This day, 10 years ago, I received a copy of Pokemon Black and Pokemon White Version for my 10th birthday from my parents and grandparents. They were my first Pokemon games, even though I had been collecting the TCG since Diamond and Pearl a few years prior. Actually, 13 years ago was when I got money for my 7th birthday to buy my first Pokemon cards. I have very vivid memories of that day too.
Generation V receives a lot of criticism for omitting all previous-gen Pokemon from the main story, but that is what made it perfect for me. I had 3 years to learn about and develop connections with 493 Pokemon, but when I got Pokemon Black and White, I was going in blind. I knew nothing about the Unova region’s world, characters, or Pokemon - in fact, the only ones I could name were the starters and Zoroark, thanks to the cheesy TCG commercials they used to run on television. Knowing loads of Pokemon I had never seen were somewhere in the game made it incredible to slowly fill out the Pokedex. That feeling of discovery is something no other Pokemon game has given me. I developed bonds and memories with many Unova Pokemon, more than I ever had with any other region. I suppose the way I felt was very akin to how it felt for others to play Red and Blue for the first time. Pokemon White was my game of choice because I thought Zekrom was cooler than Reshiram. I logged 320 hours into Pokemon White as a kid, which was quite the feat considering even now, 100 hours in a game is a lot for me. The story, region, sprite work, Pokemon, and music really captivated me. Leaving Nuvema Town, meeting N, entering Driftveil for the first time, encountering one of the storm Djinns on Route 7, snaking through Victory Road, Team Plasma’s castle rising from the ground, the stunning end credits scene, motivating all the musicians on Village Bridge, awakening Kyurem, summoning Landorus at the abundant shrine, locating Volcarona under Relic Castle, stumbling upon the broken down P2 Laboratory, innocently walking into unexpected doom in Undella Town, solving the puzzles of the Abyssal Ruins…if you’ve played Black and White, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Alongside the games, I also got a bunch of newly released Black and White Base Set packs and some promo boxes (the “World of Illusions” box and the “Victini Box”). My pulls weren’t amazing, but opening packs of BW Base and seeing cards of Pokemon I didn’t know existed was surreal. All other gifts took the sidelines to Pokemon that night. Its certainly something I will never experience again. When I think about that night, surrounded by my family, I can’t help but smile.
Today, on my 20th birthday, I decided to finally create my collection thread. I have been a member here on E4 for almost a year at this point, and was waiting for a meaningful way to start this thread that will mean much to me. I hope to make this thread a documentation of old memories with my childhood collection plus new memories as an adult collector, and hopefully resonate with others here on the forum.
So, here we are. I started my thread with a story about how Generation V brought me to the point of no return with Pokemon as a constant in my life (although I didn’t know it at the time). The first cards I show to you are two of my favorite cards in the TCG: Reshiram and Zekrom Full Arts from Black and White Base.
You’ve seen them a thousand times. The dragon of truth and the dragon of ideals, yin and yang, two parts of a greater whole. The first textured full art cards, arguably the foundations for the modern TCG. On my 10th birthday, I had no idea these existed. It wasn’t until I pulled that exact Zekrom a few weeks later using birthday money did I discover them. It was instantly my favorite card, my personal grail, the jewel of my 10 y/o crown. While I didn’t pull them on my birthday night surrounded by family, looking at these two cards and the games behind them floods me with memories of that night. These two cards are some of the most valuable to me.
If you made it this far, thank you. I look forward to sharing more cards and memories in the future.
