Your First Pokémon Game

[Teapot]

So, earlier today me, @Demelza, and @Linkachu were having a rousing argumentdebate about the 20th anniversary, and it got us to thinking - now the franchise has been around for nearly 20 years, how many people in the fanbase really were around at the start?

So that leads me neatly to this topic, which we've had before but is worth reviving: Which Pokémon game did you start with? Which was the first game you played, the very first time you were introduced to Pokémon?

If you vote in the poll, feel free to post here as well and say why - it'd be interesting to see what was the first game across various age groups - I'd be interested to see what our younger members started with

–––

Personally, my first game was Pokémon Yellow, because I am old and crinkly (although not as old as some here... ) In about 2000, when I got my beloved Game Boy Colour, Yellow was the latest game at the time, so that's what my parents bought for me.

 

[Sylvious]

I Never Was Interested In Video Games When I Was Younger. I Only Played The Arcade Games. Later On. I Got Pokemon Gold. Although I Missed R/B/Y But.... I Yellow Was The Second Pokemon Game I Played.

 

[Doctor Oak]

First Pokemon game for me was Pokemon Red in 1999/2000, so around 15 years ago. In Europe we got the game over a year later than in America, but by the time it came out here the anime was in full force to go along with it, so most of my initial memories of the franchise are heavily tied to the original anime series and the first movie as well as the game.

 

[Shiny Motley]

I knew about Pokemon since RBY days but never played the games due to parentals and etc., so my first game was Sapphire. It's why I have such a strong bias for Hoenn and Gen III in general I guess, but overall it is a very strong game. Emerald made everything better, story-wise, but I digress.

 

[Shocari]

Red back in '98 for me. Been playing ever since. What really got me into it was one of my friends from daycare, who was slightly older than me, had a version and let me play it a little to see what I thought about it. After it turned out I liked it, he introduced me to the anime, which I fell in love with(and later fell out of love with, much unlike the games). I still have really fond memories of playing Red anew for the umpteenth time while sitting in the back of the Walmart pharmacy, which I'd be at because mom would pick me up from school and take me back to work with her so she could keep an eye on me, not that I would even move from my spot.

 

[MegaBlastoise15]

I remember getting Pokémon Blue and my Game Boy Color on my 5th birthday. What memories I had, going around Kanto, trying to collect them all. Then, I got Silver a year later, along with a few random games, such as Super Mario Land 2, LoZ: Link's Awakening DX, and Donkey Kong '94. Such nostalgia.

 

[The Blue Blur]

I've been seeing everyone talk about RBY so... DITCH IT! My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Sapphire for the Game Boy Advanced. It was my first system and I'm not positive but, it might of also been my first video game ever.

 

[Panstyx]

It was Sapphire. Then yellow. And then heartgold, the first game I completed. And where my name comes from.

 

[Keleri]

I got a GBC and Pokemon Red for my birthday in 1999, it was my first video game and it was terribly difficult because I didn't understand a lot of the mechanics. Caves were stressful and scary, it took several tries to get through Mt. Moon. Random encounters-- how do they work? WHERE IS THE LUCKY SQUARE? etc.

The anime was huge as well at that time, I remember being entranced by the pokerap and all the pokemon we hadn't seen yet. It was funny seeing the anime contradict the games outright at times, like pushing that ghosts were effective against psychic-types-- in RBY there was only one damaging ghost-type attack, Lick, and it actually did *no* damage to psychic types. Plus gastly and its line were all part-poison anyway. It was good to escape the psychic tyranny in GSC.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

This old monkey's first videogame ever was Blue Version which by proxy makes it my first Pokemon game. I got it for Christmas 1998 while my brother got Red. We even got matching Game Boys with my GB being blue and my brother's red. My very first Pokemon ever was a Squirtle so it will always hold a special place in my heart even if other Pokemon have since replaced it as my favorite. I could rant on and on about my first year of Pokemon and what it was like living through the height of the Pokemon craze, but I'll save my old war stories for another topic.

As a new generation of people has emerged though, I am seeking to make my younger cousin's first Pokemon game to be ORAS even letting him play my AS.

 

[pac_halo]

Emerald. It was owned by a close friend and it he let me borrow it and play it through.

However, the first game I properly finished was Diamond, because I begged my parents for it. Once I got it from my birthday, played it NON STOP.

 

[BlackoutSLM]

Red version. I started playing in 1999 because, at that time, the anime was really popular in my country. A neighbour of mine had an old Game Boy and the Red version and I asked him to let me play it for a day. After a few hours I had already reached Vermillion City and I did not want to stop playing so, in the next day I asked my neighbour if he could sell me the Game Boy and the game, wich he agreed to. Over the following years I've beaten the game countless times. I've spent so much money on batteries...

 

[_Umbreon_]

I started with Unova, played white, then black 2. I later became intrested in the older games so I playedEmulations for a while, before receiving Pokemon X, and then Ora's which is amazing!

 

[Takinas]

The first pokemon game I have ever played was Pokemon yellow when a friend of mine gave me their copy of the game and their old gameboy color. I was so happy to finally play and own one of the games so long after the series came stateside. I still have and play the game on it's system when I want to bask in the nostalgic terror of dark caves and zubat at the mercy of my Pikachu.

 

[Rinoa Heartilly]

The first game from the series that I ever played was either Blue or Stadium...
I didn't own Blue though, I only had the chance because of a friend.

The first game I owned was Stadium then Silver, followed by Crystal and many others.
...Including the first pinball game. I even have the cards and pokéball/pokédex games.

Gawd, I love the damn series so much. ;___; ♥

 

[PandaMayFire]

The first Pokemon game I ever played was Crystal version, it's definitely a favorite of mine

 

[Atsuko-Chan]

Well in the true my first game of pokemon was Ruby.My father said that he's not going buy a GBA, so my sister and me tryied to find another way to play pokemon: GBA Emulator, so i saw her playing pokemon and she said that game was her favorite one.
So after that i played Pokemon Ruby, and i love it! That was amazing! I Never will forget about Pokemon Ruby, and after i played Ruby i played Fire Red, i wanted to play Red but i just played on Twitch Play , i played and finished Pokemon Ruby in 3 night's and 3 times, i really loved that, secret bases,battles,new regions, i loved that so much! And Years after my Father bought a DSi for me and my sister and after i played Soul Silver...........And today i memorized a lot of the 719 pokemons, and played Alpha Sapphira and pokemon X

 

[AzureEdge]

My first was I believe Pokemon Sapphire, I got it as a gift, but eventually lost it, thus getting Pokemon Diamond/Pearl not even a month later. I pretty much found it after a while, and I started to play the other Pokemon games, and got addicted so to say.

 

[EspeonTheBest]

I started off with Diamond as my first ever Pokemon game. The way I discovered Pokemon is quite interesting!

So, In a galaxy far far away-er I mean Six Flags (for those who don't know, Six Flags is an amusement park.) I was walking with my parents to go and find soemthing to eat. Then of course the prize stands always stick out to a 6 year old, so I walked over to one of them, attracted to a 'Blue Penguin.' *Cough Piplup Cough* That was a Prize in one of the stands. I begged my parents to let me play for it and I won them over eventually. When I lost the game, I was crestfallen. I was dead serious about getting this 'penguin'. Then my Dad played and being the expert of everything, he won the Penguin for me.

Later on about a year after sleeping countless nights with the Penguin, I walked into my 2nd grade class room with my show and tell bag. One of the guys in my class had brought his Pokemon Diamond game case as part of his show and tell. When he was reading the front of the case, (which evidently took ages to say by the way.) I noticed my blue Penguin on the back and I asked him about Frostbite. (the name I gave to the blue Penguin). When he explained that Frostbite was a Pokemon, I had to buy the games. I bought Diamond and chose Piplup as my starter and his name was Frostbite.

So, the reason why I'm here today is because of a Six Flags stand with a 'Blue Penguin' as a prize..... XD

 

[Al the Bard]

For me, Pokemon Red was the first game I played. My friends living in the same block as me had gotten into it when Generation I hit the states. The first game I owned was Pokemon Yellow, mostly because I was a fan of the anime and I wanted to get all three traditional starters.

 

[Localised]

Pokemon black for me, it was on my old R4 that doesn't work on my 3Ds
I chose Snivy and nicknamed it "ROX" (don't judge me I was only 6 years old...)
And I still have it as a lvl: 100 serperior on oras

 

[dragonbeast]

mine was ruby on my mates gba I chose mudkip and called it kipper and called it kipper on oras

 

[minun1]

Ruby, I still have my plusle and minun from that gen. they are my most prized pokes.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

My first Pokémon game was Red, and it completely transformed what I thought and how I felt about Pokémon as a whole - but I've already told that story so many times I'm not going to bother with it again. xD

 

[glaman5266]

Red. I got it for my birthday or Christmas or something the year it was released. Honestly I asked for it just because the game box looked cool. I had no idea what it was even about. But let me tell y'all, that gamble became my favorite game franchise and it still is today. I still run through my red version every two years or so just for fun.

 

[Crazy-ass Bat]

Started off with Pearl (the GameBoy Advance was my first console but I really started playing with the DS).

 

[Linkachu]

My first Pokemon game was Red, which I bought on the day it released in Canada (my older brother bought Pokemon Blue to complement my purchase of Red). During the run up to Red and Blue's release I'd been absorbing all of the Pokemon news shared by the gaming magazine Nintendo Power, and loving every word of it, so it's safe to say that I was crazy excited to get my hands on Red ASAP by that point.

 

[cloveria1215]

My first Pokemon game was Ruby. My dad brought for me a few weeks after it was released. At first my brother played a little bit of it while asking me what starter I wanted (Torchic) and what I what wanted to name myself. After about 5 minutes he handed me the gba and from that moment I was hooked. Ah, memories

 

[Steel Seth]

Sad to say my first was pokemon white put i have soulsilver, y, omega ruby, and emerald and ruby (just got from a friend) I'm playing pokemon yellow online right now but i'm finished with all of them but not emerald and ruby.

 

[ShinyZekrom009]

My first Pokemon game ever was actually Pokemon Stadium, but as far as the mainline games go, Pokemon Emerald was what I started with. And it has remained my favorite ever since. ♥

As for the rest, I'm pretty sure I've shared that story somewhere else before on this site.

 

[alolatrainer]

Red was my first game to play..i loved it..im currently playing pokemon green. Its really the same just hard to understand lol

 

[ElectricAngel]

I never got to playing the games until the Wii/DS era. My first main series Pokemon game was Pearl. However, my first actual Pokemon game was Battle Revolution on Wii. I was inclined to buy Pearl after seeing how much better Battle Revolution would be with the game connected. I was never into RPG type of games, but Pearl was interesting enough for the time to get me into the games. The fact that I watched the anime on Jetix helped too. I thought it was decent enough, so I tried out Soul Silver when it came out, which to this day is still my favourite. I dropped out of the series after that, but recently got into it again.

 

[alolatrainer]

I never got to playing the games until the Wii/DS era. My first main series Pokemon game was Pearl. However, my first actual Pokemon game was Battle Revolution on Wii. I was inclined to buy Pearl after seeing how much better Battle Revolution would be with the game connected. I was never into RPG type of games, but Pearl was interesting enough for the time to get me into the games. The fact that I watched the anime on Jetix helped too. I thought it was decent enough, so I tried out Soul Silver when it came out, which to this day is still my favourite. I dropped out of the series after that, but recently got into it again.

it is a good series...but soul silver is an awesome game

 

[JetPunx-R]

I remember getting into Pokemon when my mom brought me 3 games for the GBA. Donkey Kong Country, Wario Land 2, and Pokemon Blue. I started the game... and I sucked. I never got into RPGs during that time(I believe I was 6-7 at the time). I didn't know what to do or my objectives, all I remembered was Squirtle in my team and "blacking out" every time I enter the forest and I end up getting poisoned which would lead me to the PkMn center everytime. When i got more into the series, I then just fell in love with it. When Pokemon D/P was announced and only on the DS, I was because I didn't have a DS that time so I basically skipped Gens 4-5 till XY came out. What a time to be a fan now.

 

[Kawaii Unicorn]

Ever since I was eight I wanted a DS so I could play PKMN, and it was time for X and Y by the time I got one, so yeah, I just got X and went with that, but I do have most of the other ones too.

 

[icyraven93]

When I was around 9 or 10, I got Pokemon Leaf Green for Christmas. It was the first time I really had a Pokemon game of my own (before then, I shared with my brother).

 

[lukasthelucario]

my first ever pokemon game is pokemon yellow now im not playing pokemon yellow anymore
the graphic looks horrible!!!;-)

 

[TrimGuide4662]

So, earlier today me, @Demelza, and @Linkachu were having a rousing argumentdebate about the 20th anniversary, and it got us to thinking - now the franchise has been around for nearly 20 years, how many people in the fanbase really were around at the start?

So that leads me neatly to this topic, which we've had before but is worth reviving: Which Pokémon game did you start with? Which was the first game you played, the very first time you were introduced to Pokémon?

If you vote in the poll, feel free to post here as well and say why - it'd be interesting to see what was the first game across various age groups - I'd be interested to see what our younger members started with

–––

Personally, my first game was Pokémon Yellow, because I am old and crinkly (although not as old as some here... ) In about 2000, when I got my beloved Game Boy Colour, Yellow was the latest game at the time, so that's what my parents bought for me.

I don't mean to be that guy, but even though these games had the typical trainer adventure without the gyms and Pokemon League, these are pretty good games. I also say this because my friend was introduced to pokemon due to one of these games. I feel Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness should be included in the poll. I only say this as a suggestion, it doesn't have to be followed.

My first pokemon game was Pokemon FireRed Version, with Charmander.

 

[DatOneNerd]

My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Snap, but my first main series game (which wasn't a ROM) was Pokemon Y.

 

[pokeryan12]

Mine was my sister's Emerald. Man time flies.