We all have a shared interest in Pokémon, and while we may have discovered it at different points throughout its history, I am sure we all have some cherished memories and stories we can share. One that I love to share is when I first got hold of Pokémon Crystal, and why it means so much to me:

Here is an except of what I wrote for Johto Times

Originally I wanted to own a copy of Pokémon Silver, as I was a big fan of Lugia. After being advised by the shop attendant to buy the latest game instead, a copy of Crystal came home with me and took pride and place inside my Game Boy Color, with Blue going safely back into its box. Immediately, I saw the graphical contrast between Blue and Crystal, with night and daytime colour palettes, improved detail, and cool animations that showed me this was a step up from what came previously.

I was fortunate enough to have a local friend who also had Crystal, and we would play together most days. In addition to trading and battling one another, we would exchange a daily Mystery Gift and fight a computer-controlled team of each other’s Pokémon at the Trainer House in Viridian City. Having someone to play with so regularly allowed me to make the most of all the game’s features.

The memory of being sat on the kitchen floor of my brother's house while I played Pokémon Crystal for the first time, seeing the vibrant colours and animations in the game's first moments on the title screen, Obtaining my Cyndaquil, and catching a Hoothoot at night, will always stay with me!

Specifically involving Pokémon, I think Crystal is also tied into some of my best memories as well. I had to wait to get a Pokémon game because I didn't have a Game Boy and when I finally got a GBA I had the chance to buy Crystal. It was really special for me as a kid and it was my first journey through a Pokémon game of my own.

But also I really value the relationships I've been able to make through Pokémon -- and those have led to many great memories. I have gotten to meet several people from my community and got to go to Pokémon events in Japan with @moving (ok, maybe just one, the Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama -- but we went to the Pokémon Center quite a few times together). So that is something I cherish a lot.

Pokemon Crystal was the first time where you could choose to be a boy or a girl for my game play time line. While I don't identify as either boy or girl- at the time it was huge to just have the option to choose. And the story where you were running in to Suicune and bonding with this mythic creature in your journey across the pokemon world. It just felt so magical and epic at the time. It was a bitter sweet game for me at the time as well, since it was the first game where I played it 'alone'. Previously, my brother would get the mirrored copy of a game so we could play together (IE: red blue, we both got yellow, and silver gold)- and that was mostly due to Crystal not having a mirror copy for it. He would later came back to play Sapphire/Ruby with me, which was our ture pokemon-journey end.

Anyhow, just having this mythic dog be my 'gaming buddy' as a child navigating gaming that I had previously played with a sibling-- in a truely alone feeling- made the game impact more on me.

My mom was one of those who wouldn't let us watch Pokemon. I remember my big brother and I would watch the series secretly, and every time we heard she was coming near, we'd change the channel. That's how we watched the movies too, specifically that of Arceus. Eventually, she didn't mind anymore, and now we watch it without hiding it.

3 hours ago, TheMoestHimiko said:

My mom was one of those who wouldn't let us watch Pokemon. I remember my big brother and I would watch the series secretly, and every time we heard she was coming near, we'd change the channel. That's how we watched the movies too, specifically that of Arceus. Eventually, she didn't mind anymore, and now we watch it without hiding it.

I also went through a period of not being able to watch the show! It was "too violet" (edit: VIOLENT!!) because the creatures were fighting each other lol

One of my most cherished memories related to Pokémon is how I met my best friend. I had a Facebook profile under the name Wigglytuff, which was my favorite Pokémon at the time. She added me because she loved Wigglytuff too. I still remember one of the first messages I sent her: “Are you trying to complete the Facebook Pokédex?” 😆

On 8/11/2025 at 4:38 PM, Sound said:

Pokemon Crystal was the first time where you could choose to be a boy or a girl for my game play time line. While I don't identify as either boy or girl- at the time it was huge to just have the option to choose.

Same for me! Like many others, I didn't have the tools to recognize that I was non-binary. Looking back at my gaming experiences, I now understand why I almost always chose to play as a girl in Pokémon games 🌈

My memory is hazy, so the best I can remember now for earlier in life would be vague things like my siblings letting me play on their consoles until I finally had my own gameboy colour complete with yellow, or later when i was again behind after the generation change to GBA, my brother helped me emulate ruby on my PC and also let me train up his pokemon in Sapphire to level 100 by grinding the league rematches lol and maybe my utter hyperfixation with crystal counts (i replayed it so many times over)

my teens were... not the best time, and pokémon was one of the good things I had, but also, similar to what others told, I was a trans boy without the tools to know it, so I couldn't enjoy Gen 4/specifically Diamond and Platinum to the fullest. I did get to visit one official event though, the shaymin distribution because one of the cities it stopped at was where my sister lived at the time. so I got to make a train trip alone to visit for the weekend, we went to the event together and had a fun time but I also had to study for a chemistry test the next week LOL

generation 5 again was when I fell behind for about 2 years, and in hindsight it's probably for the best because when I bought myself copies of Black and Black 2 along with a 3ds, I could finally allow myself to play as a boy again, and things clicked into place from there (ironically when I didn't play as Nate lol I still regret that I didn't start a replay back then, especially with the imminent end of online play). I've been happily playing as the male protagonist ever since (except when choosing deliberately like sometimes in XY replays when I wanted to see Calem as the rival ... PLZA not counting, since the open customisation lets me still appear like the boy albeit with mismatched pronouns) and my inner teen could find comfort with BDSP

so, while I technically don't have a "most cherished pokemon memory", mostly vibes, the games were extremely formative for me on the personal level so it still fits the theme I'd say ^_^;

Edited December 25, 2025Dec 25 by boyfrillish

9 hours ago, boyfrillish said:

so, while I technically don't have a "most cherished pokemon memory", mostly vibes, the games were extremely formative for me on the personal level so it still fits the theme I'd say ^_^;

Thank you so much for sharing your story and memories with us! As a queer person myself, I'm always happy to see when games like Pokémon helped our community on different levels ❤️