The early history of the Pokémon Franchise
Hello everyone!
I am new to the Pokémon forums, so firstly I just want to say a big hello to everyone who is reading. It's great to have a place where fans can express themselves about such a beloved franchise! We are fast approaching thirty years of Pokémon, and I am one of the people who started with the franchise in the late 90s.
For anyone who doesn't know, it was a very exciting time to be a kid during the "Pokémania" hype in the late 90s, you couldn't escape it! As a young adult, I was visiting the various fan communities, buying trading cards, stickers, toys, and of course, the video games. My first game was Pokémon Blue with Charmander, and then Pokémon Crystal with Cyndaquil, a game that I absolutely adore, even to this day! While I continued to enjoy the franchise up to the present day, nothing can really beat that earliest era for me, it was truly a special time.
I would very much like to hear more stories from Pokémon fans who grew up during this era, and learn about their experiences. I like to write about those experiences and share them with the world, so people can be educated on what it was like during that early era.
I look forward to hearing from you all!
Comments
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First, and foremost, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to post a thoughtful and well laid discussion.
With that out of the way, I too started in the late 90s. I chose Squirtle but I adored the game so much I deleted my save multiple times to try different starters, different orders of fights, exploits, speed running, finding a complete dex. I dipped my toe into learning the TCG and even talked my Mom and Brother into going to the premier of the first movie, and then going to the second movie although a week after it came out. But my dream was always to focus on the games and maybe some day to help make games better.
To this day I have played Pokemon: Blue, Red, Yellow, Silver, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Emerald, Platinum, Black, White 2, Y, Moon, and Ultra Sun. I am happy the latest Generation has taken to an open world and storytelling as I think those things will most likely grab and create fond memories for younger Gamers.
I think the new 3D graphics will be best in a 3D environment. We are moving forwards in time after all, and progress and ingenuity will build wealth for the franchise. Open world is the most interesting type of games right now and what makes them great is when they are crafted to have movement and interaction in environments be interesting.
Also, the beginning of the franchise was the most exciting time, but I'm sure together we can make the franchise exciting again.
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You all know about the Johtonic Empire that used to rule Pokémon for like the Second Half of the 18th Century
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Or how Messed Up Hoenn Was with all of its Corrupted Leaders in the 19th Century
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most people here probably aren't from that era but we do have an old thread about discovering pokemon, @TheJeffers would be a good one to talk to
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Hey, sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I just noticed the replies, and I wanted to respond to each of them!
Thank you for the warm welcome! It's great to meet someone who grew up in the same era as I did.
I'm in this post and I don't like it :(
It's good to meet you! I would be open to talking with @TheJeffers sometime!
and I will be too old to talk about "back in my day there were only 151 Pokémon"
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I still remember saving up my allowance to buy a Game Boy Color and a copy of Pokemon Red. I remember my mom dropped me off at the game store while she went grocery shopping next door. The plan was that I would sit at the bench by the door and play my new game while waiting for her to finish getting groceries. (I was 13.)
This was how I learned that the Game Boy Color did not come with batteries, lol. At least I got to read the manual that day while waiting for my mother… I used to trace Pokemon and Zelda characters from the manuals to try to make my own posters for my bedroom, and imagine what kind of Pokemon the characters from my favorite books would have trained.
And Missingno! I remember the Missingno glitch was even in Nintendo Power magazine, it was so well-known.
Playing by the streetlights from the backseat of my parents' car, at least until I could get one of those third-party lights that plugged into the Link Cable slot. (Kids these days don't know how good they have it with their power-efficient backlit screens.)
One of my brother's classmates had a copy of Blue version that got damaged when his mom accidentally put it through the wash and couldn't hold a save anymore. So we all used it to trade Pidgeys for the other starters, since we couldn't ruin a save file that wasn't there, and the breeding mechanic didn't exist yet.
Arguing about whether Misty's new Togepi would ever be in an official game or was just for the anime. Trying to learn all the words of the PokeRap. Arguing whether all Meowths could talk, or just Team Rocket's, until the episode about Meowth's backstory settled the question once and for all.
Seeing ads on TV for Pokemon breakfast cereal, Pokemon Pop-Tarts, Pokemon figurines in fast-food kids' meals. That one US ad for the original games that had the Pokemon on a bus that then got crushed and turned into a Game Boy. It was everywhere.
Deciding to play "just one more battle" at bedtime, then coming up for air and realizing it was 4 AM and I had to get up for school in 2 hours.
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Thanks for sharing that story, it was a great read! I too remember learning about Missingno. and other "Pokégods" from the internet back then. It was a fun time! You should definitely look those up there's a lot of cool information about them online from that era. I even put together an article on them myself a couple of years ago!
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