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Zillenials, easily
They were little kids during the (previously) most-hated generation so they got to enjoy it (gen 3) without mockery, and their remakes aren’t the worst in the franchise (anymore) so they could get some satisfaction from that.
They also got to grow up with what’s now considered a golden era for the franchise, with the quality of the games only slumping by the time the gen 3 kids got to adulthood and were no longer as attached to the franchise
Being born into gen 3 also meant they had no expectations of the series going beyond its gameboy roots like gen 1 kids got, nor the disappointment brought from going from Crystal to RS, and almost no remnants of the more grounded setting Pokemon started out with (also in Gens 1-2) to bring more disappointment with
Even better: most online discussion of the games during this golden era was between people genuinely passionate about the games as opposed to literally anybody who wanted to look trendy like with Gens 1-2 or anything after GO, so the kids got to avoid a lot of the toxicity that came with the series’ decline when discussing it online
It also helps that Gens 4+ brought free wi-fi to the series on a large scale, meaning that even if they had nobody to trade with irl they could just go online and complete the pokedex that way- or, alternatively, if they had nobody to battle with irl they could just go online. They also didn’t need to physically go places to get (most) exclusive events like in Gens 1-3. None of this had to be paid for like in Gens 8+, unless you count physically buying the game because flashcarts wouldn’t be able to connect.
Shiny hunting + Nuzlockes were still niche enough to have relatively tight-knit and welcoming communities unpoisoned by popularity or social justice, forum roleplay was huge but very manageable (as opposed to modern Discord shit which goes a mile a minute), general escapism into the Pokémon world was a lot more appreciated and indulged in…
