Marriland

I journey of pokemon begins when I was 5.My cousin bring me gameboy color pikachu edition.I was very excited beacuse in that time I watched pokemon and in my room on the wall was the biiiig picture of Pikachu.I played pokemon for 24 hours a day,but the funny story was I didn"t know the    meaning of the game I just play with Pikachu and fight trainers.3 years after when I finally caught a meaning of game my little brother broke my gameboy color and I cried for 5 hours.I was very connected with that gameboy beacuse it was my first gameboy and it was a PIKACHU EDITION !

My favorite moment in Pokemon was so funny. I was battling someone and I sent out a lv.95 zoroark and I had a newly hatched snivy in the back of my party. As you know, both of them know how to learn aerial ace and my zoroark knew it. I'm pretty sure he thought it was a real snivy because aerial ace was the first move I used. Then he attacked me with mach punch and knocked me out so I was mad then but now I'm can have a real laugh over it.

My fondest memory of Pokemon is actually very recent! I've been playing since I was a little kid. In fact, when Red and Blue first came out, I hopped on my bike and took a trip to the mall (which was much further away than I'd ever biked before) to pick up a copy! I kept the game hidden from my parents because I knew they would be upset that I had traveled so far away from home on my bicycle, but eventually they found out anyway and were actually incredibly impressed that I was brave enough to go alone. Later that evening, I tried to bike inside my house but before I could start, a little voice inside my head yelled at me, "JULIEN! There's a time and place for everything, but not now!"

So a few months ago, I was seeing this girl Rachel. She was super cool and the best part of her was that she was an avid Pokemaniac! I had just moved to New York City and for one of our dates, we decided to explore and ride the subways all over the place. We got involved in a heated Pokemon battle on the train with our freshly purchased copies of Black and White 2 -- she had just KO'd my Magby and all I had left was a Riolu against her Pignite. I knew I was against the ropes -- Fire is 2x effective against Steel but there was an ace up my sleeve! I knew that my Riolu had a base speed that was slightly higher than Pignite's, so when I swapped him in I'd get to attack first and hopefully KO her. So I sent out Riolu and grinned smugly at her while selecting Force Palm. She returned my smile with even more smugness, to which I replied, "What are you laughing about? You're about to lose!" She only smiled wider and said, "I'm not worried at all!" We selected our moves and I looked back down at my DS to see my Riolu staring into the face of oblivion as a fat pig on fire smashed into him. It's Super Effective!

Right at this time, I looked up and realized that our train had pulled up to our stop and had been sitting there for a good few moments. "Oh! OH NO! This is our stop! We gotta get off!" I cried. Rachel sprang up from her seat and scurried out the door, clutching her jacket and her DS. I was only steps behind her, but just as she stepped onto the platform, the trains doors slammed shut. She whirled around to see me trapped behind a little oval window, staring back out at her in disbelief. I tried to open the doors but they remained firmly shut. I looked down in panic and realized something. My Riolu WAS STILL ALIVE! He only had 1HP! I lifted my 3DS up to the window and grinned. 

"Hey!" I shouted. "Look! I've still got 1HP! Ha! You're toast."
"No, I'm not." she replied. "Pignite got a speed boost from using Flame Charge so I get to go first this turn."

As the train began leaving the station, Rachel started walking alongside to ensure that our DS's did not lose their connection. There was nothing I could but watch in horror as her Pignite KO'd my Riolu. Dang! I lost!!!

And with that, my train left the station and whisked me away into the darkness. That was the last time I ever saw Rachel. 


...



Just kidding! I got off at the next stop and swung back around and we both cracked up over what had just transpired. :D

Hello marriland,

    I have been a big fan of yours since the the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.  I never knew how to join your site until now!My name is Gordon Xiong. I am 18 years old. I am also in a wheelchair. I have been playing the Pokemon series since the begining. Pokemon has affected me because it is a friendly game that provides comfort when I am sad. Pokemon gave me the strength to get passed my disabilty. It was sort of like a moral support. Although Pokemon is just a video game, I believe in my heart that they are real when I am playing. Pokemon has taught me that no matter who you are if you are hardworking and determined YOU can achieve anything! It reminds me of Ash... Pokemon is the only game that I stick with. Ironically, I still get made fun of by my siblings by playing Pokemon. It is hard to cope with, but Pokemon will always be by my side no matter what. My memorable memory of the begining of Pokemon actually started in the show where Pikachu gets hurt and Ash desperately races towards a pokemon center to try to save it. Also Pikachu and Marrill rock!!

Pokemon is one of those things that will stay dear to my heart. When I was 7 years old, it helped me to learn English; I did not know what a lot of the words meant as first (mainly because I didn't care for anything but the cute Bulbasaur I was training), but I have come to realize that reading the words as I played the game has helped me to form proper grammatical statements on top of having richer vocabulary. My stepfather was criticized for not buying me "appropriate" learning games like Reader Rabbit or Math Blaster, but I remember him telling them, "Face it, the kid will learn a lot more playing a game he enjoys. I don't see what's so great about a rabbit teaching words with carrots, and the boy is Asian, math will come naturally." Little did I know he made a stereotypical reference about me at such a young age... I started 1st grade 5 months late, but by the end of the school year, I knew enough English to pass the test required to go into the 2nd grade. If you tell me I can attribute the success to school, I can tell you, "1st grade teachers don't teach kids to use cute monsters to beat the daylights out of other monsters (something fun) by using proper English skills to read, follow instructions and form logical associations between entities (learning stuff). All of this done in a simple game of Pokemon."

We all know the story of Pokemon. That journey of a ten year-old boy or girl battling with their Pokemon companions to, hopefully, gain all eight gym badges and defeat the Pokemon League. I was lucky to have turned ten in 2007, for that was the year the 4th generation of Pokemon began.

Pokemon Diamond... I still have fond memories to this day of how amazing that game was. Ever since I first set eyes on my Piplup, the first ever Pokemon I ever had, I knew I was going to do something incredible in this game. I still have 'POP' the level 71 Empoleon in my PC box in Platinum laying dormant.

And where do I get started on Platinum? It still remains my most favorite RPG ever created, despite competition from games like Borderlands and World of Warcraft, And I still play it frequently. Not only that, but Platinum holds my most favorite Pokemon that has ever existed... Gallade. Gallade is a monstrosity of a Pokemon. It's typing is great, it's move pool is amazing, and it's design is incredible. I mean, you have to agree, only a Pokemon like Gallade could pull off super awesome sword arms.

And the 5th generation brought an even bigger roster of Pokemon to the table. Gigalith, Zoroark, Haxorus, Bisharp... Need I name more? I especially love my Pokemon White 2 cartridge. My dream team; Samurott, Lucario, Magnezone, Flygon, Braviary and Weavile, have served me well for the 60 hours I spent working my way to that final battle with Iris, the Pokemon champion. Generation 5 was utterly spectacular.

If your the sort of 'too long, didn't read' person (Reddit, I'm looking at you!) then let me tell you in short: You haven't lived if you haven't played Pokemon.

Arty6060

Alright, so my story.

I was around 9 and had yet to play any sort of pokemon game. I had watched a few episodes on television but never really got into playing it on a gameboy. Anyways, it was around my birthday when my cousins came to my house. They live in New York so it is quite a ways away form where I live. My eldest cousin, Matt, was and still is my role model. He came to my house bearing a gift. He bought me a gameboy and with it Red and Blue. He taught me how to play. I started out with a Squirtle and trained him like crazy. Blue with Squirtle then led to Red with Charmander. That led to Gold, Silver and then finally crystal. I had started really getting into pokemon.

The year Ruby and Sapphire came out was a rough one. I was young and should not have experienced what I did. My grandmother died, and with that my Father had started to drink. He didn't just drink in little amounts, he would be gone for days, weeks even. My mother was trying to hold our family together as best she could but was barely hanging on. I was the lowest I had ever been, but again my cousin Matt came through. He gave me is gameboy advance. For christmas that year I had asked for one thing, Pokemon Ruby. I ended up getting it, but my dad had missed that christmas. He then missed my birthday. The one thing that held me together was Pokemon. Everyday of my young life I couldn't count on my father, but I could count on Pokemon. I could rely on Pokemon being there for my to play. I could jump into the world of pokemon and be a new person, who had nothing to worry about. The only thing I had to do was keep my pokemon strong. If they were strong I was strong. That may be what Pokemon has taught me. If you are mentally strong, others around you will be to. My mother was not strong, my Father was not strong, but I was. I learned that the more I focused on making my pokemon tougher, I would be to. I could overcome all challengers. I could beat eveyr gym leader, and maybe beat the elite four. In the real world I could still overcome all challenges no matter how hard it was. I could make my mom strong enough to help my father, to make herself strong again. I could beat the evil champion that was and still is alchoholism. Alchohol is a facotr everyday of my life. There isn't a day where I don't worry, even if it is only for a few mintues, about whether or not my father has fallen off the path, or if he will be home safely. There isn't a dat where I hope my younger brother and younger sister don't have to face the evil that is my fathers diesese. From that christmas where I got Ruby, pokemon has been there to keep me sane. Pokemon has taken the worries in my real life and made them seem smaller. I could be anyone I wanted in pokemon. I have made my family stronger. They are the pokemon and I am the trainer. When I am strong, so are they. As of right now, my father is one year sober, tomorrow. I still wory that he will drink but he takes medicine that helps him. My mother is much stronger. I am much stronger, and I can only thank pokemon for that. Well, I guess I can thank Matt too for bringing it into my life. I never thought a video game could make someone stronger, but then I realized that it isn't a video game to me anymore. It is a lifesaver and a life changer. 

Ahh, lots of typing, but very much worth it. I am playing Pokemon Ruby right now, and I am dedicating this game to the above story.

Thanks for reading,

Bubba7812

Pokemon was a lifesaver for me. When I was about 6 or 7 Pokemon LeafGreen and FireRed came out. It did not interest me much at the time. I was in Kindergarten and had absolutely no friends, so life pretty much sucked for me at that moment. Then the summer after Kindergarten, my cousin walked into my life. It was the first I remember seeing him. I remember my GBA and that moment he walked in with LeafGreen. The GBA was a bit glitchy, since my family never has much money for entertainment, as most of it is spent on necessities. I remember the excitement of first putting in that game. There I found my favorite Pokemon ever (Enter Charmander) and immediately beat the game within the year. Then the Nintendo DS was here. That Christmas I begged and begged for it. And I finally got it in the form of the rare PokePark DS (Although I did not know it was of any value at the time) And my second game, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team. When Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out, I begged again. However I did not get them until the next Christmas. At this point I was in Second or Third grade, and still had no friends. I found a friend in the form of Phillip Lollar. At that time, I was getting some rare Pokemon from his FireRed into my Pearl. We never really communicated much that night, and it was not until 4th Grade that we actually started talking and becoming friends.

When I was in 5th grade, Pokemon Black and White came out. I had money from my birthday and I bought Pokemon Black. By this point I had 6 games. (As I had persuaded my mom to buy Pokemon Platinum for me.) And a silver Nintendo DS Lite. Some time after that I lost Pokemon LeafGreen, Black, and Platinum. (However I did find Platinum.) I had worked FOREVER on those games and I cried all that week. To this day I have not found either game.

I did watch the anime a bit but not much. I was into the games more.

I got my laptop last year and I found Marriland. So here I am.

Contest Entry:

Hey Marilland!

I am currently 15 years old, in Grade 10 in High School, and amazingly enough, Pokemon has greatly affected me by shaping me as a person, and getting me through rough times. Without Pokemon, life would be much more boring and I would not be the same person I am today.

I started playing Pokemon when I was 6 years old, in 2004. I remember this because it was the year after Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire came out. At the time, I didn't know what Pokemon was, but I saw some of my friends talking about this video game that they loved. We talked, and as the kid I was, I asked for the Pokemon Ruby for my birthday. Little did I know that I also needed an actual Game Boy, so I also got the new Game Boy Advanced SP! I was ecstatic and I couldn't wait to play it.

The game was amazing, a work of art, a masterpiece. I played at least 100-200+ hours on the game, and I have done everything you could do in the game, but I was missing a couple Pokemon in my Pokedex. 

I wanted more. It was like a drug, I was hooked on the Pokemon craze. I later got Pokemon Sapphire, and got another 100-200+ hours on the game. By then, a new Pokemon came out, and I got it instantly. It was Pokemon Fire Red. I heard of the games Red, Blue and Yellow, but I could not find any place that was selling them. With Fire Red, I could finally play through the Kanto region. Another 300 hours later, Leaf Green was bought. This time, I only played it for like 50-120 hours because it was too similar to Fire Red, and I was bored of Pokemon.

Nintendo was smart. They probably knew that I loved Ruby and Sapphire, so they released Pokemon Emerald. What. An. Amazing. Game. I played that for 300+ hours FOR SURE. I just loved it. Reminded me of the beginner days of Ruby and Sapphire.

2 years pass, and Pokemon was just a childhood thing. No more of this stupid game...

YA RIGHT!

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. It was like a futuristic game to me. Had 3D models and graphics and everything. Too bad it was for the newest Nintendo DS (Lite). I knew I would have a good time. So for my birthday, I get the the NDS and the game Pokemon Pearl. Beat the game and did everything, in under 200 hours. Even if it was a good game, not my favorite one.

This game is when I found your YouTube channel and your amazing website. Start using it for everything. Best time ever.

Again, 2 years pass, Pokemon is gone from my memory again, even though I would sometimes play my other Pokemon games as well. Platinum comes out. I buy it. I play it, I love it a lot more than Pearl and done. There goes another 200+ hours...

I get the new DSi, get Heart Gold. Play it. You probably know the story by now. I won't explain the same thing 100 times. 

I later get the DSi XL. Awesome system. Pass up on the 3DS since I do not need it anymore.

We are now to the present time. I wake up one day, see your channel with Black and White Walkthroughs. I get that strange sensation. I felt that feeling before. I'm looking for my DSi XL everywhere and I find it, but not the charger. NOOOOO! I do not know how else to play the game. I find a good emulator, and start playing. Later, Black and White 2 comes out. Mid-way through my Black play through, I stop, and just start playing White 2. I am at the 5th Gym Leader right now. The ground one. Having problems due to that Excadrill killing my whole team. I'll beat him somehow. :)

Not only did I learn to READ BETTER with Pokemon, expanding my vocabulary, but whenever my father would yell at me, ground me, or whatever random stuff would happen to me, I had Pokemon brighten up my day.

I know this post was long. I understand if you do not read it, but I never talked to anyone about this, and I needed someone to talk to, just to vent my feelings and explain my childhood in 5 minutes. Thanks for reading and congratulations for getting this far!

Alex J.

My entry

When I was in grade 5, platinum was just released and me and my friend were always talking about it on the bus. One day he just started sitting by himself. I wondered what was up so I asked him. He said "Some grade 6 kids are harassing me about the fact that I play pokemon". That got me really mad. You are allowed to play any game you want. It was bothering me that some people were bullying my friend and I hadn't done anything about it. The next day i went up to them and said "leave my friend alone! We have the right to play any game we feel like and you can just shut up about the fact that we play it. Many adults play pokemon too! How would you like it if I said Cod is stupid and for immature little 5 year olds". After that day, I felt really good about myself. I stood up for my friend & the game I loved. My actions were rewarded because I found a shiny Tyrogue while I was using the pokeradar. I accidentally set it to "Y" and I hit it because I thought my bike was on "Y" and the grass rustled. I ran into the grass because "Why not, right!". The pokemon showed up and it was a SHINY TYROGUE!!! My first shiny ever. The Arceus god saw what I did. Even now I still cherish him even as a hitmonchan because it reminds me of my friend as he moved away the following year. 

Pokemon has affected my life in many ways, most notably in the past four years through Pokemon and another hobby. It all started in 2008, when I broke my leg- this got me started on the great and obscure hobby of papercraft. For those who don't know, papercraft is making three-dimensional models out of paper from printed templates. But onto the important part.. After a while, I ended up entering a papercraft contest centered specifically around Pokemon. Several people entered, but I ended up winning.

After that a few of the people that felt a team could be made from a few of the contestants got together (including myself) and started a website around Pokemon and papercraft (shameless self plug here- http://www.pokemonpapercraft.net ). We managed quite well for quite some time, building friendships amongst ourselves (even across continents- United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, to name a few countries some of us are from) and working together as a team to bring free papercraft to the masses. This went on great and we got along great for the first year, but just before we were about to celebrate a year as a group.... One of our team members passed away. Her online tag was Paperbuff, and she has been and will continue to be missed greatly. Needless to say this shook up the team quite a bit. Slight tensions that existed between a couple of us (myself included) just kind of snapped, and the brilliant team dynamic we once had was broken down to a shadow of what it once was. The original members still get along well enough, but we've added several new people to maintain the pace we used to have when working together at our peak. It's been four years now, and while we're not making the once a week models we once were, we're still managing to get some new models out every so often (including yesterday, actually).

The friendliness and compassion we started with is still there as well, and we're even exchanging cards for the holidays. It's been a long and rough road overall, and while there are some things I would have changed, the small group of friends getting together to make something much greater than themselves will always stay with me, as will those I've worked with- both on the team, and even some of the fans. A small Pokemon-centric project turned into so much more. Pokemon can bring people together in so many ways. 

On kind of a final informative note, if anyone is interested in picking up papercraft, just check out the FAQ on the site here to get started: 
http://www.pokemonpapercraft.net/2007/02/frequently-asked-questions.html
Or just put a comment up on the site. We've got hundreds of various Pokemon models, and more in the works, so I'm sure there'll be something to catch your eye if you enjoy artsy stuff. 

ah yes, pokemon. A good chunk of my life is dedicated to you. My favorites would have to be gen 2 G/S/C. Which is where my most grand experience began. I had been having trouble on jasmine so I decided to skip her. I ended up fighting team rocket in mahogony town. There I went through the rocket hideout all while listening to the ??? Music station on my radio card.  I finished it up with my faithful Typholison. I then went into pryces gym, where my Typhlosion was my star pokemon. I utterly destroyed the gym with him, but when I walked out something stranged happened. Professor Elm called me saying something about discovering a virus that is harmless. It was called pokerus. Immediately I went to the internet to search for it, but I found very little information on it. I then discovered that my pokemon that had caught it, had become more powerful. I was genuinely happy as I thought I was the only one to have discovered this little virus. Now, though, I've learned that i'm not the only one anymore, but I don't mind. I found it when it was first introduced and I'm glad about that.

 It all started about 10 years ago. Friend gave me Pokemon Red and i started to play it. It was fun learning about training your own Pokemon; sorta like a pet. I love having pets, so having a full party of Pokemon is quite nice. Since i couldn't have pets in the house anymore, i turned to Pokemon. Red was amazing back then. I did not like screech, whenever i see a wild Onyx or a trainer using one, i immediately turn the sound off. I could not take the horrid sound of it! So time passed and i got myself Pokemon Emerald and then later on Pokemon Fire Red with the adapter. Leaf Green came next then Diamond and Platinum. Heart gold came afterwards and then Black and now White 2. Also i got myself a copy of Pokemon Conquest. Lovely game! Call it crazy but Pokemon made me much nicer. Reading the dialog in the game, treating your Pokemon with kindness and respect. I do that more now with my friends and animals. After 10 years, i still don't know how Pokemon mate. It's like that old Tootsie Pop commercial, "The world will never know."

Pokemon its a great game wait no awesome game now im not going to say i started at blue or i was going through a ruff time when i started playing but i am going to tell you its an amazing game 

now Pokemon affected me in a good way i have a issue of getting board really quick but not with Pokemon it gave me motivation and something to do alone and with friends. i started silver at 5 and ran through the beginning grass till level 20 then my cousin came over and taught me you can go to more towns and catch more Pokemon ... later that day my cousin tricked me out of my starter. but i kept going and kept catching more and leveling really trying to catch them all started collecting cards got gold version watching the shows it became my life and i LOVED IT . so later on they made game boy advanced  and i found out you couldn't trade Pokemon from silver to ruby so my face went from :) to :( in a matter of seconds. but i kept continuing and had a lot of fun so yes Pokemon has affected my life in a very good way 

what have i learnt from Pokemon i have a whole list but ill keep it short . well i learnt strategy like types and ev training which helped me be organized . i learnt friendship and trust and what it means to be a 10 year old on a journey also how to treat people right ... even though im mean lol . i learnt spelling and math from text on Pokemon and from stats and levels . and i also learnt about life i know im not going to throw a rock at a bird catch it and train it but it taught me everywhere is different and people are to .  so ya im smarter better and school is easy because of Pokemon so thanks Pokemon.

I don't know if this is the greatest but definitely the one i remember the most so i found marriland around the time black 1 and white 1 came out actually right before. so i was looking for the next Pokemon event and it was the 3 legendary dogs so all week i was begging my sister for a ride to game stop she was always like "ill do it later ". eventually the events stooped so i was angry i couldn't get zoroark but then there was one more event celib . i knew my sister wouldn't take me so i was going to walk to game stop so i set off on my 5 mile journey with a backpack jerky and a ds . so i was a mile from game stop and it started to get dark and i thought they might be closing so i started to cry. then a old man walked up to me and asked me why i was crying and i said " i don't know if ill make it in time for celibi " the old man said " son if you've never ate celery that's sad ". i gave him a dirty look and said" celibi not celery you know from Pokemon  " he said "aren't you a little old to be eating Pokemon " i said" aren't you a little old to be walking the streets alone ". and then i continued to game stop where i got celebi  later that day my cousin broke my ds. but i got a new one actually this dsi in my hand i love it so ... whoops i dropped it can you send me a new 3ds please .