This year marks the fifteenth year of a game involving small pocket monsters emerged onto the gaming plateau. That game was known as Pokemon. From small to large and from red to black, Pokemon has been embedded in our gaming culture and society for a strong decade and a half. So in celebration of fifteen years of catching all those dammed Pokemon, its time to take a time machine and take a look at the phenomenon known as Pokemon.

It all started back in 1996 when Satoshi Tajari, along with Nintendo, released the red and green versions of the game Pokemon in Japan. Tajari used the idea of the link cable to, along side with battling, trade Pokemon and of course “Catch them all”. It took him six years to create the game Pokemon and almost left the company Game Freak bankrupt but what they created cause an addiction that would last for more than ten years.

Starting out in a small area known as Pallet town, you were able to pick one pokemon from the three starters. Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle were the very first Pokemon that you saw when you started off. I remember picking Bulbasaur as my first only because a friend of mine said that he basically made the game easier and the best starter in the whole Pokemon world. Of course that was until I realized that the rival “my friend” in game chose my weakness and would later on kick my ass all around the block. If there was one thing in this world I will never forget, it will be my first pokemon. Who would have known that a pokemon with a blossom on his back would lead me into a spiral of addiction and fun throughout a large part of my life.

This was the first generation, consisting of 151 different pokemon. Released on the Gameboy in two separate versions in both America and Japan (Red and Blue), Players were not only able to battle with their pokemon but also able to trade with their friends. To a kid on the playground, this was a social connection to everyone. The link cable gave life to the game after the player would defeat all eight gym leaders and defeated the elite four. Being able to level your six pokemon on your belt to level 99 and kicking the hell out of that one guy on the playground who said he was the best. Not to mention all the rumors and glitches in the game that would be spread around the class rooms in school. Missingno and the cloning glitch had to be the most popular of the rumors that turned out to be true. Cloning rare candies and master balls were on every kid’s mind after finding out about the glitch. Also the ridiculous way to catch a Mew had to be one of the most complicated and craziest rumor ever spread.

After the popularity of the pokemon anime, a new version was released named Pokemon: Yellow Version. This version was focused on the structure of the actual anime rather than being a complete rehash of the original versions, Red and Blue. Starting out in the same town, players got a Pikachu as their first pokemon rather than a Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur. The Pikachu would even walk behind you and hate being in the pokeball too, just like the show! Even the random encounters in the game starting points of the game were changed and with the ability to actually get all three of the starters this was a far superior game from the originals.

Another small off shot of the Pokemon franchise was called the Pocket Pikachu. Released near the time of the Yellow version, the Pocket Pikachu would let you walk around with a small Pikachu on your pocket. The device was a walker that would give you points to spend on and play with your Pikachu like a Tomagachi digital pet.

Come back later on in the month for part 2 of my retrospective on Pokemon. Here’s a question for all you faithful readers! What was your favorite pokemon from the first generation!? Post on the Facebook comments or leave an answer below.