Help deciding where to start for young Pokemon fan

[psubsee2002]

My 8 year old daughter is very interested in Pokemon and asked for a "used Game Boy" for Christmas so she can start playing the main titles. Her exposure to Pokemon so far consists of the TV Series, Pokemon Go, and a few books. She doesn't have any experience in the main titles or how they work. Leveling up by battling vs candies is going to be a new concept for her.

She specifically said she wanted to start with Generation 1. Assuming this is non-negotiable, it seems like my options are:

• 2DS with Pokemon Red/Blue via Virtual Console
• Find a DS or DS Lite, and pick up a copy of FireRed or LeafGreen.

Given her lack of exposure to the Pokemon RPG + experience with more modern concepts like "eggs", seems like the DS route would be the best idea, especially since there are a lot of options with the Gold & Silver remakes and 4 other generations worth of titles.

Am I missing anything?

 

[shoz999]

Not the right place to post this thread but I personally think any main series title is a good start except for USUM unless your looking for overall as much content as you can get. Although if you are planning to give her a DS or DS Lite, I do recommend you pick up FireRed and LeafGreen (It's basically Gen 1 but with better graphics and more stuff to do) and absolutely HGSS. The HGSS games are considered by many as the best remakes ever designed. However if she's into grand storytelling, I'd recommend BW, BW2 or SM. Especially BW2, the content packing in that game is amazing. Other than that. All the games are a friendly start to new Pokemon fans except maybe USUM.

Actually USUM is kind of hard to judge in terms of being friendly to new fans. It has a lot more content than SM, for starters it last longer, but it's story can be hard to understand if you don't play the first game.

 

[psubsee2002]

I apologize for posting this in the wrong place. I didn't see a room that seem to fit with "what should I start with..." although I did pause on the Gen 1 room. If someone can move this to the right spot, I'd appreciate it.

I'm open to almost anything. Since she wanted to start with Generation 1, I wanted to give her a good start but give her something familiar, which is why I thought FireRed would be a better choice than the original Red. And since FireRed isn't available via VC, that means finding an old GBA or a DS. And with the more titles available on the DS, I thought that would be the best option.

 

[shoz999]

Actually I'm quite not sure either. It's been a long while since I've seen a help thread that asks about the Pokemon series in general so it doesn't really fit any of the other Generation help threads. Come to think of it, this thread might actually fit in the General Pokemon Discussion thread after all or possibly the Newbie lounge but the Newbie lounge specifically says that it's not for any help for any of the actual games, just exploring the Serebii website. So that's why I'm not really sure where this thread fits. I suppose you just go ask the mods about this thread or wait for them to comeby and see what happens. If you ask them directly, response might take a while, they'll tell you whether this is the right place or not or point you the directions of where to post this thread.

Other than that, I'd say FireRed and LeafGreen are a better choice if you can afford it simply because Red and Blue are a bit more experimental and annoying in some cases. Also I don't know if you know this, but you can also transfer Pokemon from Gen 3 and up. So it's a pretty nostalgic childhood experience for many who transfer Pokemon from Gen 3 to Gen 7 over time. You can do it for Virtual Console though from Gen 1 and 2 to Gen 7 but I'd recommend you don't transfer Gen 2 Pokemon to Gen 7. Or at least anything with cross-gen evolutions. There is a glitch that hasn't been fixed yet that deems cross-gen evolution Pokemon from Gen 2 as illegal in Gen 7.

 

[nel3]

you do have another option that would fulfill the gen1 clause. go for HG/SS gen4 game, it plays well on a 2ds and it contains both Kanto and Johto regions. it does have more intricacies in individual values and EV training but you will have the gen1 gym leaders in HG/SS. the HG/SS cames should be relatively easy to find 2nd hand or in flea markets. if you want to go with a DS lite and fire red then that ok too though if its a 2DS that she wants then HG/SS is a good alternative.

there is also the option of digital copies of red/blue on the 2ds but i found gen2 and gen4 rather similar (given HGSS is a remake) and fairly representative for gen1 content.

i went from yellow to silver. jumped to HG and X, i got OR then went to Sun then UM. i wasnt too happy with gen7 after 6 months or so, so i went back gen6.

 

[shoz999]

She is right about one particular thing that could save you a lot of money. Your only getting a DS/DS Lite for FireRed and LeafGreen and that's really it. (EDIT: I'm actually looking at the prices and they aren't too bad for old games. You'd think it'd be 100 or 200 bucks.) You can play the Hoenn region through the Ruby and Sapphire 3DS remakes which does a pretty good job itself. If you get a 3DS you also have access to DS games. Through this you can have access to Platinum (4th gen), HGSS (Gen 2 remakes), BW (Gen V), BW2 (Gen V), XY (Gen VI), ORAS (Gen 3 remakes), SM (Gen 7), USUM (Gen 7) and of course the Virtual Console games of Gen 1 and Gen 2.

On a different note. Wow. I saw the prices of FRLG. The new ones cost around 350 bucks. The used ones cost around 20 to 40 bucks. Saw HGSS. A new one cost 270 bucks. A used one costs around 60 to 90 bucks. That is pretty expensive lol. I believe original prices were 20 or 30 bucks for GBA and DS games.

 

[Vivian]

Buy a switch and lets go pikachu/eevee, if she plays pokemon go, she will love the connection with lets go.

 

[Ariki]

Get Pokemon Let’s Go if you can. Otherwise, 3DS with VC Gen 1 should suffice - they VC games are cheap too so once she’s done with Gen 1 you can get her Gen 2 without breaking the bank account. Best part of all, she can use Poke Transporter to transport her teams to Gen 7 and Gen 8.

 

[RedJirachi]

Pokemon Let's Go is a good beginner's guide, though I wouldn't recommend spending on it until some time has passed

 

[Nockturne]

Since she wants to start with Gen 1 I would get her a 2DS (if she is just interested in Pokemon a 3DS is unnecessary) and one of the Gen 1 games on VC. Getting Yellow could be a better idea than Red or Blue just because the front sprites are more visually in line with the rest of the series (some of those R/B sprites can be pretty jarring to look back on) and she'd have access to all 3 starters. And as others have mentioned you can get the Gen 2 games on the same system which a relativity inexpensive, and she can play a version of every other current entry in the franchise with the Gen 3 remakes and Gen's 4, 5, 6 and 7 being playable on the 2DS.

I personally don't think its worth going to any lengths to get her FR/LG.

 

[Ignition]

FRLG seems perfect. It has a good introduction of features like TMs, abilities, and items (to name a few). If you really want to get a GBA, the Gen 1 remakes have the LR buttons have prompts for FAQs in case she gets lost. The game has a basic storyline and exploration isn't too restrictive. Easing her into the future gens with other features like Megas & Z Moves will be easier as most of the fundamentals will be exposed to her. Plus I think FRLG is the best Kanto experience. I've done the same for my 7 yo nephew and he's having a blast