This was the first Pokémon game I ever played. At the ripe old age of six, I had no idea what I was doing, but I had watched the anime enough to know that Pikachu ain't got shit on Brock's Onix, at least not without straight up cheating.
With not an ounce of understanding of the game mechanics in my empty little head, I'd catch me some cute Pokeymans in Viridian Forest (completely oblivious to the Mankeys you could find to the west), and then I'd take my electric rat and my cute birds and bugs and unsuccessfully throw them against Brock until I ran out of money. No more Potions for mid-fight heals, no more Pokéballs to catch stronger Caterpies. I effectively softlocked myself from progressing out of Pewter City. Then I would restart my save file and try it all again: same strategy, no changes. I was having fun just walking around with my Pikachu, and that's all I needed.
It's impossible to convey just how many times I restarted this damn game in an endless loop of defeat at the hands of the first gym leader. But I can tell you that each time I did, I paid a little less attention to the intro sequence, and I put a little less care into the name of the player character and his rival. By this time, I had all but given up on the idea of victory over that Pewter City bastard and was content just vibin' around in the forest like my idol, Ash Ketchum. Who cares what my name is if I'm just gonna reset the save again in another hour? All I cared about was raising another Butterfree, maybe a stronger one this time!
Then it happened. By some cosmic miracle, my little Nidoran♀ managed to take down an Onix. Blood, sweat, and tears fell from my teal Game Boy Color that day, and an entire route of new content opened up before my little eyes. I was awestruck. Even then, I recognized the incredible amount of luck that the universe just bestowed upon me, and I was not gonna tempt fate by restarting that save file now. I was committed.
And that, my friends, is how the legend of ASHpkmn♂♀ was born.
With not an ounce of understanding of the game mechanics in my empty little head, I'd catch me some cute Pokeymans in Viridian Forest (completely oblivious to the Mankeys you could find to the west), and then I'd take my electric rat and my cute birds and bugs and unsuccessfully throw them against Brock until I ran out of money. No more Potions for mid-fight heals, no more Pokéballs to catch stronger Caterpies. I effectively softlocked myself from progressing out of Pewter City. Then I would restart my save file and try it all again: same strategy, no changes. I was having fun just walking around with my Pikachu, and that's all I needed.
It's impossible to convey just how many times I restarted this damn game in an endless loop of defeat at the hands of the first gym leader. But I can tell you that each time I did, I paid a little less attention to the intro sequence, and I put a little less care into the name of the player character and his rival. By this time, I had all but given up on the idea of victory over that Pewter City bastard and was content just vibin' around in the forest like my idol, Ash Ketchum. Who cares what my name is if I'm just gonna reset the save again in another hour? All I cared about was raising another Butterfree, maybe a stronger one this time!
Then it happened. By some cosmic miracle, my little Nidoran♀ managed to take down an Onix. Blood, sweat, and tears fell from my teal Game Boy Color that day, and an entire route of new content opened up before my little eyes. I was awestruck. Even then, I recognized the incredible amount of luck that the universe just bestowed upon me, and I was not gonna tempt fate by restarting that save file now. I was committed.
And that, my friends, is how the legend of ASHpkmn♂♀ was born.