Today is my 30th birthday, and it was exactly 25 years ago today—on my 5th birthday—that I played Pokémon for the very first time, making today the 25th anniversary of when me and Blasquirt—my first Squirtle—went off on our very first adventure into the world of Pokémon together.

Both me and all of my Pokémon have come a long way since back then, traveling not only to many different regions, but even to other dimensions and other worlds! The one constant throughout it all, however, has always been my love of Pokémon, and it is my love of Pokémon that compels me to write this blog today just as I have written one every year here since I first joined Paint, and it is also that love that compels me to keep pushing forward and exploring more of this amazing world full of Pokémon and Pokémon Trainers that I love so much.

Some of y'all have probably wondered before why exactly is it that I chose to become the “Pokeman” (that's a cool nickname that my friend flowerlight1 here gave me BTW) that y'all know and love, and to spend literally tens of thousands of hours—over 10,000 hours in Ω Ruby Version alone—playing this particular game series as opposed to doing any number of other things that I could've spent my free time doing instead.

What exactly is it that I love so much about Pokémon anyway? Is it my fellow Draconid Lorekeeper Zinnia, whom I literally devoted my username, my main group's name, my Discord server's name, my signature here, AND my profile theme here too? Or is it all of the cool Dragon Pokémon that I insist on using (and winning with) all of the time, whom also obviously played a role in the “Draconid theme” of all of those aforementioned things? Or is it simply [A=/blog/view.php?id=97980#:~:text=I'm%20obsessive%20compulsive]my obsessive personality[/A], and the various things in the series (such as completing the National Pokédex) that the developers deliberately encourage in the games to keep people like me hooked?

The real answer is all 3 of those things and many others, including the complexity of the type matchup system (which obviously helped inspire the Element System in my own MoDBC game), the never-ending nature of the games (which is why I can spend thousands upon thousands of hours in Ω Ruby even after having “completed” it), the nearly unparalleled level of customization of each of your Pokémon's stats and moves and such (which thankfully for me is replicated quite nicely on Pokémon Showdown), and the countless mini-games and side activities such as Join Avenue and Festival Plaza in the games that offer an occasionally nice and welcome break from all of that training and battling with Pokémon that is the primary focus of the core series games.

Of course, although most of my time spent in the world of Pokémon has been spent playing the core series games, I've also enjoyed playing many of the spin-off games over the years as well, including (but not limited to) the various console games that allow you to use the Pokémon that you caught in the core series games to battle (such as Pokémon Stadium for the N64 and Pokémon Battle Revolution for the Wii); Poképark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure (I loved taking screenshots of all of the beautiful scenery in that game); and the cool game that made use of the N64's microphone, Hey You, Pikachu!
(Which we actually got free with 1 of our 2 Pikachu-themed N64s here.)

I also quite enjoyed the Pokémon anime series (which was actually my first experience with Pokémon BTW, even before playing the original Gen 1 games for the Game Boy) in the past, although I haven't gotten to watch it in years, as well as some of the Pokémon movies. I unfortunately completely missed out on the Pokémon TCG (trading card game), other than picking up a few random cards here and there from things like McDonald's Happy Meals.

I do, however, have a modest collection of cool Pokémon merchandise, including toys (like the Squirtle in the 1st screenshot below), Mystery Gift cards from Pokémon events held at stores (like the Shiny Zygarde one shown in the 1st screenshot below), a TIGER Electronics Pokédex with the original 150 Pokémon (no Mew) in it (also in the 1st screenshot below), and several Pokémon-themed clothes, accessories, etc.
(Such as the AWESOME Gengar shirt of mine shown in the 2nd screenshot below.)





Another aspect of Pokémon that I was only recently able to experience (thanks to the Kotatsu app on this AWESOME smartphone that Tulips gave me) after wanting to do so for a VERY long time is the Pokémon Adventures manga series, which I must say was even more enjoyable to read than I expected it to be!
(Then again, it was kinda my first time reading manga, lol!)

Additionally, playing games like Pokémon GO and Pokémon Masters EX (both of which I also downloaded on this phone) are now options for me, and while playing my old DS, 3DS, and console Pokemon games is probably the thing that I miss the most in my life RN (2nd only to my Mom), I'm looking forward to a future where I can experience even more wonderful aspects of my favorite game, anime, and manga franchise.

Now, before I start talking about my plans for the future here, first let me share a couple of secret techniques with y'all, which (up until now) I have only shared with a select few REALLY close friends of mine here on Paint who play Pokémon.





Now, although there may be some overlap between some of the goals listed here and those in my 5th Paint anniversary blog, here are my goals as a Pokémon Trainer for this next year.

[Spoiler=Pokeman's Pokémon Goals for 2024]1. Hold and (if I can) win another Pokémon Showdown tournament here on Paint this year, which will be held in my custom NatDex Doubles AG format.
(Which is just like last year's tournament's NatDex Doubles OU format, only with no banned Pokémon, abilities, or moves.)

2. Achieve a high ranking on the ladder(s) for the NatDex Doubles OU and/or VGC 2024 Reg G battle formats on Pokémon Showdown

3. Add all 1,025 Pokémon (and all 77 CAP Pokémon) to my Pokémon tiering system tier lists, and make my tiering system easier to use both in the handheld games and on Pokémon Showdown.

4. Win a custom avatar on Pokémon Showdown by competing in tournaments there.

5. Get my Old 2DS and/or DS Lite fixed so that I can play my handheld games again, and/or get a Nintendo Switch and a copy of Pokémon Violet or Scarlet Version.

6. Resolve my (somewhat complicated) Pokémon Bank situation, and transfer some of the Pokémon in my Gen 6 and 7 games to Gen 8 and/or 9 using Pokémon HOME.

7. Battle and/or trade with some of my friends here on Paint in the actual handheld games, rather than just battling them on Showdown.

8. Prepare to compete in the 2025 Pokémon Video Game Championships (VGC) next year.

9. Make more progress on me and royal-rawr's Vana Fakemon region, including coming up with a team of Pokémon for the region's Champion.

10. Write a fanfic about my favorite Pokémon character Lorekeeper Zinnia and her mysterious friend and/or lover Lorekeeper Aster (not to be confused with Zinnia's Whismur Aster), which will attempt to explain many things regarding Zinnia's past not covered in the core series games, as well as attempting to flesh out Lorekeeper Aster more as a character.[/Spoiler]

Some of those goals are certainly more ambitious than others, but given that this is the year of the Draconid, I'm feeling quite optimistic that I.may be able to achieve at least 1 or 2 of those more ambitious Pokémon-related goals of mine as well.

This past year—my 25th year as a Pokémon Trainer—has turned out incredibly well for me all.things considered, and although it's been a VERY long time since I first set out on my journey with Blasquirt back in Kanto, I still love Pokémon just as much as even more than when I first started 25 years ago.

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[Spoiler=Pokeman's Cool Pokémon Photos]

































In loving memory of my Old 2DS. I hope and pray that I'll be able to get you working again someday, but either way, I will cherish all of the precious memories that you helped me to create both in the world of Pokémon and right here on Paint. [/Spoiler]