>>29184949It was amazing. I was a bit younger, but I still remember it being everywhere. Older kids at school would all crowd around in this one corner during recess and battle and trade. We all ended up calling it the Gameboy corner. I remember one older kid showing me a lvl 135 Poliwrath and it blew my fucking mind. Stores were infested with all kinds of merch, the anime was huge, and the cards were everywhere. It wasn't even just the TCG, I collected the Topps cards and still never had a problem finding people to trade with. Eventually school started cracking down, and it all fell off. But it was great while it lasted.
Pic related is me on my fifth birthday. Note the two different kinds of wrapping paper, and my poorly drawn Pikachu cake. This shit was everywhere, and it was glorious.
