And it's been madness. MADNESS I TELL YOU.

RAWRRRRRRR.
And yeah, so what have I BEEN UP TO.
Simple. I've been busy with my Pokemanz. Pokemon.

A question that's come up before. Many many many times:
"Ry, why do you still play Pokemon? You're like...16. Grow up!"

AH. And that's when I start going into a huge rant, especially verbally, when you say those words to my face...
So, to prevent this anytime soon, let's just end it once and for all:)

This, is the story of why I still play Pokemon.

Versions that I've played, and finished:

Pokemon Red and Blue!
I started out with Blue, and it was a gameboy POCKET, which I first played it on. My Godparents got it for my birthday, when I turned 6, and I remember my Mother's initial skepticism about it.

I got Blue first, and started with a Squirtle, and got stuck halfway through the game, got so fed up, had to get my cousin to help me through it.
Then, my Godparents got me Red version, and me being the stupid little kid, didn't realise that they were the same game, except with different Pokemon on the box. xD

'twas fun, and I remember the first time I ever caught a Missingno.
For the uninitiated? Missingno was a glitch Pokemon, that could give you duplicates of items, such as rarecandies!

Pokemon YELLOW!

And so, I started to get seriously seriously hooked onto the whole franchise. Reading the comics...watching the shows..
Hell, I loved the whole damn concept, and I was hooked onto Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow.

And Yellow? I admit, it was the game of the three which I didn't manage to complete until I reached a higher level of sensory faculty which allowed me to understand and comprehend that "YES, YOU NEEDED TO GRIND LEVELS."

And it was amazing, until...

POKEMON SILVER.

And YES. My favourite of the games so far. Pokemon Silver brought the formula of Pokemon RBY, and further improved it.

I remember getting it for Christmas that year, and it was just awesome.(I started with a Totodile!)
It was a new world, altogether. The feeling was different. And when I finally beat the whole game...GUESS WHAT. I could explore Kanto!

The feeling...that beautiful feeling was just amazing.
Discovering all these new species... :D

Now, this is where the story started changing.
By this time, I had just entered into Primary 3.
And at that time, my parents clamped down totally on my gaming. They had to become strict, and cut off as much of my play time as possible, because I had to start studying.
And well. I missed out totally on the Gameboy Advance. Then I NEARLY missed out on Pokemon
Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Fire-Red and Leafgreen.

Yep.
It took me 3 whole years, until 2005, where I was given a Nintendo DS.
And finally...

Pokemon Emerald. A game which is legendary.
I didn't feel much of the true Pokemon Essence, in the 3rd Gen, in my opinion. I didn't feel that whole feeling of nostalgic times with my Umbreon.
Then, I just shrugged. Waited and whiled my time...

Secondary 1 at Yuan Ching, until finally...in 2007, they released Diamond and Pearl!
And I remember getting Pokemon Diamond:

Diamond made me feel young again:)
Playing the whole storyline. It felt like I was playing Silver again:)

And well... that's also the same point of time I first met Adam Kratoska. A good friend of mine that I met over the internet on a forum for Rockman/Megaman.
It was funky, and when I started getting owned by him on Diamond, when we both got Plat, I got him to teach me the tricks and tips behind Pokemon.
The numbers, the IVs and the EVs...
and I slowly stopped being a n00b:)

Adam was my "sensei" at Pokemon, so to speak. And we really bonded quite a bit over Pokemon battles. The late-night calls, and the crazy ass Breeding Chains... hehhh.
And we stopped playing for a while.

I didn't want to give up all too soon, so I played a bit in the Pokemon Platinum era. I played Competitively and I read up on Smogon.
I played on Purplesurge, the servers that SPP-Wifi is hosted on(SPP-Wifi is a place where online trades can be negotiated!)

Slowly, interest waned...
Pokemon Soulsilver came and went, and we were all. Meh.
We got it, and I finished the game, but Adam was in China.

And I totally stopped "Competitive" Pokemon.

Then...I met Naif!

My sword-fighting teammate, and Pokemon came up in Convo.
Naif told me to challenge him in Pokemon...
and finally, he told me about Team Robo!

And Team Robo:)

I don't really think I need to say how much Pokemon means to me now.

The times I spent catching Pokemon as a kid...Raising them...
My friendship with Adam...and then my association to the original few of us over at Team Robo VideoGames...

8)

SO THAT, is the story of why I'm not giving up this hobby any time soon.

Now, Shar knows, and whoever reads this, Cheers!

-Ry