There's been a lot of buzz around the Pokémon franchise in recent months. After last year's remakes of Diamond and Pearl turned out to be a little less Brilliant and Shining than people were hoping for, public opinion seems to have U-turned with the release of Legends: Arceus in January and the announcement of the ninth generation of games, Scarlet and Violet, on Pokémon Day a couple of weeks ago. As someone whose interest in Pokémon goes a little bit beyond casual enjoyment but doesn't quite reach super-fandom levels, it's definitely an interesting time to be following the series. The last time I felt this invested in what was going on in the world of Pokémon was when X and Y were released on the 3DS all the way back in 2013 (boy, does that make me feel old).

These elevated levels of interest have, unsurprisingly, pushed me towards playing more Pokémon. In January I returned to Pokémon Sword on the Switch for my second full playthrough, but to spice things up I decided to play through the Galar region with a Nuzlocke ruleset, and found it to be a pretty enjoyable experience (if still a little on the easy side even by Nuzlocke standards). From there I pivoted into Brilliant Diamond. It is, by and large, a perfectly serviceable remake, but like a lot of the community, I was left underwhelmed by the fact that it focused on deliberately being a faithful throwback, rather than an attempt to modernise an older generation with contemporary visuals and mechanics in the vein of other remakes like HeartGold/SoulSilver and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. Then there's Legends: Arceus, a game that I really like, but am having problems losing myself in on account of the pace of story progression feeling at odds with the more freeform mechanics and emergent style of gameplay. I've just reached the third explorable open area, and kind of want to ignore the story and go off and explore, but I know that if I do I'll be delaying my access to the other remaining biomes.

But underneath all these playthroughs of recent games, something else has been stirring. A latent desire to go back and revisit the games that made me fall in love with the franchise in the first place. I originally thought this might take the form of a nostalgic retreat of Pokémon Y. But while X and Y may have got me into Pokémon in a big way, they weren't my first rodeo. To really return to where my love affair with Pokémon started, I'd need to turn the clock back even further, to 1999, when I was nine years old and the first waves of Pokémania broke upon the shores of the UK. I'm fairly certain my first exposure to the franchise was actually through the anime, which started airing on TV here before the games were even released. Swept up in the craze, I pestered my parents for a Game Boy for Christmas that year, and they delivered, placing a yellow Game Boy Pocket under the tree along with copies of Super Mario Land 2 and Pokémon Blue Version. I played that thing non-stop, burning through so many batteries that one of my tenth birthday presents in February 2000 was a rechargeable battery pack, presumably so I'd stop asking for advances on my pocket money just to buy more batteries and play more Pokémon.

A few of my friends had copies of the game too, and we would meet up at each other's houses after school and at weekends to trade, battle, and just work through the story together. I remember offering to wipe my late-game save file one day so that all of my friends could get all three starter Pokémon, a process that took a couple of hours but was worth it when we all had a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle to call our own. I remember the first time I beat the Elite Four and my rival to become the Indigo League champion, with my childhood dream team of Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Pidgeot, Raichu and Nidoking. I even remember a kid from another class turning up on my doorstep one evening with his Game Boy, his copy of Red Version and a link cable, because he just needed a Magmar to fully complete his Pokédex and had heard I was one of the few kids at school with Blue Version who might have one to trade to him. Those games were a playground revolution and a social phenomenon, and despite them being re-released on the 3DS's Virtual Console back in 2016, I haven't played them to completion for over twenty years at this point.

That is, until now.

As part of my (initially unintentional, but now seemingly conscious) effort to turn 2022 into a full blown "Year of Pokémon", I've decided to revisit the games that started it all and play through the first generation of Pokémon. Yep, that's right, not just one game, but the entire generation - Red Version, Blue Version, and Yellow Version. I'll be playing them simultaneously, implementing slightly different rules and limitations for each game in an effort to make each playthrough distinct, and trying to have the most comprehensive experience possible with the first generation of games in 2022. Unfortunately the one aspect of playing the originals that I won't be able to recapture this time around is the social aspect, since most of my old Poké-buddies have either moved out of town or moved on from the franchise altogether. That means I need to recreate this social side of playing Pokémon in a different way, and true to form, I've decided to do so by documenting the entire project in a serial blog format, which I'm calling:

Introduction - Welcome to the World of Pokémon!

This inaugural instalment of the series is mainly intended to explain what this comprehensive revisit of the Kanto region is going to entail. As previously stated, I'll be playing all three of the main-line first generation Pokémon games, but approaching each one in a slightly different way to ensure that the playthroughs hopefully remain distinct from each other. I'll be splitting the playthroughs into "phases", with each phase consisting of the path to, and the battle against, the next gym leader. So to give an example, I'll be starting with Red Version, and playing from the beginning until I earn the first gym badge from Brock in Pewter City. Then I'll switch to Yellow Version and play the same portion of the game, before finally moving on to Blue Version and playing through the same section there. From there I'll revert back to Red and start pursuing the second gym badge, and so on. Just in case anyone is interested, I'll be playing all three games on the 3DS via their Virtual Console releases, because while attempting to do so on original hardware would be extremely nostalgic, it would also be prohibitively expensive. This also means that I'll be able to transfer all my Pokémon up through Pokémon Bank and into Pokémon Home at the end of the project if I want, preserving my battling buddies for use in future titles as well.

So how exactly are these three playthroughs of three near-identical video games going to differ from each other? Well, dear reader, allow me to explain...

Red Version - The Nuzlocke Playthrough

My playthrough of Pokémon Red Version will be in the Nuzlocke format. It seemed fitting to pick Red Version as the game to Nuzlocke, since it mirrors my first ever Nuzlocke attempt - a failed playthrough of FireRed Version that I chronicled on this very blog almost exactly eight years ago. I'll be playing Red Version as the first game in rotation, since that means I'll be going into each phase of the game with the least amount of prior knowledge possible (although given the amount of time I spent with these games as a kid, it's likely I'm still going to remember a good chunk of what I'll be coming up against). For the uninitiated, a Nuzlocke is a self-imposed challenge run of a Pokémon game that seeks to increase the difficulty by imposing a number of restrictions. Nuzlocke rules state that the player can only capture the first Pokémon they encounter in each area, and if any Pokémon faint they are considered dead and must be either released or permanently boxed in the PC for the rest of the run. All caught Pokémon must also be nicknamed for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds with them, so that anyone meeting their untimely demise hurts all the more.

In addition to these core tenets, I'll be adding a couple of other stipulations for my run through Red Version. I'll be playing with "species clause", an additional rule meaning that if I encounter a Pokémon from an evolutionary line that I've already caught, I can re-roll that encounter in search of something new. This is to ensure my team is as diverse as possible and doesn't end up consisting only of Pidgey and Rattata. To further enhance the difficulty of the run, I'll be changing the battle style to Set, so similarly to competitive play, I won't get a free switch-in when I KO an enemy's Pokémon. I'll also be trying to keep my team's average level below that of the next gym leader's ace Pokémon, to prevent myself from steamrolling through challenges with an over-levelled party. For those interested, here are some other facts about this specific playthrough:

• Sticking with the canon of the games, my trainer's name will be Red, and my rival's name will be Blue
• My starter choice will be determined by the last digit of my Trainer ID - 1, 2 or 3 for Bulbasaur; 4, 5 or 6 for Charmander; 7, 8 or 9 for Squirtle. If it's a 0 then I get to pick my personal preference
• If I fail the Nuzlocke by running out of usable Pokémon and whiting out, then I will consider the challenge lost, but will continue and complete the playthrough without the Nuzlocke rules in place
• I'll be tackling the region's gyms in the "canonical" order in this playthrough - Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Celadon, Fuchsia, Saffron, Cinnabar and Viridian

Yellow Version - The Anime Playthrough

Released a year after Red and Blue Versions as the franchise's first "enhanced third version", Pokémon Yellow Version (subtitled "Special Pikachu Edition") featured a number of minor alterations to bring the game experience a little bit closer to that of the wildly popular anime. Players started with a Pikachu instead of having to choose between Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, and several of the battles with generic Team Rocket grunts were altered to feature the show's villains Jessie and James. Given these changes, Yellow Version is the perfect candidate to attempt a playthrough that imitates the events of the show as closely as possible. For this playthrough I'll be watching all the episodes of the original Kanto arc of the Pokémon anime, a show I haven't watched in over twenty years. Alongside this marathon I'll be playing Yellow Version in a way that follows Ash's actions, trying to capture the same Pokémon and use the same strategies against the challenges we face along the way.

Of the three playthroughs, this one might be the one I'm most excited about. It'll be interesting going back to the anime, which I'm almost certain won't hold up in 2022, but will nonetheless provide me with a huge dose of nostalgia. Given Ash's often limited pool of available Pokémon to choose from and his often questionable battle strategies, I could also see this potentially being even more challenging than the Nuzlocke in spots. Here are a couple more bonus facts about this playthrough:

• To mirror the canon of the anime, my trainer's name will be Ash and my rival's name will be Gary
• I won't be nicknaming my Pokémon as I don't believe Ash ever nicknamed any of his teammates, but I will be flipping the battle style over to Set, since I don't recall characters ever getting free switch-ins in the anime
• Given the slightly screwy way The Pokémon Company defines the seasons of the anime, the Kanto arc actually spans two seasons, so I'll be watching all of season one and about half of season two - basically everything from 'Pokémon - I Choose You!' through to 'Friends to the End'.
• Seeing as I'll be following Ash's route through Kanto, I'll be taking on the gyms in this rather unorthodox order - Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Saffron, Celadon, Fuchsia, Cinnabar and Viridian

Blue Version - The Nostalgia Playthrough

Arguably saving the best for last, Blue Version will play host to what I'm dubbing my "nostalgia playthrough" of the first generation. I'll be playing through the game at my own pace, with my own strategies, and will be using the same team that I had the first time I became Indigo League champion more than two decades ago - Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Pidgeot, Raichu and Nidoking. In an attempt to emulate the experience of playing through the game the same way I did as a kid, I'll also be following the advice laid out in the Pokémon Master Guide, a strategy guide published by the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine that I persuaded my mum to buy for me from the local newsagent when I was having problems navigating the Silph Co. building. Unfortunately I no longer own my physical copy of this guide and buying a new one would set me back a fair bit on eBay, but I've managed to find a PDF version online that'll do the job just as well.

Since Blue Version was the game that I owned and played on my Game Boy Pocket back in the day, it made sense to do the nostalgia playthrough in this version of the game. It would have been nice to be able to dig out my original console and cartridge for a truly authentic experience, but while I still own my copy of Pokémon Blue Version, I no longer have the yellow Game Boy Pocket I used to play it on. Plus, then I wouldn't be able to transfer my Pokémon up through Bank and Home, or pursue the final goal of this project (more on that in a second). For anyone wanting to know a little bit more, here are a few additional facts about this prospective playthrough:

• True to the way I played Blue Version all those years ago, I'll be naming my trainer Daniel (after myself) and my rival Scott (after my cousin)
• While these days I typically always play Pokémon games with the Set battle style, I'll be sticking with the classic Shift style for this playthrough, since that's how I played as a kid
• I also won't be nicknaming Pokémon in this playthrough, since nine-year-old me thought that was dumb when they already had such cute and clever names
• My journey through Kanto will emulate the one I took through the game as a child, tackling the gyms in this order - Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Celadon, Saffron, Fuchsia, Cinnabar and Viridian

The Ultimate Goal - Completing the Pokédex

While each of these three playthroughs is intended to be its own unique way of experiencing the first generation of Pokémon, there is also another reason behind my decision to play all three games simultaneously - it gives me the opportunity to do something I never managed when I was a kid, and complete the Kanto Pokédex. The closest I recall getting in my childhood playthroughs of Blue Version was having 138 Pokémon seen and 111 Pokémon caught, figures that I still think are pretty impressive in hindsight, but nowhere near that desirable total of 150*. Many years later I was able to complete a living Pokédex for the sixth generation of Pokémon (a process which I documented in another series of blogs on this very site), and I've managed to maintain it through the seventh and eighth generations too (barring the new 'mons in Legends: Arceus, which I'll have to catch and add when that game gets Pokémon Home support somewhere down the line). However, that doesn't hold quite the same simple allure as completing the Kanto Pokédex in the first generation games. Subsequent games introduced features including online trading and Pokémon breeding, both of which made it much easier to fill up gaps in the Pokédex. The first generation, by contrast, requires a lot of planning and manipulation to achieve the same goal, due to multiple situations over the course of each playthrough where the player has to pick one Pokémon at the expense of another.

Running three playthroughs side-by-side means that I can account for these situations, plan accordingly, and ensure that every possible Pokémon is available to me. Once all three runs are complete, I'll be making use of a second 3DS and the games' trade features to move all those difficult-to-obtain Pokémon into a single game. That game will be Blue Version - not only will it be easier to achieve, since there's no limitations on what I can catch over the course of the main playthrough in that game, but there will be something extra poetic about completing the Pokédex in the same version of the game that I first played as a kid. When the Pokédex total hits 150 types both seen and caught, and I've got that sweet diploma from Professor Oak, then and only then will I consider this project complete.

* I'm aware that there are, in fact, 151 Pokémon in the first generation. I'm also aware that it's possible to encounter and catch #151, Mew, with a clever bit of data storage manipulation. However, since there has never been any way to *officially* obtain Mew in the UK 3DS Virtual Console releases of Red, Blue and Yellow outside of a one-off invite-only launch event for Sun and Moon held in London in November 2016, and since it isn't required for Professor Oak to evaluate your Pokédex as complete, I won't be picking it up in any of my three playthroughs.

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So there you have it, a rough outline of my intentions to throw myself down the rabbit hole once more and descend into the wonderland that is Pokémon. I'm not sure how long this project will take, so I don't intend to construct any kind of release schedule for these posts. Instead they'll be coming out on a "when it's done" basis. That being said, I anticipate the entire project taking somewhere between three and six months, depending on how much of my attention I give to these playthroughs (right now I'm considering them very much "side games" as I truck on through Legends: Arceus). As things currently stand I have completed the first phase in all three games, making it from the title screen to the gym battle with Brock in Pewter City, meaning I have all the material I need to write the next entry, so hopefully that'll be up fairly soon. I hope you'll consider joining me on this journey to be The Very Best, Like No One Ever Was. Until next time, thanks for reading, and I'll see you around.

Daniel