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>What did you start with?
I ended up getting Red Version for Christmas in 1998, I was only 9 at the time. I remember a lot of my friends at school back then talking about the games, playing with the toys and trading the cards. We even named the class rodent Pikachu.
>Which Pokemon mattered the most?
Charizard was my favorite in Red followed closely by Nidoking. It wasn't until Yellow that I realized the cuteness of Eevee thanks in part to the updated sprite work and it became another one of my favorites. To this day I still use Charizard and Nidoking competitively.
>Who did you play with and what did you like to do?
Always traded and battled with my friends at school and with my brothers. Post-game got pretty expanded due to baseless playground and online rumors. Aside from trying to catch every pokemon and messing with the missingno glitch, I was pretty gullible and believed the Bill's Secret Garden, Mew under truck, Pokegods, Togepi, and Marill (Pikablu) rumors so I spent a lot time just trying those out to no avail. At least it gave me something to do post game. I still remember watching the anime and discussing it with friends the next day and playing with those cheap Burger King toys. I was pretty hardcore into video games as a kid so that was the extent of my hobby.
>Nostalgia / Favorite Gen / Observation / etc
Gen 2 is my favorite, I started that generation with Silver and eventually upgraded to Crystal. Everything about the Johto region was just so comfy. The layout, art style, music, and Pokemon just made that my favorite region to relax in. I spent a lot of time in Goldenrod City and National Park, mostly to breed and hatch eggs. Silver came out during a time where I was still pretty much at the peak of my happiness in life and Pokemon was still everywhere in the outside world. Couldn't turn a corner without seeing some kind of Pokemon merch and I loved every minute of it. It was at it's peak of popularity in '99 - '01 and I'm glad I got to witness it.
