I have lots of memories of this era. I started my Pokémon journey as a 6 year old with SoulSilver and I don't think I could've had a better introduction to the series. What a masterpiece that game is. I can't remember much of anything before 14-15, but for some reason I still vividly remember walking around New Bark Town with Cyndaquil, not even knowing what the fuck a Pokémon was. I remember the music, the sound effects, the visuals, all so clearly. I also played Diamond a lot, but I could never figure out how to get past the Sunyshore roadblock, so I just spent my time curbstomping the region with my level 65 Empoleon and team of shitmons. SoulSilver was the only game I finished as a kid, and I'm surprised I managed to figure it all out by myself without a guide, the Whirl Islands and all that. I guess you just have more time and thus more patience at that age. I still very clearly remember beating Lance, even where I was and what I said. Such a cool moment. I never realised that you could go to Kanto though, so that was the end of my Johto journey. It made replaying HGSS as an adult so much weirder though, because it was 50% nostalgia and 50% a completely new experience. Oh, I also remember running into a shiny Hoothoot on Route 29 and running away because I thought it was a glitch. I will reclaim that one one day. BW was when I started keeping up with Pokémon news. Every time we went to the shops I'd buy the Pokémon magazine to see the latest information. I remember playing through the Japanese version on my R4 card, then playing through it again months later on the English release. I don't have many memories of BW, but I know I had a lot of fun in the postgame. B2W2 made me lose interest in Pokémon. I remember being so hyped when I walked up to the magazine aisle and seeing Black and White Kyurem on the cover with a frozen-over Unova. Child me's mind was blown from seeing this. I dropped the game as soon as I hit Castelia City though lmao.
