My next step into Pokemon fandom was through a book order. You know book orders, right? Those six-to-eight-page Scholastic-sponsored catalogs full of wondrous books to buy that were handed out every so often in elementary school? I loved the crap out of those things when I was a kid, and even when I moved on to the higher grades and they weren't offered any more, I ordered a few books from my younger brother's book orders. Anyway, right around the time I got my first cards, a book order was handed out, and there it was: "The Official Pokemon Handbook". I went for it, and after I got the book, I was IN. My earlier confusion washed away like so much allowance money as I realized "holy shit I must catch them all". And what added to it was the Handbook's introduction, which stated that Trainers start at the age of ten. OH MY GOD, I WAS TEN!! IT MUST BE DESTINY.
So I collected the cards, I had the handbook, I bought the toys, and I caught the occasional episode of the cartoon, which I only ever saw on Channel 98 or something on my TV, it was really weird because our channels only went up to 64 or so, then we skip over the next thirty and BAM Kids WB. I have no idea. So I had all that and I'd heard the whole thing had its roots in video games. My family visited the house of one of my mom's old college friends, and her two daughters were also into Pokemon (they also had a Genesis and let us borrow Ghouls and Ghosts for a while!). They had an old-school murky-green-screen Game Boy with Pokemon Blue (or possibly Red, I no longer remember). I tried it out with a new file, making sure to follow their special instructions to not save. I remember making it all the way to Mt. Moon. I had never played one of these newfangled "role playing games" before, but I was intrigued, although I remember being a little intimidated by the game mechanics since they were so drastically different to my beloved platformers and fighting games.
But for a while I did not have a Game Boy of my own. It wasn't until the fall of 2000 that something clicked. I had my latest issue of Nickelodeon Magazine and was flipping through it... and then, I saw it.
I stared for a good several minutes at this ad, including rereading it by slowly panning down the page while humming Also Sprach Zarathustra. You only think I'm kidding. I knew there were going to be more Pokemon thanks to the movie and Misty always carrying around that goddamn enigma Togepi, but this drove home the fact that there were going to be new Pokemon, in new Pokemon games. New new new.
Nintendon't my ass.
For whatever reason, probably because it was so close to my birthday, I didn't get the Game Boy Color until Christmas. I remember it well - I'd gone through all my presents but one. I unwrapped it and discovered to my joy that it was a purple Game Boy Color. But then, a terrible thought crossed my mind as I recalled my mom possibly making a horrible error and forgetting that you need to buy games separately (since the Genesis and Game Gear both had pack-in games while the Game Boy did not, you see). I looked at her and said "But Mom, if you don't buy a game to go with it, it won't work."
And then she goes and reaches into the Christmas tree's branches and pulls out another present. Oh hey, it's Pokemon Gold. Here y'go, son. :smug:
I spent all day playing that bastard. ALL DAY. I picked Totodile, kept him from evolving a bit with the Everstone before eventually relenting, and I made it to Goldenrod City before having to go to bed. The next several months were full of more Pokemon action, and I bought a copy of Red later on.
Ah, childhood.
GB's Game Boy Favorites:
Pokemon GSC
Pokemon RBY
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Wario Land II
Kirby's Dreamland
Game Boy Camera
Gen II was the shit, man. Yep, that was the shit.
ReplyDeleteI played the Trading Card Game before. On my GBA and on an emulator. Do you know how hard it was to get that Surfing Pikachu card? It was just HARD GEEZUS
Also KDL, yet no KDL2? Nuuuu!
I have yet to play Dreamland 2, actually.
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