I got Pokémon Yellow for my eighth birthday, complete with a magenta GameBoy Color and a GameBoy pouch with Pikachu on the front. I was a stupid kid back then, so I lost to Brock like three or so times before I found a Mankey. Pikachu hated me for a while since. What made it worse was that I cheated (kinda) by getting a kid's Poliwrath (later on a Cloyster) early on, and it would not obey for a very, very long time.
Later that year for Christmas, I got Pokémon Silver, and I still didn't learn my lesson. Well, I got a Celebi, though, until my brother started it over and saved >_>.
I then learned to get through the games myself, and that's what makes them more enjoyable and memorable.
(misses Yellow and Silver)