Feature: Michael's Pokémon Memories

Michael is a Pokémon fan who has a long history with the Pokémon franchise. He began his own journey with Pokémon on his seventh birthday back in 1999, when his parents bought him his first Pokémon video game! Michael has continued to explore the series in the years that have followed, and he was kind enough to share his personal story of being a fan with Johto Times!

A photograph of Michael taken by his father on his seventh birthday as he opened up his gift of Pokémon Red

Michael:

I remember the first time I played a Pokémon game. I was at my friend’s house in 1998, and he let me play his Game Boy. When I turned it on, he already had a save file, and Red was in his house. I was just walking around when Eric came over and showed me how to go into the grass to encounter Pokémon—and that was it.

Fast-forward to 1999: my parents got me Pokémon Red for my birthday. I was seven years old—and I remember it vividly.

When I first played, I chose Charmander as my starter—simply because my friend, who was also at the party, told me to pick the one on the cartridge because they were the strongest. After about an hour of playing, I went back and started a new game with Squirtle. The rest was history.

I think the hardest Pokémon game I ever played was Pokémon Yellow. Since I was forced with Pikachu, and Brock being the first Gym Leader, I was too young to realize I had to train other Pokémon for the advantage. I’m embarrassed to say how long I was stuck behind Brock’s badge. I came across a Nidoran while wandering around in areas prior to Brock’s gym. I caught them, and began training them up. They learned Double Kick, and once I learned how strong that was against Rock-type Pokemon, it was over for Brock.

I still remember the first time I was traded a Pokémon that was too high-level to obey me—I didn’t have enough Gym Badges yet. I had Pokémon Gold and was struggling, so my best friend at the time gave me an Umbreon, a Steelix, and a Gyarados to help me progress through the game. But most of the time, they ignored my commands. I had no idea why back then.

Michael’s love for Pokémon has continued throughout the years, playing many of the games that followed.

Michael:

I’ve played a good number of Pokémon games over the years. In addition to Pokémon Red, Yellow, and Gold, I played Ruby, Sapphire, LeafGreen, Emerald (my favorite), HeartGold, Diamond, Black, X, Moon, and Let’s Go, Pikachu!

When I replay a majority of these games, I always find myself going back to my same starters. This may be a controversial list, but they’re as follows:

• Red: Squirtle
• Yellow/Let’s Go, Pikachu: Pikachu
• Gold/Heart Gold: Cyndaquil
• Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald: Treecko
• LeafGreen: Bulbasaur
• Diamond: Turtwig
• Black: Snivy
• X: Chespin
• Moon: Rowlet

Clearly, I’m a lover of the Grass type.
And last, my favorite Pokémon, probably, of all time is Steelix.

Fun fact: all of my original Pokémon from the GBA games have been transferred to the DS/3DS games and then into Pokémon Home. So I still have all of my originally found Pokémon from the GBA and DS/3DS generations.

I haven’t really gotten into the newer games on Switch, but I’ll probably give Legends: Z-A a try next.

Michael, that photograph has such huge 90s energy! It was so cool to see it and to read your memories of Pokémon. Thank you so much for sharing them with us. We hope you enjoy Pokémon Legends: Z-A and that Pokémon will continue to hold some positive and happy memories for you in the future!