What originally drew you into Pokemon?

[ultraviolet]

Once it was on morning cartoons instead of Sailor Moon. I was quickly a fan, especially after seeing charmander.

 

[Yarnchu]

Me? Well, my brother did. He gave me a Charmander card when I was four. I then saw his friends Charizard card, and being the Godzilla/dinosaur fan I was, I got Red version, alongside Godzilla and a Gameboy Color, for my 5th birthday from my Great Grandmother and chose Charmander as my starter.

 

[Sapphiron]

Well, I first got into it when it was a fad back in Generation I, then I left the fandom in Generation II, then it was somewhat popular again in my school in Generation III, perking my curiosity. R/S/E brought me back into Pokemon, so to hell or heck with those who bash Hoenn.

 

[Dannichu]

It was pictures of the adorably cute little creatures all over the place. I voted game, though, since I played it before I saw the anime or the TCG really took off. I think. >>

 

[Aenrhien]

Show started it, games hooked me. Still like the games better, but first season episodes are kinda like my guilty pleasure.

 

[nothing to see here]

The games, of course.

Well, more specifically, those little walkthrough pamphlet-thingies they used to put in Nintendo Power during the year leading up to the English release of Red/Blue. I didn't even subscribe to Nintendo Power--I would buy them at Wal-Mart just to get the little Pokémon pamphlets (and beg them off of people who did subscribe, whenever possible... I still somehow missed the last couple of them.)

 

[Dark Marowak]

It all started back when I was 5. I got Silver with my GBA for my birthday. I was hooked. I barely put it down until I finished the game.

 

[Invader Palkia]

I started watching the anime when I was 5, and followed it until they stopped airing it after school :(

Why did I watch the Anime? I'm pretty sure it's because it was on either right before or right after Digimon xD

 

[Mercury]

Pokémon Yellow. I saw it when I was about 5 in a shop, and I asked if I could have it. My dad said yes. So here I am now.

 

[Rai-CH]

Some kids brought Pokemon cards to school in kinder. I decided to play (borrowing a friend's Squirtle card) since I thought "turtles with bubbles coming out their mouth? cool!", or something along those lines. Then I saw the Tv Show, "Santa" (parents) gave me a Gameboy Colour with Pokemon Gold and then I became obbsessed.

 

[S. E.]

I used to be one of those people. Until my friend coaxed me into joining Pokemon Crater (I can't believe that place shut down last year!). Then one thing led to the next, and before I knew it she was constantly phoning me to ask questions about her Pokemon games, such as 'When does *insert Pokemon here* evolve?' Of course, I've had to point her to GameFAQs several times before, but now I find myself recalling these things by memory.

So I guess I'd fall under Other, AKA a friend/relative got me into it, which is pretty much the only reason anyone votes for Other.

 

[cheesecake]

When I was about 3, my aunt won a Pikachu doll at some fair. I absolutely loved it, so she gave it to me and before I knew it I loved Pokemon. :3

 

[Alexi]

I saw some of the anime and that got me interested, but what kept me obsessed was when my cousins taught me to play the card game when they helped me move. We were waiting for my dad to come with a truckload of stuff (we moved from Freemont to Sacramento - about a three hour drive), so we had some time, and they were just playing. They told me how to play, and I won on my second game out of luck. XD

 

[foreign contaminant]

my parents got me a gameboy color and pokemon blue for christmas. i had no idea what pokemon was, no joke. for the longest time, i couldn't figure out how to leave the house. :x once i did manage that, though, the game was a blast and i loved every minute of it. i did loads of stupid stuff with blue; i recall saying, once i got the master ball, "mewtwo isn't worth it i want a jigglypuff :3" and wasted it. once i realized how dumb that was, i shut the game off.

i remember when gold and silver came out. i lived on an air force base in japan, and we didn't get a lot of stuff there; we had to go off-base to buy pokemon cards from japanese game shops - who smartly stocked english and japanese versions of the game - and it took a few years before military tv got the rights to air the anime. but the exchange, more or less a military wal-mart, knew there would be demand for the games and stocked them as close to their american release as they could. when we saw them, my brother and i snatched a copy and wouldn't leave until my mom got a confirmation from my dad that we could have them. we walked out lucky kids that afternoon.

after that generation, my brother grew out of pokemon. while i am not the fanatic i once was, i still found a lot to like about pearl, though i bought it on a whim thinking it would at least kill a weekend while i was sick. i might be willing to go out and buy platinum, and i'll willingly shell out the money when the next generation arrives.

 

[Autumn]

I saw what looked like Hamtaro (hey I was eight >:T) on some kid's shirt one day at school, told my friend (that had gotten me into Hamtaro) about it and she told me "nah, it's probably Charmander."

"... what's a Charmander?"

Enter me to the Pokémon fandom. I'd rather have gotten into it when it was new, though, as this happened after R/S came out. ;~;

I ended up getting a booster pack of Pokémon cards and Pokémon Pinball for Christmas. I used Christmas money to buy Ruby and Sapphire, started to watch the anime when it came on in the mornings before school and bought the cards like a fanatic. Now I only ever get the games (stopped keeping up with the TCG as much, but I have a deck in my room and more than two shoeboxes' worth of cards in my closet). :P

 

[Dragon]

Uh. I picked up a Game Boy (yes the original, bite me >:3) and Yellow, Super Mario 3 or something, and some other generic game at a garage sale, zomg, when I was.. like six. So I played it, blah blah blah, and yeah. Now I'm here >:3

 

[Dragonclaw]

If my memory serves me right, me and my sister used to occasionally watch my cousin play Pokemon Blue. Then he gave it to my sister. Who gave it to me later when neither of us wanted it, but yeah.

 

[Rayquaza23]

Hmm, where is the other option?! Because my brothers got me into it really, well I suppose it was because of the games. Although, we did watch the anime too, it was a big thing in my house.

xD,my brother having G/S got me into it.Heck,when I was 4 I caught Ho-Oh for him!

 

[Evolutionary]

Anime, when I was little :)

And then TCG...

Then RBY/GSC :)

 

[Taliax]

I was 8 or something when I first saw the anime. The Toys R' Us I got my GBC at was sold out of Pokemon games, though, so the anime was all I had for a few months or so. Around the same time, a friend of mine gave me a few random TCG cards, but I didn't learn how to play for a while. So, yeah, the anime got me into this. The Eevee plushie in my avatar is almost as old as Pokemon itself. Back when the plushies were cool.

I remember trying to pick between Red and Blue at Electronics Boutique (back then they had those, before GameStop consumed them.). The clerk was not hip on the differences so I picked solely on box art. I don't know what drew me to Blastoise, though.

I actually have that same eevee plushie, and a whole lot more, too. The neck fur is all matted from being stuck in a plastic bag and staticized, though.