I was in fifth grade when Pokemon first came out. I saved up for weeks for the $25-ish that the game cost. (I didn't get an allowance as a kid. I have no idea how I did this.) I got Pokemon Blue at first. I started with Charmander I think, because I wanted to be a badass and Charmander was supposedly the hardest to start with. None the less, I was hooked right away.
I was part of the in crowd as far as pokemon went, back when it was at the very height of it's popularity. I had Blue, Red, and Yellow (again, with a lack of an allowance, I don't have the slightest idea how this happened), had Pokemon Pinball, and Stadium, played the TCG, watched the anime religiously, and even had one of those pocket pikachu things.
I would kill to have one of these again.
And just like any other pokemon fan at the time, I was totally stoked over the release of Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver. My dad got me both for christmas that year, because he's pretty much the greatest dad ever. I pretty much abandoned Gold in favor of Silver, because I had (and still have) a crush on Lugia.
After that, I stopped buying the games. I ended up being a little bit of a purist and was a little frustrated by the Generation 3 pokemon for some reason I really can't explain. Pokemon took a back seat to other interests until 2007 when I heard news of a Mew giveaway to celebrate the American release of the 9th or so movie, "Lucario & The Mystery of Mew". It was only available to the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald versions. Suri offered me a copy of one of his, and thus I ended up with my own copy of Pokemon Ruby.
Let me say, I was not impressed. I mean yeah, graphics and all had vastly improved, but it just was nothing compared to Gold and Silver. I still have the game somewhere, with like 5 totally legitimate Mews on it, but I can't find the thing for the life of me.
I picked up Pokemon Diamond when it came out, and got Pokemon Pearl for Suri. A year later, when Platinum came out, Suri got it for me for my birthday. They were all fun, even if Platinum didn't have nearly as much nuclear winter as anticipated, but still, I missed Gold and Silver.
But then the rumors started to fly. Generation 4 would have remakes of Generation 2, just like Generation 3 did for Generation 1. Nothing was ever confirmed, so I just ignored it and was annoyed that they even tried to get my hopes up.
Then back in December '08, it was confirmed. HeartGold and SoulSilver were happening. I was stoked. I've been watching release information like a hawk, marveling at the updated graphics, the additions and restorations. I made the happiest noise imaginable at the prospect of my beloved raichu, Amphy, being able to follow me on my journey. I've proclaimed more than once that these games will likely be perfect and they will never need to make another one.
It's a Christmas miracle.
And just yesterday we got a North American release date. March 14, 2010, just five days after my birthday, HG/SS is going to arrive in the states. I've been keeping myself excited by raising my team in Platinum and looking at Lugia merchandise that I can't afford because at the moment I'm broke.
But hopefully I won't have to scrimp and save every penny like I did back when I bought Blue Version back in the fifth grade. Oh the advantages of have a boyfriend and a release date close to my birthday.
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