>1999
>my brain's most impressionable growth period (age 3-5) coincides with pokemania just at its peak
>got addicted to that little hit of dopamine every time I'd get to play a bigger kid's gameboy or rent a vhs of the show
>parents actually let me name my first cat pikachu
>discover serebii
>hype peaks during gen 4 leak season
>silhouettes and new believable fakes every day
>gamefreak is the only gf I need
>each passing generation removes features and replaces them with things nobody asked for while casualizing more and more
>after each leak season, brain still craves that hit
>turn to deviantart fakemon
>good shit but they'll never be the real deal
>skip ORAS
>make it halfway through moon
>"Hey just check vp one more time, you never know, maybe gamefreak got their shit together this time" my dopamine receptors whisper
>LGPE announced
It's hell I just want out :(
