
My feeling about this game are mixed - it is my least favorite of the pokemon games, but it lead to some great features in later games. It's also the first pokemon game I finished (without help)
Pokémon OmegaRuby
Given I had never played the original RSE games, I liked this one.
Pokémon Moon
This game is one of my favorites out of the newer generations.
Pokémon Sword
One of my favorite pokemon of all time comes from this game!
Pokémon BrilliantDiamond
I have a lot of qualms with this game - which I aknowlege are tainted with the nostalgia I have for it's predescessor.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
One of my best friends calls this game "Pokémon 2". She's right.
Pokémon Violet
I was actually pleasantly suprised by these games. However, this will be the last games I ever get on release.
Spinoff Games
My first pokemon game wasn't actually a mainline game! It was Pokémon Trozei (called Pokémon Link in the US)
Pokémon Mosaic Black
I've been getting into Nuzlocke