I remember the Red & Blue days like it was yesterday. I've yet to come across any other game that makes me feel the way I did when I first touched base with the Blue version. From the time I chose my starter, Charmander, to the time I defeated the elite 4, every step was made into a whole new world, a whole new escape for an 11 year old boy. I couldn't watch the television series as much as I wished because of the family abuse that came from my step-dad. Masculinity was his only concern and he maintained that through rules; unnecessary ones at that. Needless to say, the only TV in the house was reserved for football.
That didn't stop me from gaming though. I can't count how many batteries were invested into the Blue version. Me and my trusty Gameboy Color were getting it done. I never got to experience trading though. I was never allowed to take the Gameboy to school so I never got to play with pokemon like Machamp or know how cool it was to own an eevee evolution because you couldn't just "use" a stone on them back then. I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains so walking to a friends house was highly out of the question. There was nothing within walking distance.
Pokemon was an immense escape for me and still to this day, I will find ways to play older pokemon versions. I may not be able to relive the excitement of the Red & Blue versions, not to mention stomach the old graphics, but I still feel that the pokemon games are some of the most valuable RPGs anyone could ever play. My need to play spread to my neice, who one day, watched me play a pokemon game for hours at the young age of 7 or 8. Now she's 13 years old, going on 14, and a Pokemaniac! I recently gave her my pokemon card collection because I'm 25 years old now and there's not much I can do with them anymore. She can get more use out of them than I can, even if it's a completely one-sided trade at school. You know she will!
