>>58802044It was interesting to experience as a kid, being able to find Pokemon stuff everywhere (official or bootleg, also stuff directly from Japan) and knowing pretty much everyone, even older kids, knew what it was. As someone who was allowed to go on the internet unsupervised then probably too young, there were a ton of Pokemon sites and it was fun to browse for cheats/rumors/info about the series in Japan/people's fanart/etc. Obviously all that is still around today but it felt a little more personal/unique since it was all scattered across people's individual sites.
But looking back it wasn't really THAT special honestly. Like all the games and stuff are still around and can be experienced today so it's not like something material is really gone forever (unless you're desperate to try shitty Pokemon cereal or whatever); it was just like an atmosphere of hype that made it fun to be a kid into the series at the time and feels nostalgic to look back on.
