As told in Part 1 and Part 2 of this life-story, Pokemon has always been a huge part of my life. In 2007, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl versions were released for the Nintendo DS in North America. At the time I was a freshman in high school and I was increasingly interested in engaging with the next generation of Pokemon. That year I had bought my Nintendo DS Lite in order to play these new Pokemon games. My cousin and I were so excited for both of these Pokemon games. My cousin called first “dibs” on getting Pokemon Diamond and picking the Chimchar, the fire starter as his first Pokemon in the game. Thus, I settled for Pokemon Pearl and picked Turtwig, the grass starter as my first Pokemon in the game. My cousin and I then challenged each other in a race to see who would complete the main game first. I ended up winning in the end because of the combination of Pokemon and movesets that I used. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl versions take place in the Sinnoh region and introduced 107 new Pokemon since the Gameboy Advance games. My favorite Pokemon in this generation was Garchomp because of his strong power, strength, and speed. The Sinnoh region was brand new; it was literally a new adventure in the Pokemon franchise. I enjoyed exploring the region and combating Team Galactic, the villainous team within the game. The legendary version mascots were immensely powerful in the game as well. I enjoyed using Palkia, the legendary mascot of Pokemon Pearl version. My cousin enjoyed using Dialga, the legendary mascot of Pokemon Diamond version. Then in 2009 Pokemon Platinum version was released, which was an expansion game of both Pokemon Diamond and Pearl versions which further improved several of the features within both of the Pokemon games with new story content and story-lines added to the main game. My brother got Pokemon Platinum so he could now battle and trade Pokemon with both my cousin and myself. The legendary version mascot for Pokemon Platinum was Giratina. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl had also introduced new features that would forever change the multiplayer interaction between players; this would bring Pokemon interaction to a global scale.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl versions, the first set Nintendo DS games, introduced online multiplayer where players can battle, compete with, and trade their Pokemon with other Pokemon trainers all over the world. It was very revolutionary!! No longer was Pokemon relatively isolated between a few members of the community in relatively close proximity! Also players can now trade and battle wirelessly in close proximity without the use of any cables or external devices (Pokemon Firered and Leafgreen already had introduced the wireless adapter for wireless play between two Gameboy Advances but it required the wireless adapter as an external device). My cousin and I would always make our teams and compete against each other by battling via WiFi and online play. We would also trade Pokemon with each other too through WiFi. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl forever revolutionized the interaction between Pokemon enthusiasts. This allowed me to focus on really training and leveling up my Pokemon and even battle people online using WiFi. As a result, the seed of competition was planted in me that would soon grow during my college years when I played Pokemon!

Three years later, when I was a senior in high school in spring of 2010, Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver versions were released in North America for the Nintendo DS. Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver are enhanced remakes of Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; my favorite games in the entire series. Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver were in the same generation as Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, meaning that people can trade Pokemon between the two sets of games!! Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver brought back the walking Pokemon feature, which hadn’t been seen in the series since Pokemon Yellow version first introduced it back in 1999. Both of these games also included the Pokewalker, which is a separate portable device in which you can use to communicate with your game and Nintendo DS so that you can transfer Pokemon from your games into the Pokewalker. The Pokewalker was a pedometer as well, counting the steps taken so that the more steps the Pokemon trainer takes, the more likely the Pokemon transferred to the Pokewalker would find rare items and even encounter rare Pokemon!! This was one of the most enjoyable features about Heartgold and Soulsilver that I enjoyed. In fact, the Pokewalker was significant in starting one of the biggest life-long friendships that all started in the second week of my freshman year of college in fall of 2010.

Join me next time for Part 4 as I talk about the significant impact of the Pokemon franchise during my college years. Cheers!!