I played this game a lot as a kid, but I couldn't remember if I actually managed to beat it back then. All these years later, this is still a really solid entry point into the series. The story is simple but effective for the premise, mostly just spurring the player on their journey. It works because having such a simple story allows the journey itself to be personalized not only through which Pokemon you catch but also the order you tackle the campaign in. By spending less time on the story, there are less restrictions and more freedom for the player, which is really crucial here because the core gameplay itself is also really basic and not terribly engaging on its own until endgame. Species variety and slow pacing are particular faults here that are mostly mitigated once the game opens up after the third gym or so.