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How did you get into pokemon?

It all started at the lunch tables in 2nd grade.
Oh my god. I seriously just realized something.
That wasn't where it started. How could i have gotten into Pokemon then when I had a Pichu lunchbag? Well that was when I started collecting the cards. That tale is for a different time...
Most of my early school memories are foggy :/
OMG! I JUST REMEMBERED!
It all started one day in FIRST grade. It was really early in the school year I think. I remember some kids were playing make-believe.
I asked them what they were doing. and they were playing make-believe, with Pokemon. I did't really know what Pokemon was...but I joined. I asked what Pokemon I should be. They said I could be a Butterfree, and it had "wind powers"
And I remember some mean kid came up and I told him to go away cuz I was a Butterfree and I had powers of wind!
I lol when I look back at that day XD.
But Butterfree has always held a special place in my heart, and it was my first pokemon plushie I got ^3^.
I remember being obsessed with drawing Pokemon, and i would watch the anime, and I got into it more in 2nd grade, when I got my first pokemon cards. I would spend all recess studying them XD. and me and my best friend would play make-believe (I still love playing make-believe. don't judge). We were magical shape-shifting Pichu. I would always turn into a Grovyle, running super fast around the playground. Grovyle has been my favorite grass-type since then.
I had been begging my parents for ANY sort of video games and they were like NO.i got my first Pokemon game in 4th grade,for christmas. I got a Pink DS lite and Blue mystery dungeon. Then I got Explorers of time a few months later(I'm a level 100 Empoleon on there :D).
Then I got my first main-series game in August of that same year.
Platinum. My starter was of course, an Empoleon, my favorite Pokemon at the time, along with Grovyle.
That very game now has a living pokedex and as many hours as there were Pokemon at the time. I have an extreme emotional attachment to that game.
 
Well, it was waaay back in elementary school, when I was 5 (I think, may have been a little older).
There were two boys sitting down in the hallways, where we were to ait for out teacher in the mornings. One had some Pokémon cards, and they were talking about them. I inquired about these strange creatures and they said, "Pokémon. It isn't for girls." Well, too bad, boys, because you had be curious.

Skip to a few weeks later when I found a plastic Pichu on the ground. The boys were in their usual spot, so I asked them about this cute little critter. Now, I knew Pikachu; everyone did. So I asked, "Hey, what's this thing? It looks kinda like Pikachu."
"That's a Pichu. It evolves into Pikachu."

I had no idea what 'evolving' was, but I wasn't about to ask. Instead I did some research the next time I went to the store. My curiosity grew; I watched the show. I saw the movies. I played a game or two (not a lot of money at the time for my own, though). Before you knew it I was hooked.
I still have that Pichu; it's on my dresser. I found it in a box a few years back, surprised it had survived all those years. It's pretty much the symbol of my childhood now.
 
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When I watched the Pokemon anime as a kid, I LOOOOOVED it. Then, when I heard about Pokemon Emerald, I downloaded a rom of it. Then there were other Pokemon games, I downloaded some roms and became a Pokemon fan.
 
I forgot how old I was, probably around 6 or 7, I was just watching TV then suddenly "Pokémon is coming up next on Cartoon Network!" it announced. I thought "Well, I have nothing against Pokémon and I have nothing better to do so, why not?" It was season 1 episode 1. I loved every second of it and I watched the whole Indigo League series and memorized the theme song. And my cousins had a bunch of Pokémon stuff.
 
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My earliest Pokemon-related memory is finding a Poliwrath card on the bus and ripping it to shreds when I was in kindergarten. This girl dropped it, and I thought it'd be funny to turn it into confetti... I had problems when I was five-year-old (I also ripped up a dollar bill). She was majorly upset, so I told my mom about what I did and we decided to buy her Pokemon stickers and a pack of cards to apologize. The girl was very thankful, and she gave me a plush cat and a set of pencils with animals on them to show her gratitude. Fact is, I hated Pokemon when I was a little kid. I don't remember the exact reason—I think I just assumed it was really dumb. Then again, I had no idea the video games even existed. I just thought it was a silly card game and a cartoon. My mom would also always imitate Pikachu to get on my nerves.
In fourth grade, I was seated with a girl who would always bring her Gameboy on the bus and play Sapphire. I thought it was entertaining to watch, and I developed a slight interest in it. The girl also started giving me cards that she didn't want—I recall obtaining an Articuno and a Zapdos and handing them out to my friends, since I had no idea how rare they were or whatever. Another card she gave me was an Alakazam, which I traded to one of my friends for an Onix. For some reason, I fell in love with Onix, and it became my first favorite Pokemon. I still own that Onix card I was traded—in fact, I have it framed. After that, my interest in Pokemon continued to strengthen, and my parents got me copies of Pearl and Channel for my tenth birthday. My first Pokemon in a game was a male Turtwig named LINDABOB (I think one of my friends told me to name it that), which I ended up releasing for a stupid reason. A few days after my birthday, I purchased Blue Rescue Team and FireRed with the money I had received from my aunts and uncles. Blue Rescue Team quickly became my favorite of the four games (I loved being able to play as a Pokemon) and I played as a Totodile, which replaced Onix as my favorite Pokemon. At that point, I knew pretty much nothing about Pokemon, and now that I look back at it, it was so much fun to explore Pearl and Blue Rescue Team and discover and learn about every Pokemon. I wish I could experience that again... maybe if a Generation VI is announced, I'll avoid every spoiler and reveal until the games are released.
 
I got interested when we had to wake up early, and the anime was always on. That made me like it. Then, a kid at school was showing off his cards. I begged him for one, and he eventually gave me a Drowzee. Of course, I traded it the day I got it. :p And I was really gettin' into Pokemon then. Later, my friend gave me his spare Gameboy Color, and I received Pokemon Yellow & Silver for my birthday. And now, I stand before you today as a bigger fan than yourself. :{)
 
One day when I had nothing to watch on Tv and I stumbled upon it and I kept watching it because it was interesting.
 
I was 6 and saw the ads for the anime dub on Kids WB and then a preview of episode several days after that. I really liked it so I watched the dub premiere and got hooked after that. I first only watched the anime and then got my first TCG set for Christmas. Then the first movie was released and heard about the games through a commercial. I bought my first game , Pokemon Red, in March of 2000 when I was 7. It was a joined birthday gift for me and my two brothers since our birthdays are only a month apart. We all got Gameboy Colors and were allowed to pick one game. I picked Pokemon Red, my older brother picked Pokemon Blue and my little bro got Mario Gallery 3 instead of a Pokemon game. It would be till a bit later when he got into Pokemon when we all got Pokemon Yellow.And then after that the franchise stuck on to me and now I'm 20 and still play to this day.
 
When my mom came home from the Flea Market, she bought like 5 VHS tapes of the Original Pokemon season. I watched all FIVE of them and I got hooked on to It. Later on, I discovered that Cartoon Network was airing Pokemon and that's when I began to follow the series. As for the Pokemon games, I got Pokemon Blue as a gift and I got addicted to that, almost instant. So many countless hours playing that.
 
I really can't say how old i was when i first heard or even played Pokemon, even though i most likely was about 4~ish. Funny thing was that i did not even get to know it through the Anime or through friends but through that weird commercial. You know, the one with the bus-driver? That squashes Pickachu and co. into a Gameboy Color? Ye. No idea why that was appealing to my 4 year old self.
 
Some boys at school got me into it. They had the cards and the toys, and they told me about the show. I liked the characters (particularly Meowth) so I decided to go with the fad. It's weird because I was like the last person at my school to join the Pokemon bandwagon, but also the only person who still follows the franchise. Still, I'm not ashamed that I like Pokemon.
 
I got into it when my older sister was playing Pokemon Blue for the gameboy in the car parked outside K-Mart. I was staring at it while she battled with a weird thing that made sounds. I asked her what it was and she was like Pokémon. I had a puzzled look so she asked if I wanted to have a shot. I said sure, How do I move :l

She showed me how and I battled for like 3 hours and wouldn't give it back to her and even hid in the top of the wardrobe so she wouldnt find me. I ended up getting her pokemon to like level 40 at the 3rd gym XD

Then she came with a new pokemon game. I was like :O whats that???? Shes like pokémon. I started snatching at it. She was like Nu-Uh, I havent even put it in the GBA yet. It was Sapphire. There was new pokemon and I was like :OOO that one is AWESOME! She let me play without saving over her save file. I also had all her pokemon at about lv 80 at the 7th gym. Some days I would wake up before my sister, Sneak into her room, Steal the cartilage & the GBA, Find a place which was hidden, Not dark and not to hard to fit or breathe in, And play to the shouts of "Jack, When I find you... YOU'RE DEADDDDDD" I was so evil.

So, Yeah. Thats how I got into pokemon. I forgot about it then saw an ad for D/P. I was like :O I remember pokemon!!!! But they were weird since they were new. I was like No way thats a bulbasaur! Its a turtle :l
 
Back when I was only 8, I saw one of my school friends playing Pokémon Red. He had a Charmeleon, a Pikachu and a Pidgey I think. Until I got myself Pokémon Blue, I would always watch over his shoulder. Then a childhood friend of mine (who lived near by) happened to havee gotten Pokémon Blue and we started to share some strategies. He preferred Articuno while I preferred Zapdos. At one point we discovered the Cinnabar Island glitch through a magazine. I remember how I always found Lv.132 Golduck while he always found Lv. 144 Snorlax in there. Aaaah good times.
 
In 3rd grade, I didn't like it, but I still knew what it was. In 5th grade (I'm in 6th grade now) I got into it. Good thing there are still just a few people who love Pokemon at school.
 
Twas 4, at my godfathers house. While my parents and godfather drank and caught up, my mom stuck me in front of the tv. And at that magical moment, The first episode of pokemon came on :D From the moment i started watching, my little 4 year old brain was hooked! From there, i got the games, toys... everything pokemon, I had to have it. Now im 18, and my little 4 year old brain hooked on pokemon is now a little 18 year old brain hooked on pokemon :D
 
Well in elementry school I noticed kids were trading some cards so me and my sister went and wondered what it was. We asked and they said pokemon. So we checked it out and started to collect the cards and books and anime and everything we could get our hands on. My sister grew out of it but I did not. This was 1998/1999
 
When I was little, my brother and I got GameBoy Colors and we had one pokemon game (Crystal) that we would take turns playing, or we would play it together. That's how I was introduced. After a little while, my dad got me the movies Destiny Deoxys and MewTwo Returns. Those were the start of my love for pokemon :)
 
Well it started with the anime I remember on the weekdays when they'd give the episodes after school I'd head straight home to the TV and on Saturday mornings I'd be first on the TV depending on how tired I was, oh I'd also would ask my mom for the toys at the store ahh the good old days. Though it was my uncles best friend who got me into the games he was selling his Gameboy Color along with his Pokémon Gold and from there my love of the Pokémon World grew even bigger and still continues til this day. My uncle also was into Pokémon but primarily the cards and console games he was never really into the handhelds but I think Pokémon was much more of a phase for him.

Also does anyone remember the Pokémon Beanies from KFC I pleaded my mom for them only to lose them all :(
 
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Some kids in my estate started playing the card game and eventually they got me involved. That's where it all started.
 
I saw the anime commercial one day on Fox Kids and thought, this looks really cool. It used to come on every weekday at 2:30 here. Which was about 15 minutes after I got out of school. I would always run home from school (which took about 30 minutes) just to catch the last half of the show. Then, some of my friends at school were playing red and blue together. That further cemented my love for the series.

I've been around for every generation except for 3. I was in middle school then and went through a "I'm too old for POkemon" phase. I'm still regretting that. I'm glad we have Boomerang to get caught up with it though.
 
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