I can still vividly remember the first time I ever played Pokémon. I went over to my friend Brett’s house and he was all gung-ho to show me this new game. A big bad turtle with a cannon in it’s shell on the cartridge was more than enough to pique my interest, but the second I started to play, I knew I had to get this game.

One problem, however: I didn’t have a Game Boy. And at the ripe age of 9 years old, I had no feasible way of procuring one. However at the time that didn’t matter as the minutes turned to hours and the day evaporated away before I knew it. When I got home the gears were already turning and the seed was quickly planted for the perfect Christmas gift that year.

The agonizing months leading up to Christmas were full of dreams of catching and battling with my very own Pocket Monsters as the Pokémon craze turned worldwide and blew up among everyone in my school. I know I wasn’t alone in hoping to receive the best present possible that year, but all I could do was hope.

My mother lead me to believe there’d be a snowball's chance in hell I’d be getting a brand new video game system and I fully believed her. My naive mind failed to realize that my mom is the greatest and never once let us down when it came to video games for Christmas. Seriously, she’s the best, but the trick and pony show of making me believe she wasn’t always made the payoff that much sweeter.

I can still see the last gift, which looked nothing like a Game Boy box, sitting under the tree with my name written on it. I tore the paper off like a mad man to see a big brown box, which upon opening had a green Game Boy Pocket with not only Pokémon Blue, but Red as well! I couldn’t believe it, I finally had Pokémon and I couldn’t have been happier.

It’s funny because my Mom didn’t know the difference between the versions, so she decided to get both to be safe, but that actually turned out to be a good thing because soon thereafter my older brother fell victim to the craze. In fact, my two neighbors did as well and we’d go on to have the most insane battles over the next year, forming some of my most cherished childhood memories. I’d go on to become fully invested in Pokémon; watching the anime, collecting and trading cards, and successfully filling out all 151 Pokémon on my faithful Red cartridge’s Pokédex.

My undying love for Pokémon has faded over the years, but it’s always a series I revisit every few iterations. I’ll jump in, check out the new region and all the wacky new Pokémon I’ve never seen before and of course see a few familiar faces too. They’re always an enjoyable time, but nothing has, or likely will ever achieve the feeling of playing the originals back in the day with my brother and neighbors. But with the impending release of Pokémon Let’s Go set to revisit the Kanto region, I’m far more excited to dive back in now than I have been in years.