>>50794294Some of my best memories are from when I was a kid (around 11 or so) are of playing Pokémon Sapphire and listening to System of a Down's 'Toxicity' CD on my Walkman, to the point where any song from that album still always makes my brain weirdly think of Pokémon Sapphire by association. For me, Gen 3 will probably always be the most iconic games, when Pokémon was at it's peak. I remember staying up late at my grandparents' house on weekends with a bedside lamp just playing Sapphire the whole time. My grandma didn't tell me to put the game away and go to bed, grandkids got to do whatever they wanted at Gramma's house. I'd spend hours on Contests alone, trying to get Master rank in all the classes. In a time before I had any access to the internet, it was so genuinely fun experiencing and discovering so many new things all on my own without guides, and there was no social media echo chamber to tell me how to feel about the game either. And the starters are all flawless, I can't think of any other region where all the starters are equally amazing through all their evolutions. The whole region is memorable too, I can't think of any other regions with a more diverse and unique style to all the towns and routes, no two places ever felt too similar to me.
For me, Hoenn truly is my home in the Pokémon world.
