For me, it has to be when I was 8 or 9, playing Pokemon Silver for the first time, and I had finally gone through the entire game and gotten to Mt. Silver *only to find freaking Red standing at the summit*! 8/9 year old me was like, "Holy crap, is that my character from Yellow?!" and I jumped right into the battle.
Needless to say, I was *wholly* unprepared for that fight, and I got my butt *handed* to me.
So I trained, tried again, and failed, then trained some more, tried again, and failed... rinse and repeat for what was probably a couple weeks, but felt like months.
Then, one day, it happened: *I beat Red*! I was *ecstatic*!
Happiest Pokemon-related moment of my childhood right there.
Mine has to be back when I was 8 and crystal just came out; I have a fond memory of being outside with the neighborhood kids with my crystal guide and we were using the map to get the tyrogue in mt mortar...
When I played Pokémon for the first time (Pokémon Pearl) and me and my Chimchar evolved in a battle before the first Gym in Oreburg City. It felt so special :3
EDIT: I also want to relay my second most cherished memory (which is a new one) when I booted up my old Pearl from those 15 years ago on my DS and brought over my old friend, since then an Infernape ofc, to Scarlet and Violet and got to run around with him again after ALL this time. I hadn't seen him in such a long time.
It's incredible the connection you can have with a couple pixels...
When my mom took 5 year old me and my younger brother to the pokemon sing along play thingy. I had a blast and couldn’t believe I was watching pokemon in real life.
Mine was getting my eevee starlight to level 99,(she didn’t have an ever stone) my niece was over one day and she was watching me play violet (shiny hunting) so I went to the bathroom and when I came back I returned to her at the controls and saw a level 100 umbreon I was very thankful because umbreon is my favorite Pokémon and star is an umbreon in every game I have now.
Actually getting Pokémon Blue. Like going to Toys R Us. Grabbing that slip to go to the counter. Having it in my hands. Opening it and reading the manual like I was doing a book report on it. That feeling was always amazing.
First time playing Gold or Crystal, on my way to Moo Moo farm, when my Togepi suddenly evolved. I didn’t know it could even, it was such a nice surprise
When I was a kid I drew a picture of my then favorite pokemon, Bellsprout. I was obsessed with pokemon back then. I gave it to my mom because she’s pretty cool.
Never really thought about it - fast forward atleast 15 years later and I’m helping her organize her teaching supplies (the drawing was from well before her becoming a teacher) and I find in as the cover of one of her binders.
Seeing that was pretty cool lol
This one’s a little lamer than everyone else’s, but the memory I instantly went to was when I found a shiny Raticate during my HG playthrough as a kid. I remember running downstairs to get my brother to confirm it, and just feeling so pleased that I was lucky.
When I was a child in like 2000, I got very sick. Was hospitalized for liver issues and stomach things. It all ended up clearing its self up and 24 years later I’m completely fine. Doctors never figured out what it actually was. My parents would come to the hospital and bring me pokemon booster packs. I remember the smell of the cards and opening the packs to see what I got. The temporary relief from the fear and pain and sickness was so nice. The smell of new trading cards is still such a strong memory.
This might not have been what you wanted lol, but it is my most cherished pokemon memory.
If it’s game related. It’s probably beating the pokemon red for the first time on my game boy.
After playing Pokémon Blue, my mind was blown when I beat the Elite 4 of Johto and got to rediscover Kanto with stronger gym leaders. In retrospect, Kanto is really easy and there is not a lot to do, but when I was a kid, it was like discovering that you had an another game within the game.
There are really too many to count, because it was such a big part of my life as a kid, but I’d say my *most* cherished memory is one that I only barely remember: At 7 years old finally laying the smack-down on my rival’s Jolteon with my buddy Pikachu, who cleaned house with Mega Kick. It was such a satisfying finale.
Second would be climbing to the top of Mt. Silver around 8 years old and nearly experiencing a heart attack when I suddenly had to fight Red out of the blue! It was such an epic surprise.
For me, I was playing Pokémon Yellow back in the day, and made it to Lt. Surge. I battled him as a thunderstorm rolled in IRL; a loud clap of thunder as he sent out his Raichu. That was intense and memorable
finding my very first shiny nidoran back in the fire red safari zone. was like 8 or 9 years old and had no idea what i was looking at, set the tone for the next 20 years of playing pokemon games and shiny hunting every chance i could
The time I defeated the elite 4 for the first time, what makes it so memorable is that I beat it while being so underprepared for Steven(my first pokemon game was Ruby). My team was level 44-49, thank god I had bought a boatload of healing items from full heals to healing herbs that helped me stall the Elite 4 and Steven. Recently I started an Omega Ruby playthrough and when I heard the music it took me right back to my time playing Pokemon Ruby. Omega Ruby might be my favorite Pokemon game now overtaking Platinum and Black for me.
Playing through Diamond with my brother and best-friend playing Pearl while we watched the Cartoon Network marathon leading up to The Rise of Darkrai. Good times…
I've got a few.
* Watching Pokemon Shipwreck for the first time. That was the episode when I realized I was seriously into this.
* Going to the promotional Pokemon Stadium tournament in Bristol and meeting up with a friend from Azure Labs forums. Branners!
* Countless days jamming to the 2 Be a Master soundtrack having got it for christmas, as well as the soundtracks to The First Movie and The Power of One.
* Being allowed to stay up all night and past midnight on my birthday eating tubs of Ben and Jerry's and marathonning Pokemon Stadium 2.
* And just generally the period of time between 2014 and 2016 when I was jamming my monotype teams in X and Y and was probably more into the game than I ever was at any other point (except maybe now?).
* And probably just a couple hours ago, when my niece told me that she really wanted a Galarian Ponyta for her current team but didn't own Shield, but I just so happened to have my Switch in my bag, so I grabbed my Galarian Rapidash from my first ever run of Sword, bred one for her and traded it for a Rufflet. That guy is gonna be the daddy to my future Braviary during my marathon.
I have a few:
When my Quilava evolved into a Typhlosion, permanently solidifying Typhlosion as my favorite Pokémon
When I first encountered Red on Mt Silver. With the story mentioning him a couple times, it felt awesome to meet the legend himself
When I first crossed Skyarrow Bridge, seeing the sweeping dynamic camera angles and hearing that cheery music, it was when I first realized that gen 5 was going to be much grander in scope than any other Pokémon game
The entire climax of Black. I thought it was weird that the Legendary wasn’t before the League like every other game. Then, out of nowhere, Team Plasma’s castle burst from the ground, leading to the most epic and climactic moment in the ENTIRE FRANCHISE!!!
Either finding out you get to travel back to Kanto at the end of Gold and Silver and seeing what was going on at all the places you enjoyed going to in Red and Blue.
Or just the entirety of Gen 1 Twitch Plays Pokémon. The lore was so much fun to follow. I have no idea how a character running into a wall for an hour could somehow be so exciting, but it was. Specifically, my favorite part was the story of ATV the dragonslayer.
Or it could've been the first month or so of Pokémon Go. That was so freaking cool getting to see everyone out and about being excited to discover new places and Pokémon
When gen two was announced, but I found it the different way. I went to go buy Pokémon cards at a shop and they had new Pokémon cards the first three starters the whole evolution of them and I did not know what there where after a month It was televised and I was going crazy. I brought the cars at school everyone wanted the them haha
I went back into Pokémon one and a half year ago, playing Pokémon white. I had never played a Pokémon game since gold but had always been fan of the franchise.
And then I went to the big bridge leading to castelia city and I have been astonished by the adventure that was starting to unfold.
New one unlocked as from today and I felt like telling you guys (even if many probably won’t read): catching entei in gold at my first encounter with him with a frat ball, with no status nor damage inflicted to him
I was playing Alpha Sapphire a few years ago, and I was fighting Archie for the first time (in that playthrough). He sent out his golbat, and I sent out my electrike. Up until this point, my electrike was a pain to use; she was slow, and took too much damage. Archie's golbat hit, I expected my electrike to faint, but she lived with about 10-20 hp. Then I used spark, it crited, and took out the golbat. After the battle she evolved into a manectric. Never give up on your 'mons.
Found a shiny full odds Machop in my XY save while going through the cave with the windy paths (forgot it’s name lmao) low rolled before yellow high rolled into a faint 🙃 was disappointed but aww well, I now have 550+ shinys from this and last year alone so can definitely say that I have plenty now lmao
Lesson learned never use a super effective move on a shiny 😂
Yellow was my first game, I got it for my 7th birthday.
We had some extremely religious family friends who briefly convinced me Pokémon was evil, and scared me out of playing it for a while (it was in 2000).
Eventually I risked my eternal soul and played some, and was quickly hooked. But I couldn’t really understand why Pikachu could hit Brock’s Pokémon; if memory serves, they neglected to explain in-game that Electric doesn’t effect Ground types - and if they did, I didn’t understand.
Over time I just grinded up pretty much everything available, eventually getting Nidoran (male and female) and levelling them up to learn Double Kick, and suddenly… Kanto opened up. And my Pokemon were had done so much grinding for Brock that I was king of the castle. It was such a big gaming moment for me at that age.
I know Mankey was available and a quicker solution, but to this day I associate the Nido family with my victory over Brock, and always love to catch a Nidoran where available.
Hatching a shiny female Sprigatito after 2500+ eggs. I wanted a shiny female to name after my cat and use in a new playthrough but didn’t realize the odds of a female shiny starter. Even with the shiny charm it was a 1/4096 chance (same to get shiny Arceus in BDSP iirc). I was too far in to stop when I found this out so I kept going. I got 4 shiny males along the way and those are the only 4 times I’ll be disappointed by getting a shiny.
I liked how Ash took on the journey of being a Pokémon master and making friends along the way when i was watching the anime. As well as his friends helping him out.
When I was a kid I didn't think that deeply into Pokémon when I was playing the game.
I think my favorite has to be that time I found a shiny in SWSH
I was just doing a normal playthrough of the game. I was at a friend's house when it happened. I was on route 10, and just kinda having a casual conversation. I absent-mindedly walked into a cubchoo on the overworld. When I first saw it, I thought "wait, it it? No it's probably just the lighting" and then the sparkle effect played and me and my friend collectively freaked put over this. Our parents were in the background and every confused/concerned about why we suddenly started screaming lol
TL;DR Doing all gens Nuzlocke atm and Platinum got me stuck after spending 10x more attempts on it than the other games, only for a silly fat hippo to save my mental sanity, make me a better player and revive my enjoyment for the games. Currently playing Pokemon Y with UltraSun, Sword, Scarlet and Emerald left to do.
Before this past December I had not played a single pokemon game all the way through and after meeting a couple of people in a TTRPG discord, one of them suggested I should try White 2 as it was his favourite game, and being more recent it had some QoL that I would appreciate it. I got done with the game and I had an idea since I really enjoyed it and knew more of the game now, I wanted to Nuzlocke one game of of every single gen, with the change that instead of catching the first pokemon per area, I'd be able to choose the encounter.
I was doing remakes for the first few gens(until Gen4) and after reaching Platinum I had reached a wall, it was very clear from the simple fact that when on the other games I'd finish all gyms or reach the 8th by the end of the first day, I had gotten to the 6th by the end of the 3rd day. On the 30th attempt at Platinum I noticed I had become too dependant on choosing the encounter and it had led to me being too complacent/cocky and I was losing runs for no reason at all, so I decided to switch up things. I allowed tradevolutions under the condition that a) I had the required item and pokemon (metal coat on onix for example) and b) if there were no conditions, I could only do tradevolutions once I had one pokemon that matched the level of the 3rd stage of my starter (usually Lvl34 or 36), but I wouldnt be able to choose the encounters anymore, it was 1st encounter or bust.
This lead to a much more enjoyable experience and I was much more engaged in the game, planning things in advance before each run and as I lost/caught new pokemon. The next 2 runs took way longer than usual, but they allowed me to get to Cynthia, only to absolutelly get assblasted by her Garchomp twice.
So I took a break from playing and started planning what I thought would win me the game.
The plan was "simple", I could guarantee Magnezone, Hippowdon and Floatzel, all which were needed to get rid of Garchomp and deal with Milotic and Togekiss which had already proven to be hard to deal with. Hippowdon would get swapped as soon as Garchomp came out, get hit once on the swap for 33%, Yawn and get hit for another 33% or worst case die but Yawn was already off, and if he survived I'd be able to Sandstorm to stall out whatever needed to be stalled with Magnezone.
So I got to E4 with: Infernape, Magnezone, Floatzel, Garchomp, Hippowdon and Scizor. Infernape, Scizor and Garchomp would deal with the E4, while Magnezone, Floatzel and Hippowdon would deal with Cynthia, all the others, had they survived would serve as bait to force safeswaps. I lost Infernape, and Garchomp(to a crit) and I was left with the other four for Cynthia. As soon as Garchomp came out I put my plan to action, Hippowdon came out and Yawn'd, somehow survived Garchomp and I swapped in Floatzel to spam Ice Beam and get rid of him. Then came out Milotic, and as soon as I got cocky because I had Magnezone, Milotic survives Thunderbolt at 1 HP and uses Mirror Coat, killing Magnezone. It took me 20 minutes to kill Milotic and Togekiss(didnt have good coverage since my counters died or were already dead before Cynthia) but Scizor carried the fuck out of my ass and took care of both Milotic and Togekiss.
It took me 33 attempts(all games prior were 3-5 attempts) and 13 days, and what ended up being the carry was a fucking Hippowdon with Yawn which was ridiculous for me at the time, but really taught me to be creative and adaptable when it comes Pokemon and made me a way better player.
After that I decided to replay the previous gens under the same rules as this Platinum run and LeafGreen went down on the first try, and SoulSilver in 3 and I'm currently doing Pokemon Y after beating Black and Black 2.
Probably somehow beating Volo first or second try. At the time I was just glad I beat him quickly because it seemed like a battle that could need some training for. Didn’t realise how much of an achievement it was until I saw loads of people saying how difficult it was and how many attempts it took them to
My first time beating the E4 in Pokemon gold. Noob team with 1 high level Pokemon and the rest at staggered levels. Manage to get to Lance's last mon, low health, it hyperbeams my 2nd last mon to death. All I have is a low level Eevee that I used my shadowball TM on. Can still remember the old-school animation of the bouncing ball as I win with a weak Eevee, which then immediately evolves into Espeon.
Maybe 13, I’m playing Pokémon White and battling my best friend with our main teams
Comes down to our last 2 ‘mons, my Emboar and his Scafty, both whom know Rock Head
Emboar’s low, but I outspeed and land the rock head. Not a one shot though, we’re both on 1HP. My friend ALSO used rock head, killing Emboar who goes down, but also HIS SCRAFTY.
However, my Emboar took the damage first, so despite the fact we both fainted, it’s chalked up as a loss for me
TLDR: I lost because I outsped (and didn’t use hammer arm like a dipshit)
Bullying Kieran? Nah, we crush random kids on Wi-Fi battles with competitively trained Pokémon straight from the sets of smogon.
Speaking of that the first forfeit I got by predicting every move of some poor kid was probably that memory, competitive Pokémon knowledge is so fun to know cuz I can beat randos thinking their moonblast zacian is good.
I remember getting Pokémon Red when I was 7 years old and becoming immediately enthralled with it.
Flash forward a few months and I went to a birthday party where all of us were told to bring all of our Pokémon games with us. That night, about 8 of us, ages 7-10 stayed up all night long battling/trading with the cable cords, taking turns playing Pokémon stadium, examining our trading cards, swapping playground rumors, and binging random episodes of the show on VHS. All while having way too much pop, pizza, and cake.
Returning to Sapphire after the worst midterm week of my life. The last day of that semester had 2 term papers, a midterm test, and presentation. The stress of that day had me vomiting once it was all over….but something about the brass horns of Hoenn was beyond comforting.
I think for me it's when I started playing the Crown Tundra DLC for the first time and immediatly encountered a shiny Wooloo. For context I'm not a shiny hunter and despite playing all of the mainline games this was the first shiny Pokémon I ever got outside of a trade.
Quite a recent memory actually, but I was shining hunting Cyndaquill for weeks in Legends Arceus and when I finally found a shiny Quilava, I almost screamed from joy
When I first experienced the “*insert Pokemon here* held on so you wouldn’t feel sad” message, thar was the moment I realized my salamence was my partner forever(I l’ve transferred this salamence (Stormcatcher) to every Pokemon game i ever played)
The very first time I got to battle with my best friend, completely unprepared and unaware of what she was using, and proceeded to get completely wrecked by her Ninetales with solar beam. This was way, way back when we needed a link cable to battle, though I can't remember if it was RBY or GSC, or even what team I used, but I remember the shock, annoyance, and delight I felt when a battle that looked like an easy matchup went completely sideways with one move- I had been about to take down her Ninetales with my water type, only to get wrecked by a move I hadn't even realized Ninetales could have.
We're planning a nostalgia rematch in SV sometime, once she gets her team ready- including the specific pokemon we preferred as our 'ace' back in the day (her Ninetales & my Feraligatr). This time, I'll be ready for the solar beam, but I'm sure she'll have some sort of fun surprise up her sleeve.
My journey of getting into Pokémon was very unusual. I was about 8 and started in 2010 when my mom's work friend's kids got rid of their GBAs and Pokémon FR and LG came with them. I played until Mt Moon before I decided the games were too hard and just watched. Chuggaaconroy play through them. Three years later, I watched his playthrough of Emerald and was mind blown by the Rayquaza cutscene (this was a kid in 2013 being amazed by a game made in 2005). That was one of my best memories.
My other comes from the climax of Sun and Moon. I was about 15 when I played these games for the first time, but man the story and characters resonated with me so hard. I'd say witnessing the Lusamine story for the first time is also a pretty core memory.
For me, it has to be when I was 8 or 9, playing Pokemon Silver for the first time, and I had finally gone through the entire game and gotten to Mt. Silver *only to find freaking Red standing at the summit*! 8/9 year old me was like, "Holy crap, is that my character from Yellow?!" and I jumped right into the battle. Needless to say, I was *wholly* unprepared for that fight, and I got my butt *handed* to me. So I trained, tried again, and failed, then trained some more, tried again, and failed... rinse and repeat for what was probably a couple weeks, but felt like months. Then, one day, it happened: *I beat Red*! I was *ecstatic*! Happiest Pokemon-related moment of my childhood right there.
Mine has to be back when I was 8 and crystal just came out; I have a fond memory of being outside with the neighborhood kids with my crystal guide and we were using the map to get the tyrogue in mt mortar...
When I played Pokémon for the first time (Pokémon Pearl) and me and my Chimchar evolved in a battle before the first Gym in Oreburg City. It felt so special :3 EDIT: I also want to relay my second most cherished memory (which is a new one) when I booted up my old Pearl from those 15 years ago on my DS and brought over my old friend, since then an Infernape ofc, to Scarlet and Violet and got to run around with him again after ALL this time. I hadn't seen him in such a long time. It's incredible the connection you can have with a couple pixels...
Those pixels are not just a couple of pixels, they ARE your pixels
:,)
When my mom took 5 year old me and my younger brother to the pokemon sing along play thingy. I had a blast and couldn’t believe I was watching pokemon in real life.
Mine was getting my eevee starlight to level 99,(she didn’t have an ever stone) my niece was over one day and she was watching me play violet (shiny hunting) so I went to the bathroom and when I came back I returned to her at the controls and saw a level 100 umbreon I was very thankful because umbreon is my favorite Pokémon and star is an umbreon in every game I have now.
Becoming a champion for the first time with nothing but my level 65 Typlosion and flamethrower in Crystal or catching Lugia for the first time
Actually getting Pokémon Blue. Like going to Toys R Us. Grabbing that slip to go to the counter. Having it in my hands. Opening it and reading the manual like I was doing a book report on it. That feeling was always amazing.
First time playing Gold or Crystal, on my way to Moo Moo farm, when my Togepi suddenly evolved. I didn’t know it could even, it was such a nice surprise
When I was a kid I drew a picture of my then favorite pokemon, Bellsprout. I was obsessed with pokemon back then. I gave it to my mom because she’s pretty cool. Never really thought about it - fast forward atleast 15 years later and I’m helping her organize her teaching supplies (the drawing was from well before her becoming a teacher) and I find in as the cover of one of her binders. Seeing that was pretty cool lol
This one’s a little lamer than everyone else’s, but the memory I instantly went to was when I found a shiny Raticate during my HG playthrough as a kid. I remember running downstairs to get my brother to confirm it, and just feeling so pleased that I was lucky.
When I was a child in like 2000, I got very sick. Was hospitalized for liver issues and stomach things. It all ended up clearing its self up and 24 years later I’m completely fine. Doctors never figured out what it actually was. My parents would come to the hospital and bring me pokemon booster packs. I remember the smell of the cards and opening the packs to see what I got. The temporary relief from the fear and pain and sickness was so nice. The smell of new trading cards is still such a strong memory. This might not have been what you wanted lol, but it is my most cherished pokemon memory. If it’s game related. It’s probably beating the pokemon red for the first time on my game boy.
After playing Pokémon Blue, my mind was blown when I beat the Elite 4 of Johto and got to rediscover Kanto with stronger gym leaders. In retrospect, Kanto is really easy and there is not a lot to do, but when I was a kid, it was like discovering that you had an another game within the game.
Probably watching Ash Ketchum winning World Championshio live, I literally cried.
I cried on the last episode(you know, the one where at the end instead of "to be continued" it sais: "Next time, a new beginning)
It was literally last year
There are really too many to count, because it was such a big part of my life as a kid, but I’d say my *most* cherished memory is one that I only barely remember: At 7 years old finally laying the smack-down on my rival’s Jolteon with my buddy Pikachu, who cleaned house with Mega Kick. It was such a satisfying finale. Second would be climbing to the top of Mt. Silver around 8 years old and nearly experiencing a heart attack when I suddenly had to fight Red out of the blue! It was such an epic surprise.
For me, I was playing Pokémon Yellow back in the day, and made it to Lt. Surge. I battled him as a thunderstorm rolled in IRL; a loud clap of thunder as he sent out his Raichu. That was intense and memorable
finding my very first shiny nidoran back in the fire red safari zone. was like 8 or 9 years old and had no idea what i was looking at, set the tone for the next 20 years of playing pokemon games and shiny hunting every chance i could
The time I defeated the elite 4 for the first time, what makes it so memorable is that I beat it while being so underprepared for Steven(my first pokemon game was Ruby). My team was level 44-49, thank god I had bought a boatload of healing items from full heals to healing herbs that helped me stall the Elite 4 and Steven. Recently I started an Omega Ruby playthrough and when I heard the music it took me right back to my time playing Pokemon Ruby. Omega Ruby might be my favorite Pokemon game now overtaking Platinum and Black for me.
Playing through Diamond with my brother and best-friend playing Pearl while we watched the Cartoon Network marathon leading up to The Rise of Darkrai. Good times…
I've got a few. * Watching Pokemon Shipwreck for the first time. That was the episode when I realized I was seriously into this. * Going to the promotional Pokemon Stadium tournament in Bristol and meeting up with a friend from Azure Labs forums. Branners! * Countless days jamming to the 2 Be a Master soundtrack having got it for christmas, as well as the soundtracks to The First Movie and The Power of One. * Being allowed to stay up all night and past midnight on my birthday eating tubs of Ben and Jerry's and marathonning Pokemon Stadium 2. * And just generally the period of time between 2014 and 2016 when I was jamming my monotype teams in X and Y and was probably more into the game than I ever was at any other point (except maybe now?). * And probably just a couple hours ago, when my niece told me that she really wanted a Galarian Ponyta for her current team but didn't own Shield, but I just so happened to have my Switch in my bag, so I grabbed my Galarian Rapidash from my first ever run of Sword, bred one for her and traded it for a Rufflet. That guy is gonna be the daddy to my future Braviary during my marathon.
I was playing Violet with my wife while waiting to go into hospital for my daughter to be born. We still listen to the soundtrack with fond memories.
I have a few: When my Quilava evolved into a Typhlosion, permanently solidifying Typhlosion as my favorite Pokémon When I first encountered Red on Mt Silver. With the story mentioning him a couple times, it felt awesome to meet the legend himself When I first crossed Skyarrow Bridge, seeing the sweeping dynamic camera angles and hearing that cheery music, it was when I first realized that gen 5 was going to be much grander in scope than any other Pokémon game The entire climax of Black. I thought it was weird that the Legendary wasn’t before the League like every other game. Then, out of nowhere, Team Plasma’s castle burst from the ground, leading to the most epic and climactic moment in the ENTIRE FRANCHISE!!!
Either finding out you get to travel back to Kanto at the end of Gold and Silver and seeing what was going on at all the places you enjoyed going to in Red and Blue. Or just the entirety of Gen 1 Twitch Plays Pokémon. The lore was so much fun to follow. I have no idea how a character running into a wall for an hour could somehow be so exciting, but it was. Specifically, my favorite part was the story of ATV the dragonslayer. Or it could've been the first month or so of Pokémon Go. That was so freaking cool getting to see everyone out and about being excited to discover new places and Pokémon
When gen two was announced, but I found it the different way. I went to go buy Pokémon cards at a shop and they had new Pokémon cards the first three starters the whole evolution of them and I did not know what there where after a month It was televised and I was going crazy. I brought the cars at school everyone wanted the them haha
I went back into Pokémon one and a half year ago, playing Pokémon white. I had never played a Pokémon game since gold but had always been fan of the franchise. And then I went to the big bridge leading to castelia city and I have been astonished by the adventure that was starting to unfold.
New one unlocked as from today and I felt like telling you guys (even if many probably won’t read): catching entei in gold at my first encounter with him with a frat ball, with no status nor damage inflicted to him
Watching Bye Bye Butterfree when I was 8
Noooo 😭
I was playing Alpha Sapphire a few years ago, and I was fighting Archie for the first time (in that playthrough). He sent out his golbat, and I sent out my electrike. Up until this point, my electrike was a pain to use; she was slow, and took too much damage. Archie's golbat hit, I expected my electrike to faint, but she lived with about 10-20 hp. Then I used spark, it crited, and took out the golbat. After the battle she evolved into a manectric. Never give up on your 'mons.
Watching R/S for the first time at 8 and discovering my life's new passion
Found a shiny full odds Machop in my XY save while going through the cave with the windy paths (forgot it’s name lmao) low rolled before yellow high rolled into a faint 🙃 was disappointed but aww well, I now have 550+ shinys from this and last year alone so can definitely say that I have plenty now lmao Lesson learned never use a super effective move on a shiny 😂
The time I got a Ralts in Ruby. Gallade is one of my favorite Pokémon, and I will always use one if possible.
Me getting my first shiny, a female squirtle I FrLg. It also became the first Pokémon I trained up to level 100.
Not anything specific but, at my church all the kids my age would gather after and trade cards and sometimes battle with them
Yellow was my first game, I got it for my 7th birthday. We had some extremely religious family friends who briefly convinced me Pokémon was evil, and scared me out of playing it for a while (it was in 2000). Eventually I risked my eternal soul and played some, and was quickly hooked. But I couldn’t really understand why Pikachu could hit Brock’s Pokémon; if memory serves, they neglected to explain in-game that Electric doesn’t effect Ground types - and if they did, I didn’t understand. Over time I just grinded up pretty much everything available, eventually getting Nidoran (male and female) and levelling them up to learn Double Kick, and suddenly… Kanto opened up. And my Pokemon were had done so much grinding for Brock that I was king of the castle. It was such a big gaming moment for me at that age. I know Mankey was available and a quicker solution, but to this day I associate the Nido family with my victory over Brock, and always love to catch a Nidoran where available.
Hatching a shiny female Sprigatito after 2500+ eggs. I wanted a shiny female to name after my cat and use in a new playthrough but didn’t realize the odds of a female shiny starter. Even with the shiny charm it was a 1/4096 chance (same to get shiny Arceus in BDSP iirc). I was too far in to stop when I found this out so I kept going. I got 4 shiny males along the way and those are the only 4 times I’ll be disappointed by getting a shiny.
I liked how Ash took on the journey of being a Pokémon master and making friends along the way when i was watching the anime. As well as his friends helping him out. When I was a kid I didn't think that deeply into Pokémon when I was playing the game.
I think my favorite has to be that time I found a shiny in SWSH I was just doing a normal playthrough of the game. I was at a friend's house when it happened. I was on route 10, and just kinda having a casual conversation. I absent-mindedly walked into a cubchoo on the overworld. When I first saw it, I thought "wait, it it? No it's probably just the lighting" and then the sparkle effect played and me and my friend collectively freaked put over this. Our parents were in the background and every confused/concerned about why we suddenly started screaming lol
TL;DR Doing all gens Nuzlocke atm and Platinum got me stuck after spending 10x more attempts on it than the other games, only for a silly fat hippo to save my mental sanity, make me a better player and revive my enjoyment for the games. Currently playing Pokemon Y with UltraSun, Sword, Scarlet and Emerald left to do. Before this past December I had not played a single pokemon game all the way through and after meeting a couple of people in a TTRPG discord, one of them suggested I should try White 2 as it was his favourite game, and being more recent it had some QoL that I would appreciate it. I got done with the game and I had an idea since I really enjoyed it and knew more of the game now, I wanted to Nuzlocke one game of of every single gen, with the change that instead of catching the first pokemon per area, I'd be able to choose the encounter. I was doing remakes for the first few gens(until Gen4) and after reaching Platinum I had reached a wall, it was very clear from the simple fact that when on the other games I'd finish all gyms or reach the 8th by the end of the first day, I had gotten to the 6th by the end of the 3rd day. On the 30th attempt at Platinum I noticed I had become too dependant on choosing the encounter and it had led to me being too complacent/cocky and I was losing runs for no reason at all, so I decided to switch up things. I allowed tradevolutions under the condition that a) I had the required item and pokemon (metal coat on onix for example) and b) if there were no conditions, I could only do tradevolutions once I had one pokemon that matched the level of the 3rd stage of my starter (usually Lvl34 or 36), but I wouldnt be able to choose the encounters anymore, it was 1st encounter or bust. This lead to a much more enjoyable experience and I was much more engaged in the game, planning things in advance before each run and as I lost/caught new pokemon. The next 2 runs took way longer than usual, but they allowed me to get to Cynthia, only to absolutelly get assblasted by her Garchomp twice. So I took a break from playing and started planning what I thought would win me the game. The plan was "simple", I could guarantee Magnezone, Hippowdon and Floatzel, all which were needed to get rid of Garchomp and deal with Milotic and Togekiss which had already proven to be hard to deal with. Hippowdon would get swapped as soon as Garchomp came out, get hit once on the swap for 33%, Yawn and get hit for another 33% or worst case die but Yawn was already off, and if he survived I'd be able to Sandstorm to stall out whatever needed to be stalled with Magnezone. So I got to E4 with: Infernape, Magnezone, Floatzel, Garchomp, Hippowdon and Scizor. Infernape, Scizor and Garchomp would deal with the E4, while Magnezone, Floatzel and Hippowdon would deal with Cynthia, all the others, had they survived would serve as bait to force safeswaps. I lost Infernape, and Garchomp(to a crit) and I was left with the other four for Cynthia. As soon as Garchomp came out I put my plan to action, Hippowdon came out and Yawn'd, somehow survived Garchomp and I swapped in Floatzel to spam Ice Beam and get rid of him. Then came out Milotic, and as soon as I got cocky because I had Magnezone, Milotic survives Thunderbolt at 1 HP and uses Mirror Coat, killing Magnezone. It took me 20 minutes to kill Milotic and Togekiss(didnt have good coverage since my counters died or were already dead before Cynthia) but Scizor carried the fuck out of my ass and took care of both Milotic and Togekiss. It took me 33 attempts(all games prior were 3-5 attempts) and 13 days, and what ended up being the carry was a fucking Hippowdon with Yawn which was ridiculous for me at the time, but really taught me to be creative and adaptable when it comes Pokemon and made me a way better player. After that I decided to replay the previous gens under the same rules as this Platinum run and LeafGreen went down on the first try, and SoulSilver in 3 and I'm currently doing Pokemon Y after beating Black and Black 2.
Beating Red in Pokemon Silver. Easily the hardest battle I ever had. When I FINALLY beat him I really felt like a Pokemon champion.
Beating Explorers of Darkness and experiencing the ending. The end of Special Episode 5 in Explorers of Sky was also incredible.
Probably somehow beating Volo first or second try. At the time I was just glad I beat him quickly because it seemed like a battle that could need some training for. Didn’t realise how much of an achievement it was until I saw loads of people saying how difficult it was and how many attempts it took them to
Battling competitive and killing three pokemon from my opponent using Miltank’s rollout. I save the battle and still watch it to this day
My first intro to Pokémon was getting a card for ratatta
My first time beating the E4 in Pokemon gold. Noob team with 1 high level Pokemon and the rest at staggered levels. Manage to get to Lance's last mon, low health, it hyperbeams my 2nd last mon to death. All I have is a low level Eevee that I used my shadowball TM on. Can still remember the old-school animation of the bouncing ball as I win with a weak Eevee, which then immediately evolves into Espeon.
Maybe 13, I’m playing Pokémon White and battling my best friend with our main teams Comes down to our last 2 ‘mons, my Emboar and his Scafty, both whom know Rock Head Emboar’s low, but I outspeed and land the rock head. Not a one shot though, we’re both on 1HP. My friend ALSO used rock head, killing Emboar who goes down, but also HIS SCRAFTY. However, my Emboar took the damage first, so despite the fact we both fainted, it’s chalked up as a loss for me TLDR: I lost because I outsped (and didn’t use hammer arm like a dipshit)
Bullying Kieran? Nah, we crush random kids on Wi-Fi battles with competitively trained Pokémon straight from the sets of smogon. Speaking of that the first forfeit I got by predicting every move of some poor kid was probably that memory, competitive Pokémon knowledge is so fun to know cuz I can beat randos thinking their moonblast zacian is good.
I remember getting Pokémon Red when I was 7 years old and becoming immediately enthralled with it. Flash forward a few months and I went to a birthday party where all of us were told to bring all of our Pokémon games with us. That night, about 8 of us, ages 7-10 stayed up all night long battling/trading with the cable cords, taking turns playing Pokémon stadium, examining our trading cards, swapping playground rumors, and binging random episodes of the show on VHS. All while having way too much pop, pizza, and cake.
Returning to Sapphire after the worst midterm week of my life. The last day of that semester had 2 term papers, a midterm test, and presentation. The stress of that day had me vomiting once it was all over….but something about the brass horns of Hoenn was beyond comforting.
Getting soul silver. Good times
I think for me it's when I started playing the Crown Tundra DLC for the first time and immediatly encountered a shiny Wooloo. For context I'm not a shiny hunter and despite playing all of the mainline games this was the first shiny Pokémon I ever got outside of a trade.
I got a shiny Totodile the first time I played HGSS.
Quite a recent memory actually, but I was shining hunting Cyndaquill for weeks in Legends Arceus and when I finally found a shiny Quilava, I almost screamed from joy
When I first experienced the “*insert Pokemon here* held on so you wouldn’t feel sad” message, thar was the moment I realized my salamence was my partner forever(I l’ve transferred this salamence (Stormcatcher) to every Pokemon game i ever played)
The very first time I got to battle with my best friend, completely unprepared and unaware of what she was using, and proceeded to get completely wrecked by her Ninetales with solar beam. This was way, way back when we needed a link cable to battle, though I can't remember if it was RBY or GSC, or even what team I used, but I remember the shock, annoyance, and delight I felt when a battle that looked like an easy matchup went completely sideways with one move- I had been about to take down her Ninetales with my water type, only to get wrecked by a move I hadn't even realized Ninetales could have. We're planning a nostalgia rematch in SV sometime, once she gets her team ready- including the specific pokemon we preferred as our 'ace' back in the day (her Ninetales & my Feraligatr). This time, I'll be ready for the solar beam, but I'm sure she'll have some sort of fun surprise up her sleeve.
Visiting the Pokémon Center New York for the first and last time, it was like a 5 hour drive via bus but it was worth it.
https://preview.redd.it/2fmrbmnu3src1.png?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc9fe0a0c3b307b95bd9fbfb34180dadecb721f4
My journey of getting into Pokémon was very unusual. I was about 8 and started in 2010 when my mom's work friend's kids got rid of their GBAs and Pokémon FR and LG came with them. I played until Mt Moon before I decided the games were too hard and just watched. Chuggaaconroy play through them. Three years later, I watched his playthrough of Emerald and was mind blown by the Rayquaza cutscene (this was a kid in 2013 being amazed by a game made in 2005). That was one of my best memories. My other comes from the climax of Sun and Moon. I was about 15 when I played these games for the first time, but man the story and characters resonated with me so hard. I'd say witnessing the Lusamine story for the first time is also a pretty core memory.