Community: Pokémon Turns 30 Soon - Send Us Your Pocket Monster Memories

I remember with Pokémon Blue, I called Nintendo because my GameBoy Pocket screen would randomly jump around.
The lady on the phone was very nice, she didn't know how to help though. Suggested I send it in for repairs, which I didn't want to do.

I later figured out it was because a Pokémon in my party was poisoned. Shaking stopped when it fainted 🤣

I remember my first Pokemon I ever caught like it was yesterday:

I woke up early one morning when I was 15 in a small little town in Southern Nippon. My mom was the only one home and already cooking up some breakfast. She was getting everything setup for my new chapter of life that was to unfold that day.

After breakfast, I met up with my uncle at the local Laboratory that was setup to help study and learn more about Pokemon. It was at this time that catching and training Pokemon was becoming a new way to promote agriculture, technology, travel, and defense from the outside world or other organizations that were using these pocket monsters for their own "evil" agendas.

Anyways... after meeting with my uncle, I decided to head out north of town as I had pocketed a couple Poke balls of my own over the years. A couple were fairly new, but I had one that I had with me since I was 5. It was special to me because my Father had gifted it to me before he left for the War.

This ball had etchings on it and had a metallic blue color rather than the new standard red. It's catch rating was also inferior to the newer Poke balls that have been in circulation for the past couple of years.

I started weeding through some tall brush the was off the beaten path of Route 1. When fanning through some of the grass blades I heard something dangerous heading for me.

"Psy!!!" The brush was becoming restless in front of me as something was heading fast in my direction. "Psy!" As this creature gained closer and closer its cry was getting louder and louder. I stumbled backwards a bit in the brush and fell on my hind. I reached in my bag and searched rapidly for something to distract this creature with when my hand landed on the etched, blue ball.

Just then... the grass in front of me cleared away before my eyes... the bottom half of each blade lay maybe two feet off the ground while the top halves were cleaved and floated away... a harsh breeze whipped my face as I saw the silvery glow of what appeared to be a bug Pokemon's scythe slashing just inches in front of my face.

Without hesitation, I threw the ball I had in my hand just as a quick defense reaction hoping to thwart or distract this creature from endangering my life. The ball made contact with the face of the monster...

White light appeared... was I dead?!

And then disappeared with the creature now seemingly gone...

The ball!!! It captured it inside?!!? The ball stayed in position in the air for a mere moment before falling to the brush below. I couldn't see it completely as it was covered by a couple feet of the now-trimmed brush.

I cautiously moved forward spreading the blades in front of me so I could visualize what the ball was doing.

The light on the front of it was glowing a soft dim light... and it wiggled!! Oh no!! I need to run!! It's going to break free!! I'm so dead!!

I stumbled again backward as I was getting ready to flee.... but I was entranced by what this ball was doing. The creature did not break free. There were some subtle noises the ball was making as it wiggled every so often. I was probably observing this new phenomenon to me for what seemed like an hour.

Then... it stopped? The ball stopped moving. And the light went out. I then heard a slight locking mechanism take place.

I caught it!!! Omg I actually caught it!!! I was so suredly going to die just then but I caught it!!!

I have to leave... this is dangerous. I quickly gathered up the ball and threw it in my front pants pocket.

I then scurried back to my uncle as I was sure he would be able to tell me what just happened. My heart was racing so rapidly and yet my eyes were flooding over with absolute joy.

I just caught my very first Pokemon.

This will always be my favorite memory in my long history of Pokemon.

"Send us your pocket monster memories."

Easy......Easy.....Easy..........

Be careful what you ask for!

Sent one in.
I'm looking forward to reading about everyone's memories.

I remember (not my submission) when Black and White came out, and I took the train on a rainy launch day to go pick it up. When I got back to my college dorm, I was hours behind my brother. We kept in touch all day as we played. I'll never forget when my Tepig evolved, and I called my brother and told him how much Pignite was the best ever Pokemon, and he said "I knew you would love it!"

It's validating to know someone understands my design sensibilities.

I sent one. I remember watching Pokemon in anime. I also wish it was remastered and redubbed by Studiopolis for Season 1 to 5, and later in the future. But I still wish all of the games would be ported to the Switch and Switch 2 as paid games and physical media.

These are my Pokemon Memories.

Pokémon has been my favorite media franchise ever since I first watched the OG anime on Netflix back in 2017. The Neptunia series may beat it eventually, but if that does happen, Pokémon would still be number two 😀.

That 30 years old title is making my knees hurt. I remember going to Zellers (any other Canadians out there) with my dad and my brother, I got Blue version with the teal Game Boy Colour and my brother got Red with the reddish pink Game boy. I remember going through the mansion on Cinnabar Island getting losts for hours with that game boy light illuminating the screen under the covers as my mom came in and yelled at us to go to bed. 28ish years later (if I'm remembering the North American release date) and the game and Game Boy still work.... somehow!

I shared a different memory in the contact form, but thought I'd share something else here.

I remember just the act of getting Pokémon Blue Version being so exciting when I was a kid. It had been out a little while before I had heard about it at school.

One day, I just asked my mom if I could get it, and she said yes. This... never happened. Ever. We went to the mall, entered Electronics Boutique, grabbed my copy of Blue Version then went to the food court for a slice of pizza and a soda. Looking back, it was such a mundane Saturday, but I was having the best day of my life then. It wasn't going to get any better than this!

On the way home, I opened the box in the car and saw that it didn't have an Instruction Manual... It had a Trainer's Guide and it looked like a notebook someone left for me to help me on an adventure I didn't even know I was about to embark on... 30 years later, I'm still adventuring.

Just crazy how attached to something a person can get over the years. After losing my father too soon a few years ago, I've been clinging to this franchise harder than ever. No matter how poor the quality each entry seems right now, the child in me is always happy to pick my starter and start on my next journey, creating new memories with my wife, playing Pokémon together.

I remember getting Pokémon blue for my twin brother for Christmas. I had no idea what it even was. When I saw how fun it was I quickly went and got a copy of red for myself and ended up getting the full Pokédex, with the exception of Mew.

Then I remember tossing basic Pokeballs at Mewtwo in ruby or one of the DS games on a car trip. My battery started showing low so I figured I’d toss balls until it died, as there was no chance I’d get him. Of course he was trapped soon after and I had to pray my battery lasted until I could save in order to keep my Mewtwo in a basic ball!

And finally the first time I encountered Cynthia in Pokémon Pearl and heard that awesome theme song play as she completely destroyed my team haha.

I'm actually a few months younger than Pokémon

and I grew up with the anime (even though I did prefer Digimon)

and it was my oldest cousin (I'm the youngest of the generation btw) actually introduced me to the games, mainly through Stadium 1 & 2 on the N64

during Gen 3 and Gen 4 I kinda fell of, I still followed it, but my intrest was low

then came Gen 5, the first time I could play a mainline title on my own console, Pokémon White
and my intrest in the franchise was back (though I didn't really follow the anime again till Sun & Moon)

and ever since, I've played every single mainline title (always 1 of the 2 with the duo releases) and followed the anime closer

and now, I'm able to remember all 1025 different Pokémon

I didn't grow up by Pokemon franchise so I have little interest to play them despite I have collected quite a lot of the games.
Pokemon X 3DS was my first play Pokemon games by curiosity and I found it was mediocre compared with my gaming experience from Monster Rancher games, Final Fantasy games that have more interesting battle system.
Surprisingly, Yokai Watch and Nexomon stole my attention more than Pokemon games Yokai Watch 3 is my most played Yokai Watch games, even longer than all my Pokemon games.

My first encounter with Pokémon was through the animated series. I must have been about eight years old, begging my mom every night to let me stay up an hour later just to catch the two episodes airing on Cartoon Network. There were TV channels playing cartoons 24/7, but Pokémon was different: Ash, the protagonist, sometimes lost. Without realizing it at the time, I identified with him. My story, however, isn’t about the fondness I still hold for the franchise. As it turns out, throughout much of my childhood and early adolescence, I had sporadic visions of what looked like a game. Menus, pixelated characters, 2D animations, everything in black and white, turn-based battles, and, specifically, an unbeatable Lapras. Frustrations, experiences. I searched for all that and more for years, until I finally gave up. It existed nowhere but in my head.

Ten years went by before I stumbled upon a downloadable Game Boy emulator on the internet. It was a console from the 90s. Beneath it was a very long list of games that, until then, could only be played on the original platform. Near the bottom, I found one that caught my eye: Pokémon Blue. I downloaded the files, followed the steps, and it booted up. There are no words in the Spanish language to explain what I felt when I started playing, but I like to say I experienced my own Aleph. Menus, pixelated characters. I was eight years old again. 2D animations, everything in black and white. It was the game from my visions. Turn-based battles and, after several hours, an unbeatable Lapras. I found myself in a state of transcendence I never wanted to leave. Over the years, I stopped asking myself how I knew the game and its rules if I had never actually owned a Game Boy.

Man, timezones are lame. Every morning I'd get to catch about the first 2 to 3 minutes of every new episode before I had to go to school. But, thanks to that fancy VHS recording technology, I was able to come home and finish it off after going to school and looking for the newest super secret Pokemon Red secret way to find Mew on GameFaqs.

I became a young troll then when I started printing out my own really complicated made-up instructions on ways to get the little floating feline and pass them out to my friends...only to grin a little when they reported their 2 hours was for nothing.

I'm a bit of a younger soul. First Pokemon game was X on my 3ds, followed shortly by Ranger-Shadows of Almia and Sun.They are all fun games to play and replay and last year I went through some of the older games. I also watched the anime when I was younger, and rn I'm currently rewatching it (At Advanced Battle rn). It's fun, not nearly as good as similar anime like Digimon, but it's a decent time.

I’ve submitted mine! Regardless if my submission makes the cut or not, I’m excited to read everyone else’s letters!

I remember the day I bought Pokemon Diamond for the first time as a kid, and it cost me $35 CAD for a brand new copy.

Finding the first Pokemon comic in Nintendo power- with absolutely no knowledge of this pocket RPG or how it was about to wash over the states, and the world. I poured out my shoebox of birthday money and begged my mom to pick up Pokémon Red for me while I was at school! I thought about it all day… waiting to fire up my red GB pocket and step out of my pallet town bedroom to choose my Charmander. Just a great time to have the best game for the best console!

Interesting to see how many memories in these comments have to do with Pokemon Blue. Did no one have Pokemon Red??

(ok the memory I submitted is also about Blue)

@Gatorclops fellow Canadian out here in the wild!

My parents bought my (also teal) gameboy colour for me for my birthday and it completely changed my life. I spent hours catching Pokémon in the car with that little pink gameboy worm light (I still have it, it still works, but the glare is terrible.)

I had Pokémon Red and loved it so much, I would blast the music from the route I was on while I ate dinner. I burned through so many batteries because I never turned my system off.

As an ode to Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, I’m replaying my Red cartridge on my advanced SP this year though I still have my working teal gameboy colour!

@charliecarrot My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Red. Great memories with that game. (Although only my Venusaur was leveled up enough to take on the Elite 4 almost on its own XD.)

My first Pokémon game was fire red, I remember seeing the original games on my mates game boy as a kid, and thinking I don't want to be playing games in black and white 😅. Then I got hooked on the TV show and cards which finally persuaded me to get the game boy advance and I've been hooked on the series since, even as a 34 year old I still look forward to every new Pokémon game.

My first organic shiny was on Leaf Green back in 2004 in the Safari Zone. It was a Rhyhorn that I caught with my final Safari Ball. I ended up Banking it to X and evolving it to Rhyperior.

Also, I think I hold the record for the most Deoxys. Whilst trying to hatch a shiny Mudkip on Alpha Sapphire, I ended up with over 300 of them. The GTS at the time let you tease for Deoxys so currently only Pokemon Home I have 306 Deoxys

I remember sneaking into the movie theater with some friends to watch the pokemon movie way back in 1999. Simpler times man 🤣

As much as I've criticized this franchise, I grew up with Pokemon and have a bunch of fond memories. There was something magical about 90s/early 2000s Pokemania. The closest the franchise got to replicating that was the release year of Pokemon Go in 2016. Maybe I've just gotten too old, but Pokemon feels so by the books and corporate nowadays.

Made my parents buy a turquoise game boy color and my first game: Pokemon yellow from a retail store called Hills ( now gone in the early 2000's) still got the game but the game boy died, so I have many replacements including parts even got a analogue pocket too. 😃

I just submitted a nice short story!

Woah, you guys need to make the location of the contact page a lot less visible, it takes up the whole Nintendo Life page!

@Zaruboggan love when someone loves a underappreciated 'mon (AND when their comment is backed up by their profile picture)