That's okay, no worries. I feel really awful, too, because I could have kept in touch, but I didn't. I have been so distracted.
Yeah, same for me. Red as a kid after seeing the St Anne episode of the anime. I thought Meowth was called Meowten and Goldeen was Goldy. lol ... It was the second episode where they were stuck on the sinking ship. Ah, memories!
Yeah, same thing with me, thinking Red Gyarados was a one off ... and it's only after all these years that I realise I found a shiny Sunkern. But, of course, the shiny version and normal version are so similar that it's not as if one's blue and one's red. So, I didn't really know what it was at the time.