My first Pokemon memory begins not long before Red/Blue's arrival in the USA.

I had just received my newest issue of Disney Adventures in the mail, and the ad on the back intrigued me--a bunch of weird creatures about to be caught in a giant net. One of those creatures stood out to me--a tiny yellow mouse with a thunderbolt tail. I kept the little guy in mind as I put the finished magazine with all my back issues.

The next day at school, I asked one of my best friends what this "Pokemon" thing was that was taking the school (a middle school, to be clear) by storm. He showed me a figurine of the mouse creature, and told me its name was "Pikachu".

He spent the rest of the period telling me all about "Pikachu"s world and the weeks ticked by to release day. The Friday before, I saw the famous bus commercial on TV, and that was that--I got Blue that weekend.

The rest, as they say, is history!