20 Years of Pokemon

It's hard to believe that Pokemon has been around for twenty years. I still remember when I got Pokemon Red for my Game Boy way back when, diving into a grand adventure with absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I enjoyed exploring a new world, trying to catch all the Pokemon and battling Team Rocket on my way to Indigo Plateau, but looking back I had no real idea about stats or STAB or any real idea as to using strategy beyond attacking with specific elemental types. I never took advantage of moves with status effects, or buff/debuff effects either, only focusing on direct attack.

Even though I was too young to really understand the nuances of the game, it was simple enough to enjoy anyway. I never felt frustrated by training my Pokemon or going into battle, so long as I knew the basics of type match-ups and built my team accordingly. That's the reason that Pokemon became so popular; anyone could get into it, though there was a lot of complexity to the whole system if you looked.

I'm glad I got back into Pokemon when I did, now that I'm smart enough to understand the stats and abilities of my Pokemon and train them accordingly. I know that attacking isn't always the wisest move, that sometimes you need to hit the opponent with status effect moves or the occasional debuff to weaken them. I know to teach moves to my Pokemon that work with their strengths, or fix their weaknesses, and likewise I have a general idea on the strengths and weaknesses my opponents just by looking at the Pokemon or their type.

Something that amazes me is how Pokemon has gotten more complex over the years without ruining the core experience for basic players. Things like the ability system, natures, the expansion of the stats to separate attack and defense from special attack and special defense, and held items all add to the experience. With Generation 6, we've seen Mega Evolution arise, which allows ONE Pokemon in your team to become even stronger for a battle, as well as the appearance of EXP Share and Super Training to make training easier than ever.

Probably the greatest thing about the series, since Generation 3, is the ability to bring your Pokemon from one game to the next, allowing Trainers like myself to maintain their progress and hold onto all their Pokemon. Because of this system, players don't lose any of their hard work, and they're even able to keep working on catching all the hundreds of different Pokemon in the game. It would be a tough pill for anyone to swallow if they needed to start fresh with every game, but thanks to the transfer system they at least have all their beloved Pokemon with every generation.

This was the reason I started all the way in Sapphire; I wanted to experience every generation, every story, and I wanted to make sure my progress continued throughout. Sometimes it was hard, pushing myself to get through one part of a game or another, especially when things got tough. SoulSilver comes to mind, because of just how long it was and how difficult I found the first half of the game. I also disliked the month-long grind I needed to get my team strong enough to finally defeat the Elite Four in Pokemon Black, but it was all worth it.

I'm happy that Nintendo has spent every month this year releasing a Mythical Pokemon to celebrate. I was worried that I would never get any of them because of my late start on the series. Come December I'll have every single Mythical Pokemon ever released, and between that and my previous run through Alpha Sapphire I'll have every Legendary and Mythical Pokemon ever released.

I thought I was going to spend a while trying to train all the Pokemon I caught through these years and generations, but with Pokemon Sun and Moon coming out, I've decided I'll hold off until then. I've enjoyed my time with Pokemon Y, but I'm just about finished with it. It's going to be nice, having so many low-level Pokemon to rely on when I go to the new game, allowing me to fill roles I might have difficulty with otherwise.

I can't wait to see what happens with Pokemon in the years to come, and now I'll be there every step of the way with hundreds of Pokemon ready to battle at my side. Who knows, maybe someday I'll get really into the IV and EV system, especially with Super Training being available, but for now I'm happy to just battle and see how my Pokemon grow.

Thanks for keeping up with my blog, and let's see where it goes from here!