>>56375818>have always been a contrarian>hated pokemon by virtue of it being nonsense that became popular overnight>almost 1 year after its release, mom tells me my sister has an announcement to make>"I like Pikachu. It's cute.">wtf, I can't hate something my baby sister likes>guess I like pokemon too now>she gets Yellow for Christmas, never plays because she can't read, osmose her game>addiction snowballs from there>play that shit like an autist >go to blockbuster ~twice a month>walk in there right after halloween with mom, head for N64 aisle to peruse>look up from gbc>GS boxes front and center in game area>gasp like an autist, halt in my tracks, run up to box and start reading the backside, can't believe there's a ANOTHER pokemon game HOLY SHIT>pester mom to let me rent one>"wtf, is this the same game? ...No, it's different, a new one? ...Do you really want to rent it? It's probably better we just buy one from Toys R Us instead">can't believe she's going to buy me a copy, usually she makes me earn everything via good school reports and her arbitrary judgementI barely remember buying it and I remember her telling me to pick the version carefully (Gold), but booting it up, seeing the night palette, walking around New Bark to the lab for the first time while hanging off the couch is something I'll never forget. Dunno how I didn't notice other kids playing it at school; the mania had definitely died down in my school by then, so I can assume most kids didn't get the game on day 1 either.
Loved the games so much, I did a bunch of chores and challenges and shit the following year for my mom to get me Silver, then Crystal way down the line. Still have GS but had to repurchase Crystal because an airline 'didn't recognize the tech' and confiscated it despite letting me keep the gbc, which I assume was actually the boomer wanting it for his own collection (may he rest in piss).