What Pokémon game do you recommend to someone who's never played one?

Conversely, best foot forward. If they enjoy the best the series has to offer, they are more likely to want to experience more of it. And if they already have had a positive experience, they are more likely to tolerate some of the issues in other installments.

And it's not as if the rest of the series is unplayable garbage. Just the Switch era 🤭.

But seriously, the series became a worldwide phenomenon for a reason. There is lots to like across the series. I also offer RB (or FRLG) as alternative good entry points. It's where a large proportion of the fanbase started.

And as I said in the OP, the games are self-contained enough that you can pretty much play whatever you want, though gen 2 and BW2 are a little awkward as was discussed earlier.

I was simply curious what people would pick in a series where you can start virtually anywhere.