On Feb. 27, 1996, two games were released in Japan by a small gaming development company. Now, 20 years later, those two games are forever ingrained in the conscious of an entire generation. I was very young when I first discovered "Pokémon Red" and "Blue," but I remember distinctly watching the older children (who I looked up to) battle it out over link cables. That Christmas I got "Pokémon Blue" and my love for Pokémon blossomed.

My family is very fond of the stories of young Rudy playing "Pokémon," particularly because so many of them involve strange circumstances, many of which can no longer happen due to just advancements in technology. Back when "Pokémon" was first released, handheld gaming devices did not come with built-in screen lights. You had to plug a wormlight (picture below) into a port on the Game Boy in order to play in dark environments.

Well, once upon a time, little Rudy was trying to play Game Boy in a dark car and forgot his wormlight. Needing to save, I handed it over to my mother who proceeded to accidentally release my Blastoise (which, was basically my only good Pokémon because I was a child and didn't really understand the importance of team diversity or using any Pokémon besides my starter).

My family is also very fond of the notion that playing "Pokémon Blue" taught me to read. When I first got the game, I hadn't yet learned how to read. I did, however, realize that asking my parents to interpret everything that showed up on screen was not the proper way to play. So thank you, Pokémon, for inspiring me to read.

The series has, of course, developed over time and improved on certain aspects. For example, games are now in full-color instead of monochromatic shades (thanks "Gold" and "Silver"). Also, development of further types helped to prevent Psychic from being the dominant powerhouse it used to be (shout out to those days). Eventually Special and Physical attacks were split based on nature of the move, then by typing alone. This brought viability to certain Pokémon that were otherwise terrible.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Pokémon 20th Anniversary is that the original game that stole all of our hearts (Red, Blue and Yellow) and created the Pokémania that we saw in the late '90s and early '00s are now available for purchase on the Nintendo Virtual Console so you can play them all again. I know my copy of "Blue" and my copy of "Yellow" no longer function due to age, but I am excited to once again experience the magic.

Here's to 20 more years, Pokémon!