2016 marks 20 years of PokémonTwenty years, has it really been that long?! Twenty years later and I still love Pokémon. I don’t think I’ll ever not love PokémonSo with that being said, nostalgia has struck again, as I have said before in an earlier post, Johto and the Gen 2 Pokémon games were my first introduction to the Pokémon world…Johto is where I fell in love with Pokémon, but it wasn’t until Gen 3 that I really began to get serious about it.
Prior to the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS), the third generation of Pokémon was generally panned upon it’s initial release. Some fans even credit Ruby and Sapphire for bringing about the beginning of Franchise Fatigue.
Honest Trailers definitely covers all of the things that pissed people off about the games. But with the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, fans of Pokemon seem to be singing a different tune about the third generation. I loved Hoenn from the beginning!
If Kanto is Spring and Johto is Fall, Hoenn is definitely the embodiment of Summer. Unlike distinct Japanese feel of the previous two generations, Hoenn gives the feel of a tropical resort….The Hoenn region, which means ‘abundant relations’ is based on the Kyushu island of Japan. Hoenn holds the same nostalgia that Johto has for me. I was raised in Johto, but Hoenn is where I grew up.
I have fond memories of surfing the abundant waterways of Hoenn, popping wheelies on my Acro Bike, and shuffling around collecting soot for glass flutes. Hoenn is a lush and vibrant region, I distinctly remember donning my Go-Go Goggles as I crossed the desert on Route 111, using the braille code book to unlock the secrets of the Regis, and decorating my Secret Base with cute Pokedolls and Mats. There were so many secrets in Hoenn, and I was ready to unlock them all. But, before all of that, I needed to pick a partner to help me on my journey.
I may have said this before (but if I didn’t here it is), I usually pick fire type Pokémon as my starters. But, when it came time to pick my first Hoenn Pokémon, I deviated from the norm by selecting Mudkip as my partner. I have a habit of naming all of my Pokémon, usually I go for practical names like Jamie or Mark, but for my starters I always name them based on some characteristic, a cute pet name. For this particular Mudkip, I decided on Muddy, because it’s the mud fish Pokémon. I’m the sentimental type, so I keep my starter in my party no matter what, but Swampert proved to be an absolute tank! It’s WATER/GROUND typing makes it a beast. While Blaziken may be the breakout starter from Gen 3, Swampert is by far one of my favorites. Thanks to forward trading introduced by Game Freak in the later games, I still have Muddy (now a Swampert), he’s sitting pretty in Alpha Sapphire, with the rest of my Gen 3 Pokémon.
I was super excited to hear that the third generation would be getting a 3DS remake. My inner child was screaming with joy while I watched the countless trailers and teasers on Youtube! Heck, I even bought the game on day one from my local Gamestop! Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS) was everything I could hope for in a remake and MORE! The games took everything that made Hoenn great and turned it up to 11!
(Now I will admit that I’m a smidge upset that they didn’t include the Battle Frontier in the remakes, but we did get a kickass Deoxys themed post game, so I guess it’s okay…) Nintendo and Game Freak really outdid themselves this time. Everything from the music to the aesthetics, they did a great job of adapting the game for the next generation of Pokémon Fans and old fans like myself. The music is what really moved me the most, though, the additional instruments (especially the horns) gave the game more depth and power. I remember tearing up when I heard the opening theme for the first time. From the first cord to the last, I’d fallen in love with Hoenn all over again!
From my Glacier Gameboy Advanced to my Purple 3DS, Hoenn, and Pokémon have stood the test of time. I really hope that one day I can share my love of Pokémon with my future children.
Pokemon Blue was my first Pokemon game, but Johto is the one that sticks out as my favorite. There was something epic about it being the planned final game and how it brought the two regions together, plus the nostalgia I get from hearing the music and remembering how I always played it at the dinner table while waiting for my mom to make dinner. I imagine the sheer happiness I had playing Heartgold was similar to how you feel about the 3rd gen remakes :).
Oh absolutely! I bought Soul Silver and boy was my inner 10 year old doing back flips! I love the 2nd gen, it was my first and holds a very special place in my heart, but gen 3 is where I knew I was going to be playing pokemon forever!
awesome post! This was a generation where I unfortunately did not get to play much of as it was a rough time in my life but I did enjoy the remakes
Aww Thank You!! Aww nooo! I really liked Gen III, but Gen II will always be my favorite! Which Gen did you start with?
The remakes were so good! I especially loved the Deoxys post game event!!
Hoenn is my favorite map, I just love the design of it, Sootopolis being one of my favorite city. The first time I played when Sapphir/Ruby came out, I choose Torchic, pretty much like you I tend to go for the Fire type. But again like you I did choose Mudkip as started this time. That Water/Ground combination is really convenient even if it was a double weakness again the Grass type.
I really hope day day the release a master game with all the region in it, but would will have to choose a new starter from the region before each game.
Oh my gosh yes! I love the design of Hoenn, it reminds me of a beautiful tropical resort!! Now I don’t miss all the surfing and the Tentacool!
Aww yeah, another #TeamFire person!! There was just something about Mudkip that made it stand out from the rest! The double weakness to grass killed me but Swampert had a high enough HP and Defense to make it worth keeping around!
Oh man I’ve always wondered how a master game would work like, level wise and stuff. Maybe if they took your old pokemon at the start of each new region or something, kind of like how Ash does it in the anime…
Tentacool are not cool .
Taking the old pokemon, at least putting them in the PC, would be a nice idea, but for that each region need to have low pokemon level when we start it. Not like Kanto and Soulsilver/ heart gold and which have 45lv pokemon from the start if I remember well.
Yeah, there would be a lot of roadblocks to a master game. They’d either have to lower the levels or raise the max level from 100 to something else.
Someone made a video on YouTube about a master game once but I can’t find the link anymore… but they pretty much said the level mechanic would be the biggest setback to a master game… Maybe if they did something like what they did with the Ranger games instead! That would eliminate the need for levels all together
Did I played Pokemon Ranger?? Don’t recall playing it, maybe on the GBA, I can’t really tell how it would be since I can’t remember the game mechanic for Pokemon Ranger
You capture pokemon temporarily with a beyblade like top for missions and the like and once your done with them you release them…. exploring a specific region solving problems
I see, since I like collecting pokemon I doubt I will like the fact that I would have to release them later 😅
Lol I thought the same thing at first but it was oddly fun!
Oh my goodness. This is nostalgic. I was also one of the first people to play the 1st Gen Pokemon games on those huge Gameboy consoles. Ahaha! Whatever happened to those? Same here. Johto and Kanto are where I grew up. I also love Hoenn!!! Ah. The feels. So adventurous and exciting. The novelty from these original games is something Pokemon Go doesn’t have right now. But if it can incorporate even just a little bit, then perhaps I’ll be persuaded to download Go and play. But for me the original Pokemon games still reign supreme. Great post. And of course, thank you for submitting this post to my blog carnival. Keep up the great work. Cheers!