Game Log

1st Generation (1998-2000)

Blue

I got into Pokemon at the age of 10, in 1999. I can't remember whether it started with the cards (which were a hot commodity on our elementary school campus, to the point of getting banned), or the anime (which I'd wake up early to watch on Kids WB), but I was hooked from the word go. That said, the games came a little later for me, once I was gifted a gameboy by an uncle. It was my first handheld console game, and I fell in love right away. I have a tangible memory of reading the instruction booklet and accompanying Prima Strategy Guide often, taking in all of Ken Sugimori's art and trying to memorize everything I could.

My first favorite and original "partner Pokemon" was Ninetales. I named mine Sunset, and used to imagine her running next to the car when I was driving on the freeway, jumping on cars in time to whatever music was on the radio. I also really loved Seel and Dewgong, but never ended up training one due to Blastoise being my first starter. I was not particularly "good" at Pokemon battles (something that continues to be true, lol), but I loved collecting and exploring the game as much as possible. This did include me looking up how to catch Missingno online and actually doing so- I don't remember it bricking my game, but I also have pretty spotty memories of that time, given that it was roughly 25 years ago!

My Team

I forget the original names of a lot of these Pokemon, but I remember catching them all. I spent extra time at Mt. Moon until I found Clefairy. Venomoth was a favorite of mine entirely because the first holographic Pokemon card I ever pulled was a Japanese Venomoth card from the Jungle set (which I still have!). I also bonded with Nidoking and the Nido line as a whole during this time- "my" Nidoking is a big gentle soft man, who I named Ferdinand (after Ferdinand the Bull.)

Other Games

Like a lot of people my age, Pokemon Snap rewired my brain. I spent hours laying on the floor of my room, replaying every Snap stage and trying to get good shots of every Pokemon. If I close my eyes, I can still feel faint traces of fury as I remember trying to break Mew's bubble in the final level. I also vaguely remember going to Blockbuster Video to print out the photos I took a couple times- yes, I really did it!- but sadly, I don't have those anymore. I wish I'd saved them.

Stadium was a favorite at parties with friends, especially the mini games (honestly, I loved them all so much... but Lickitung's Sushi-go-round was my favorite). I also used to make my very patient parents play Pokemon battles out with me, despite them not really knowing anything about type matchups. I remember being blown away seeing Pokemon in 3D, and dreaming of an era where "whole games would look like that"... if only little me knew what was to come, lmfao

2nd Generation (2000-2003)

Silver

In the year 2000, I thought I might be winding down a little on Pokemania. While I still liked the games and cards, I was pretty underwhelmed with the Orange Islands arc of the anime (Brock leaving bummed me out, and after the drama of the Indigo League, the Orange League just didn't hit the same, ha ha). Then, Christmas 1999, one of my uncles brought me a kingly gift: the First Promo Gold & Silver Premium File, containing a set of nine cards of the Johto Starters (I still have the cards, but b o y do I wish I had kept the whole file lmfao, RIP...I was 11, though, so I don't hold it against myself). I remember being giddy with excitement at the thought of a whole new generation of Pokemon, and scoured the internet for all info I could find on Gold & Silver. When the game finally came out, I played it basically nonstop.. though this was also the era of my life where I was shifting from 6th grade into middle school, so I think my focus was a lot more on the jarring experience of becoming a preteen.

My Team

To be totally honest, my memories of this game are a little more sparse. I also remember playing Crystal, too, but I think I only rented it (due to it being so similar to Silver). I think in particular, I chose to train Donphan here because of the opening to Pokemon the Movie 2000 having a Donphan in it? But I'm not totally sure.

Other Games

Funnily enough, I have almost no memory of this game, other than that I definitely had it and played it? I think the cartridge was gold, too? It was nowhere near as iconic as the first one.

3rd Generation (2003-2007)

Sapphire

3rd Gen is special to me because it's my younger brother's first gen! He is 11 years younger than me, and got into Pokemon because I was into it. We used to play the games together, draw Pokemon together, and collect and trade the cards. It was really fun to be the "cool older sister" and show him the ropes, but he eventually got much better than me at battling (he is a math man, which I am not, ha ha). We still text about Pokemon news to this day, even though we're both adults now.

Hoenn is a region I'd like to revisit (which is gonna be a theme for the next few gens); I remember really liking them at the time, but I've honestly forgotten a lot about them and would love to replay them soon! My main memory is liking Mt. Pyre and collecting ashes... not sure why that's the dominant memory, but my brain is how it is, lmao. I remember the region itself having a lot of cool towns and routes, too.

My Team

This is the first game I ever replaced a Starter with a different Pokemon in! I just loved Wailmer/Wailord so much from the start that I ended up replacing Swampert with him well before I got to the Elite Four. Sorry Swampert, you're still a good dude!!

LeafGreen

This was also a rad time because we got our first Remakes in addition to mainline games. Enough time had passed since Blue that FireRed and LeafGreen getting released felt properly nostalgic to me (plus, again, playing it with my brother was so cool). I was in high school at the time, and as such, it really felt like an Age had passed since I started playing the games. I can find very little documentation of my first playthrough of this one, but I remember wanting to try some different Pokemon from my Blue team, as well as actually trying to breed/hatch Pokemon for the first time.

My Team

This was the time where my "favorite Kanto Starter" shifted from Squirtle to Bulbasaur; I had properly entered my Square Animals era by now and was able to fully appreciate Venusaur's Good Grumpy Shape. I think I'll always train a Raichu in kanto, though... something about finding a Pikachu in Viridian forest just feels Right to me. I do remember it felt really weird to not train a Ninetales, too, but I also really like Arcanine as well. All good dogs welcome.

Other Games

I spent a loooot of time playing the Gamecube, but I honestly remember shockingly little about either of these GC games, ha ha. I remember finding Gale of Darkness's gameplay to be kind of lackluster, as someone whose whole thing was enjoying the exploration/collection aspect of Pokemon, as opposed to battling. It was pretty cool tha they branched out with their game objectives a little- I think rescuing Pokemon from an evil team IS a cool concept, just not one that gripped me. As for Colusseum? Zero memory, RIP. I may not have gotten very far with it, tbh.

On the other hand, I was SUPER into both Mystery Dungeon and Ranger. Mystery Dungeon is an amazing series. I'm pretty sure I was a Totodile in Blue, and chose Bulbasaur as my companion. I really love the art style for that series in particular! And Ranger surprised me- I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, but I couldn't put it down. Something about seeing wild Pokemon roaming was so appealing to me (which may be why I enjoy the modern mainline games despite their shortcomings).

4th Generation (2007-2011)

Pearl & Platinum

4th Gen was a fun one for me, even though I'm not super super into Sinnoh as a region. This was the first gen where I got into looking up leaks before the game's release. I don't mind being spoiled for upcoming Pokemon, personally, because I like to plan which Pokemon I'll be training/hunting for first and getting hyped for that.

As far as the actual games go, again, the first playthroughs were kind of a blur. This was also the first generation where I decided I was going to complete my Living Dex- one of every kind of Pokemon- and it was extremely fun going back through my older games to catch the ones I was missing. I have a vivid memory of collecting the Pokemon I was missing while laying on the floor in the lighting booth of my then partner's college Theater (they were a tech theather major, and I would sometimes come with them to campus to hang out). Several of the Pokemon in my current Living Dex are from my Pearl, Platinum, Sapphire, SoulSilver and LeafGreen games because I was able to transfer them during these years!

My Team

Because most of my memory comes down to the collecting aspect, my actual memories of playing these games is really, really spotty; I don't remember my full individual teams for both games, so these are some of the Pokemon I solidly remember training. The main thing I remember about DPP was the Underground, and especially the mining minigame, which I loved.

SoulSilver

I loooove this gameeeee! This, to me, is peak Pokemon. As with most people, the aspect of your Pokemon following you was a huge draw, but I also just think the style of it is so nice- it has a nostalgic feel, due to being Johto, but also feels fresh and crisp. I honestly kind of miss Pokemon games being in this style, and I feel like I'm not alone there.

It was also really fun to return to old regions with a much wider array of Pokemon (though being in Johto meant that I couldn't help myself when it came to catching some of my old favorites, too.)

My Team

I wanted to try a different starter for SS, despite loving Feraligatr so much. Having Wailmer as a favorite and wanting to use him from the start does negate the choosing of water type starters, gotta say.

Other Games

More spinoffs! I remember more of these than their predecessors- the plot of Explorers of Darkness is soooo good. I similarly kind of wish Ranger would get re-released, but I also understand why it's hard to do that, given that a huge part of the gameplay is using the 3DS Stylus... I don't know how you'd replicate that on the Switch? But Ranger's pixel art is gorgeous and I still look up the sprites for it sometimes.

Also: THE POKEWALKER. Man I loved this thing. When I lived in Massachusetts, I was working full time at a local cafe/coffee spot while my ex was in college, and we lived together off campus. Lemme tell you: being on my feet for full shifts was EXCELLENT for my PokeWalker, ha ha. For those who don't know, the PokeWalker was essentially a little pedometer that would reward you for taking certain numbers of steps- you could transfer one of your HGSS Pokemon into it and they would gain XP while you walked. You could also catch certain Pokemon and find items using it, which I made a lot of use of as I was working on my Living Dex. I loved it so much; crossing my fingers that they somehow bring it back (PokeGo Plus has nothing on it, imo)

5th Generation (2011-2013)

White

The lead up to and release of Black and White was definitely one of the most fun for me. We followed the CoroCoro leaks closely, and I cosplayed an Oshawott gijinka (ex was Tepig, and another friend was Snivy) before the game even came out, iirc. I also ended up cosplaying Elesa later on- I think the designs in this game are some of the best in the series. I also remember being blown away by the look of it compared to the previous games, and really loving the feel of traveling in the world.

My Team

My team really surprised me in this one! I definitely wasn't expecting to fall for some of the Pokemon I ended up using, but seeing them in the world just charmed me. Vanilluxe is still one of my favorite ice types, due to the cute animations it has in this game.

Other Games

Oh, the Dream World. Another bygone gimmick feature that I was deeply into, as you might expect. It was an extension of Black and White, where you could use a Pokemon.com account to upload Pokemon from your games into a little web game with a dreamy, soft art style (by sending them "to sleep"). You could customize your house/room, play games, garden, and even venture to other biomes to find new Pokemon, which could in turn get sent back to your games. Such a cool idea, and I miss it. ;u;

6th Generation (2013-2016)

X

Admittedly, my first time playing X was just ahead of a pretty tough, huge life shift, so my memories of it are very, very spotty, but I still really love it. I think the feel of it is just wonderful (despite it maybe being a little too easy, even for me). As an Explorer, I really think this game delivers on the environments and energy. Pokemon Amie is also, frankly, revolutionary, and something we should have had a long time ago. I think the plot was pretty incredible, too- I haven't talked much about the plots of Pokemon games thus far, because honestly I didn't really focus on them much when playing as a younger person? But I really enjoyed this one.

My Team

I tried so hard to train Slurpuff, but didn't have the patience, so he is an honorary team member... a mascot, if you will! I also chose Chesnaught despite really liking Fennekin- I'd like to properly train Delphox someday!

Other Games

Rumble World blindsided me- even though it was on the 3DS, I think this was an early indication that I was ripe to enjoy certain types of Mobile Games, ha ha. It was a really soothing game? I fell off eventually due to the repetitive gameplay, but I have fond memories of playing it so I could see what every Pokemon looked like in tiny little jelly bean form. Just look at these little dudes....

A few years later, I was fully part of the worldwide Pokemon Go craze. Honestly? It was magical, ha ha. Seriously one of the coolest things I've experienced in my life. I was living in the Bay Area at the time, and I remember going out into the neighborhood I lived in and meeting so many of my neighbors for the first time, exploring new parts of town, and talking to almost everyone I knew about Pokemon. I remember a group of dudes rolling up on a Gym we were fighting in a pickup truck, telling us "we heard there were Gyarados and Lapras down at the reservoir, you guys should go check it out!", and thinking that this was probably as close to Pokemon Being Real as I was ever gonna get. It was so fun, man.

I've played PokeGo off and on in the years since. I used to play a lot when I worked in the Financial District of San Francisco, fighting in raids on my lunch breaks and occasionally going to meetups. Recently, I've gotten back into it casually, to collect Vivillon Patterns, and get myself out of the house. Its a really little game to return to from time to time!

I also continued my Living Dex progress by moving everything into Pokemon Bank! It was very satisfying to finally see all my little guys in one place.

7th Generation (2016-2019)

Sun

I have a mixed relationship with Gen 7. I really, *really* love the Pokemon and Characters from this generation, and I wanted to love the games, but I really struggled to get through Sun :C I found the plot to be way too slow and hand-holdy for a Pokemon Game, and while the Islands are super cool as a setting, their fragmentation made exploring feel really slow. Since my favorite aspect of Pokemon is wandering around and catching stuff, having to do things in a really linear way broke the illusion for me pretty hard. I also thought that, after Mega Evolution, Z Moves (while cute conceptially) were pretty weak, ha ha. Maybe I'll try to go back someday and see if my feelings on it have changed at all? But honestly I'm happy just to enjoy the Pokemon we got out of it and leave it at that.

My Team

These little dudes are SO CUTE... Muk was a complete dark horse for me, but as soon as I caught her as a Grimer, I immediately knew she was an endgame team member for me. Sometimes you Just Know, y'know?

Photos

Let's Go! Pikachu

I admit, I didn't have high expectations when it came to Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. I didn't have any reason to think they wouldn't be good, per se, but I was a little burnt out on Kanto remakes, and never played Yellow, so it wasn't something I was super excited for. That being said, I was so pleasantly surprised? It might honestly be the most relaxing Pokemon game ever made. I was really shocked at how much I ended up enjoying (and almost preferring) the capture mechanics in these games (which is, I suppose, foreshadowed my love of Legends Arceus). I found the Partner Pokemon Being Super Overpowered to be a littttle grating at times, but y'know... Pikachu's really cute, so it's fine, ha ha.

My Team

I found myself returning to some of my old staples in this game. It just felt cozy! My partner Pika's was named Rinahamu, after a Japanese idol in one of my favorite groups. Also gotta say... being able to customize and add accessories? Truly an inspired choice, ha ha.

Other Games

I deeply wish I could stay into Masters EX. I think the premise is really cool, but the gameplay just doesn't stick, so I re-download it every couple years to roll for the cute trainers, then immediately drop it again. I would love some kind of spin-off expansion of this concept, though, tbh? Specifically in terms of getting to talk to and bond with all the NPCs.

Magikarp Jump was a work of art and I miss it. o7

8th Generation (2019-2022)

Shield

Y'all, I really love Sword and Shield. I think it's such a fun game... it was a great mix of quality of life improvements and classic Pokemon adventure flavor! The gym leaders are great, the story is really cute, and the new Pokemon are awesome... I love so many of the towns... I dunno, it just really hits for me. I also think the Wild Area is a great comprimise.

My Team

I love this team. So many of these guys ended up being at the top of my favorite Pokemon of all time list, even today. I think the biggest surprise was Coalossal- neither of its previous forms really grabbed me, but I needed a fire type BADLY at a certain point and just kind of bonded with her, as one does! Gotta say, too, watching my entire team slowly lumber toward the ball in the Camping sequences, only to get overtaken by my super fast Boltund every time, was extremely endearing, ha ha.

Photos

Legends: Arceus

Okay, so I know it's probably not for everyone, and that's totally understandable, but... Legends rules, ha ha. I had so much fun playing this game! The loop of going out, crafting, hunting for Pokemon, then returning to and improving the base town is exactly the kind of thing that hooks me in a game. I wish the environments looked a little better, if I am totally honest, but the satisfying catching mechanics more than made up for that for me. It was also really fun to explore a different era in Pokemon for the first time? The little historical touches were great, too... the idea that people and Pokemon were not always friends, and that it took time for those bonds to develop, is a cool premise I enjoyed seeing in a game.

My Team

I trained a lot of Pokemon in this game, and had a lot of fun swapping in and out when I caught new cool guys! Admittedly another reason I love this game is how easy shiny hunting is- I ended up catching several (when I previously had very, very few), and there is something so delightful about seeing them all lined up together ;u;

Photos

Other Games

Cafe Mix (Re:Mix) is another game I tend to download and delete at random times. The art is SO cute, and it's a fun enough game, I just fall off it quickly due to the gameplay not being what my brain is looking for at the time. I wish Pokemon would do some kind of full spin off in this art style, though...

Pokemon Home is the current... home... of my Living Dex! I've been continuing it since college, and as of 2024 I am only missing two Pokemon (Iron Boulder and Iron Crown) out of 1025... if little 10 year old me only knew, I think she'd be psyched out of her mind, ha ha.

9th Generation (2022+)

Scarlet

When Scarlet and Violet came out, the reviews were pretty rocky. The games were super buggy, graphically low-quality compared to previous games in the series, and overall, really different from previous Pokemon titles. They're also the first truly open world Pokemon games, which is something people have been asking for forever (despite.. maybe not understanding how hard that would be to balance and execute? But that's just my opinion). As a result of this stuff, people are really divided on this game, and if they dislike it, it seems like they bypass "not caring for it" and go straight to vitriolic anger. Since I just spent many words explaining my love for the series, trust me when I say that I get that it sucks to be disappointed by a game? But also... to me, personally, it really isn't a huge deal if a game doesn't live up to expectations, even if it's kind of a bummer. There is this attitude with games as an industry that we as consumers are Owed A Good Product, and if we don't get it, we are allowed to act petulent and mean, and demand that from everyone else... and that's not something I care for much, ha ha. All this to say: I get that people didn't dig this one, and I respect that, but I don't really share the outrage over it that some folks feel.

Honestly? I enjoyed Scarlet! There are pros and cons to it. For me, the biggest pro overall was the characters. I *love* the NPCs in this game. They're honestly some of my favorite in the entire Pokemon series, and that's not hyperbole-I've thought about it a good amount. I think they really delivered on making the plot fun to follow (which is honestly something I was dreading about this game, so I was really happy!). I also think a lot of the concepts and ideas in this game were cool- I love the idea of a school (something super new to the series), and ofc hunting for free roaming pokemon in the overworld is really fun, too. The new Pokemon have some hits and misses, but the hits SUPER hit for me. This includes your partner Koraidon/Miraidon- I was genuinely emotional over his growth over the course of the game, to the point that I actually cried during one of his final story battles, which surprised me, ha ha. Terastilizing doesn't look quite as cool as Mega Evolution or Gigantimaxing, but I still think it's a cool mechanic and actually makes raids pretty tricky. I think, given the tall order of trying to please a lot of different audiences, they did a pretty damn good job attempting to balance everything, gameplay-wise.

Cons-wise, the letdowns are pretty clear. The sandwich mini game is... super weird and kind of a letdown after Camping, ha ha. The environments do look pretty chunky and unfinished, and the landscapes often feel pretty empty and imbalanced (too many useless items, not enough landmarks, weird sparse cities over-populated with food stands and not much else, etc.). It is hard to not compare it to other stylized open world games like Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom, and even Genshin Impact, and wish for a more polished experience; it really feels like they focused so much on the Pokemon that they let the world around them kind of fall by the wayside, and I think that's a real shame. I also wish we could have fully customized our clothes beyond just accessorizing uniforms, too, but that's a little more nitpicky to me. I am glad they finally ditched gendered terms for good, at least.

All in all? I think it's a fun game, despite its flaws, and I'd probably put it in the middle of my series ranking for me. It does feel like a step backward in some ways after Shield, I'd have loved for it to be more polished, sure, but I had a great time playing anyway, and frankly I just don't have it in me to be super angry about it, ha ha.

My Team

I've made it pretty clear that I'm not super into battling. That said, I ended up properly training some Pokemon up to level 100 for raids in this game, and I feel pretty proud of that! My in-game team shifted a little bit in post-game and DLC, too, which is maybe the first time I've ever trained new Pokemon after finishing the main plot. Definitely a fun change.

Photos

Other Games

Sleep is a very cute game, and I enjoy playing it when I remember to use it! I had to release the idea of using it daily, or relying on it as an actual sleep tracker early on, since it is definitely not good at being one, lmfao. But again, as a pokemon collector who loves the loop of raising little monsters, it's been surprisingly solid and I have been more aware of my sleep habits since I started playing.