Exactly 20 Years ago today, I played Pokémon for the first time.

I picked Pokémon Blue Version, because I thought Blastoise looked really cool, and because Blue is my favorite color.
(I liked Charizard a lot, too, though.)

Back then, the Games were VERY different.
I won't go into details, but I'd recommend reading PieIsCool's reviews of the older Pokémon Games, as he does an EXCELLENT job of describing them.

My first Starter Pokémon was Squirtle, which to this day is one of my favorite Pokémon.

I didn't know nearly as much about the Game as I do now, but I was pretty good at remembering all the Type Matchups, even then.

My favorite Pokémon then included many I still regularly use, like Dragonite, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Gengar (couldn't get one until my sister started playing, though), and Tangela.

I did many things that are unusual, such as buying that Magikarp on Route 4 (and never regretting it), and resetting every time one of my Pokémon Fainted (I still do, outside of Battling Facilities like the PWT, and Multiplayer Battles).

Although I'm VERY nostalgic about the older Games, I think Pokémon has consistently been getting better over the years, and I appreciate many of the improvements GAME FREAK has made to the Games.
(My favorite Games are mostly Remakes of older Games, however.)

I was somewhat disappointed when I found out I couldn't move my Gen 1 & 2 Pokémon into Sapphire, which sucked.

Still, I played A TON in Gen 3, and (with a lot of help from Professor Earl's Pokémon Academy, in Pokémon Stadium 2), I started to learn more about the Battle Mechanics, and started conducting TONS of experiments, using the new Double Battles.
(I still do that a lot, though I've obviously become somewhat negligent, as proven by my confusion during my Battle with Dedode.)

In Gen 4, my Strategy changed somewhat.
I still used my Dragon Pokémon (which were mostly actual Dragon-types now), but I could no longer rely on just using Hyper Beam, like some kind of Lance wannabe (which is basically what I am).

Instead, new options became available, such as Draco Meteor (which until Dragon Ascent was added, was my favorite Move), as well as the newly improved Outrage (which was added as a Move Tutor Move in Platinum, which was AWESOME).

I LOVED Soul Silver, and still play it regularly to this day.
Not only did it bring back 2 of my favorite Characters (Lance and Clair), but also 2 of my favorite Special Pokémon: The Red Gyarados, and The Dragon Master's Dratini.

I actually thought Gen 5 was a little wierd.
The whole "Route 1" thing never sat right with me, nor did the absence of all of my favorite older Pokémon.

Still, I enjoyed many of the new Pokémon, as well as the new Triple Battles and Rotation Battles.
(I liked Version 2 a lot better, though. Especially the PWT, and Join Avenue.)

In Gen 6, I was REALLY excited about the Character Customization, and a little worried about the addition of Fairy-types, as I was so used to using all Dragon Teams.

Surprisingly, I had little trouble adjusting my all Dragon Teams to handle Fairy-types, and in fact, my Dragons actually seemed MORE powerful.
(Mainly due to Mega Evolution.)

In Ω Ruby, I got a chance to go back to my favorite Region: Hoenn.

Not only did I enjoy being able to Dive Underwater again (you could in Gen 5 also, but it wasn't the same), but I also LOVED many of the things they had added, including Soaring, the new Mega Evolutions (especially Rayquaza's and Salamence's ones), and the Δ Episode, which added my favorite Character (Pokémon or otherwise) of All Time: Zinnia.
(I also liked what they did with Secret Bases and Pokémon Contests, as well as those references to Emerald Version they put in the Δ Episode.)

When Gen 7 came around, I knew it couldn't possibly surpass Ω Ruby/α Sapphire, but I still looked forward to all the new Pokémon.

I thought the Games were pretty cool, actually, even though they were VERY different from what I was used to.

In particular, I thought the idea of Z-Powers was quite interesting, as well as the idea of Totem Pokémon.
(I still wish there was some way I could Dive into the Seas of Alola, however.)

In the Ultra Games, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
They WEREN'T Sequels, but rather 2 different Remakes, similar to what Emerald and Platinum were to Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl.

I liked the various improvements they made to the Games, especially the ability to take Photos of my Pokémon, as well as Mantine Surfing.
(Not to mention bringing back Move Tutors.)

And I also liked a few of the changes they made to the Story.


Also, the hardest in-Game Pokémon Battle (IMO) took place in these Games, BEFORE I even entered the Hall of Fame, which I really enjoyed.


It's been a long time, but I still love Pokémon, just as much as (if not more than) when I started.