My Pokémon Story
Pokémon has been with me basically my whole life! I loved it as a small child and I still love it now as an adult. I go more into what about Pokémon appeals to me in «this article», but in short, I love befriending cute monsters and going on adventures with them! This article is about my history with Pokémon, my experiences with it growing up, and how my opinion of it has evolved overtime.
Early Childhood Memories
My earliest memory of anything Pokémon is stuffed toys. When I was four my Dad liked to play with me with a small Pikachu stuffed animal and we would play hide and seek. It is one of my earliest childhood memories and I loved it. I still have that toy now! Looking at it always brings back old memories ♥
But yeah, that was my first introduction to Pokémon! Since then I saw posters, coloring books, more toys, etc, and I fell in love with the creature designs and ideas more and more.
Black & White Manga/Anime!!
I started getting into my Pokémon nerd phase right as the fifth generation of games was coming out. I remember getting my hands on the Black & White Pokémon Adventures manga from my local library, and really loving it! I was around nine and riding high in my anime phase. I took lots of inspiration from the art style and Pokémon world, and I found the characters to be especially cute. Tepig is adorable! I only managed to find the first four volumes or so, but I still really enjoyed it.
Soon after, I started watching the Pokémon BW Anime for the first time!! It's often regarded as the worst era of Pokémon's long standing anime series, which is a valid opinion to have, but a lot of these critiques come from fans who are disappointed with the BW anime not living up to their expectations set by the previous anime series. Since this was my first exposure, I had no expectations going in! And this really helped me to appreciate the anime for what it was instead of what it wasn't or what it could've been.
It's definitely not perfect, but I fell in love with the world and characters as a little ten year old. The anime & manga are what really conceptualized Pokémon having in-depth personalities for me, and what it'd be like to befriend and live with them! My favorite characters were always the Pokémon; I especially loved Emolga, Snivy, and Axew.
My First Pokémon Game: White
The first Pokémon game I ever played was Pokémon White on my Nintendo DSi! I was so so excited to finally be playing a Pokémon game, one that had all the Pokémon I recognized, no less!! My starter was a Snivy named Jake, and I set out on my adventure. I remember struggling quite a lot with the mechanics of the game; I was a young kid and my anxiety scared me away from experimenting or exploring, so I ended up missing a bunch of important stuff. (Like how to change the Pokémon in my party, how to change the order of Pokémon in my party, how to RUN...)
But overall, I still had a great time. I remember falling in love with the story and characters, especially N. I also got very attached to my Pokémon, mostly Serperior. I hazily remember looking back at the BW Manga as a guide to see where to go next. I didn't know how to find walkthroughs online yet, haha. It was a lot of fun to relate the manga's story to mine, though. And it's a little funny to look back and remember getting stuck since I didn't know where to go after I exhausted my manga volumes (They got up until Elesa). Luckily the path was quite linear so I did find it eventually. I didn't end up beating the Elite Four (I definitely chose the wrong starter to unintentionally solo the game with), but that is okay! I still hold special memories with Pokémon White, and I'm glad it was my first Pokémon game despite the challenges I had with it.
Pokémon Black 2
After that, I played Pokémon Black 2!! I remember it being very fun, even though I still didn't know how to switch my party. I remember having Servine and the Legendary trio of Verizion, Cobalion, and Terrakion. I think I got stuck on Victory Road. I had fun playing though, and the Gen 5 games are still some of my all-time favorites. Now that I can play them properly, I can fully appreciate all the love that went into these games. The sprites are gorgeous, the music is superb, I love the changing of seasons, I love the Pokémon in Unova... There is so much to love! I really enjoy replaying these games. I now have Pokémon White 2, which is my personal preference over Black 2, since the story aligns with White and I like the game exclusives more. I'm not sure why I got Black 2? I guess I wanted to experiment.
Pokémon X
Pokémon X is a very special game to me; it was the first Pokémon game where I ever beat the Champion!! I remember feeling so satisfied and proud of myself. Despite having a Xerneas, I still had quite a lot of trouble somehow. But, I did it! It felt very rewarding to little ten year old me. I remember choosing both a Chespin AND a Bulbasaur; I just really loved grass types as a kid!
One of my favorite things about Pokémon X and Y was Pokémon Amie; you could PET and FEED your Pokémon!? That was the BEST to me!!! I loved daydreaming about how I would take care of my Pokémon if they were real, and now it felt like those could become reality!! I am a very affectionate person, so I really enjoyed this. It felt like I was actually being my Pokémon's friend!
XY also introduced the Fairy type, which is now my favorite Pokémon type! What can I say, I'm a girl who loves pink. The trainer customization and charming graphics are also things I love about these games. I hold many fond memories of them.
Pokémon as a Creative Outlet
(w.i.p.)