In 1998 while working on a deal with Media Factory I saw a B’day Pikachu card. I thought it was amazing like nothing else I’d ever seen in sports or non sports cards. From that day on Kagemaru Himeno has been my favorite pokemon artist. I was lucky enough to get her TMB badge which she signed(also shown below).
Anytime anybody mentions pokemon the first image that pops into my head is the below B’day Pika.
What card image is the first to pop into your head?
I think of when my mom woke me up early a saturday morning telling me that there is the new show thats apperantly pretty big. I rush down and see the intro to the pokemon series and its the first ever episode, and its the first time it aired in Norway. After the first episode I was so hocked!
I always think about this when I hear pokemon
I’ll always remember pulling my first holo which was a Blastoise. The next day some guy at school ripped me off and got me to trade it for a Gyarados. D:
Ironically, Gyarados is the first holo I’ve pulled recently in a lot of packs I bought off ebay. I hate that card. lol
Whenever I hear Pokemon I always think about going to 7-11 when I was little and my grandparents buying me the old school WOTC packs they had for $2.99 and getting that whiff of fresh cut cards.
Ohhhhhyeaaah… mm. Lol
When I hear Pokemon I think of spreadsheets. Glorious collecting spreadsheets.
Maybe that’s not as romantic as the images in the heads of others. 
Lots of images flood into my mind when I hear the word but there are a couple vivid memories from back in the day that I cherish. One is seeing a kid on the school bus playing the game, which was the first time I heard of pokemon, and the other is visiting the local comic shop to buy packs. I had never been in a shop like that before pokemon. I’d liken it to harry potter first stepping into diagon alley. There was something magical about it.
I think back to when I was around 5 or 6, and wanting the one card every kid was dying to get… a CHARIZARD.
Begged my parents for weeks to buy me one. Wasn’t till I started playing soccer, and my dad told me if I made a single goal he’d go to the local card shop and get one for me.
Long story short, I made that goal, and am now the man I am today because of that card.
Nailing it down to one moment is hard. I’ve been into the games, the anime, and of course the cards.
If I had to pick one moment in time I would probably go with watching the 2nd movie with Lugia. I vividly remember when Misty was reading a prophecy about the world turning to ash… then she said the world was turning to ashe. My mind was blown.
Lime green game boy color and Pokemon yellow. Most money I had ever spent at once to that point in my life by far, first time crossing $100. Still remember the day. Put so many hours into that game. Was always way bigger into the games than the cards and bigger into the cards than the show. Never watched a whole episode until a couple years ago.
*found this on google images. Forgive the marble madness but I had the lime green and yellow version as shown.
when you say pokemon, i see a guy in sweat pants with a box of charizard cards.
I just get picturerbz of playing the gamboy with the sestra and friends… and then pictures of the day the sestra pulled the charizard, which left a deep salty eternal hole in my heart that could never be filled untill years later I bought a psa 10 1st ed shadowless zard, which some dick from here said it was shit, so that hole started getting big again. So yeah… I hate you M.
But then the whole was refilled with the no rarity 10 zard.
yeah… But I really like what @swolepoke said, because yeah… I wouldnt be the man today if it wasnt for those moments lol.
So here’s my original Gameboy and first Gameboy package thing I got… I don’t have the actual original Gameboy anymore but here is the pouch/carrying case thing it came with, and this is my first Pokemon game being red. And my sestras being blue version. And this is my second Pokemon game being silver version… they say AU made I think on the side lol.
Well, the first thing I think about when I hear Pokémon is my Pikachu collection. Mainly because it’s still part of my daily life now, which makes it obvious to think about first.
After that I think about how I’ve watched all Pokémon episodes and movies there are, and how many many hours this is in total. I also think about myself as a 7 year old child seeing a boy throwing a red and white ball at a caterpillar (the end of episode 2). Or how I’ve traded my holo Chansey of my very first pack for a Pidgey, Pidgeotto and Vulpix, only to see the Chansey being mentioned on the news a few days later as a rare and valuable card.
But, although it’s not the first thing I think about, I think about what a huge part Pokémon has been in some parts of my life. I’ve known Pokémon since I was 7 years old (I’m turning 26 in two weeks from now), and although it’s not a major part of life (as in there are loads of people that has never been involved with Pokémon in any way), but I’m still glad it was and still is a pretty big part of my life. I’ve enjoyed the collecting, the anime, and of course this amazing community. Here’s to many more years with Pokémon in our lifes. 
Greetz,
Quuador
Nice thread, i tend to think of weedle from base set. Was the first card i owned. I also tend to think of primary school to, just remembering everyone collecting cards and trading was just so fun.
Oh boy… where do I start with this one? I don’t have one specific card that I think of when Pokemon comes to mind, but I do have two special cards that relate to this question that I’ll mention below. There’s a few special early memories that come rushing to mind when I think of Pokemon.
On my first day of kindergarten in the year 2001 I remember bringing in a big bag of my Pokemon cards to school to trade with other kids and having to put them away quickly before the teacher saw, lol. I’d gotten them taken away on the bus on the way home from school one day and cried my eyes out until the bus driver gave them back when I got home.
I remember looking at the Beckett Pokemon magazines every month and seeing all of the new cards from whatever set was being released next. I specifically remember looking at Feraligatr 12/165 and Blastoise 4/165 from Expedition and thinking that they were the coolest cards ever. It was such a great time looking at those Beckett magazines every month, I always looked forward to them.
Finally, the day Pokemon 3 The Movie came out on VHS I remember my parents buying it for me while I was being babysat at my grandparents. I must’ve watched that movie and The First Movie about 100 times to this day, I’m not exaggerating. I still watch it maybe once a month.
My earliest memories are all literally of Pokemon. As ridiculous as it may sound, I’m not sure where I’d be without Pokemon, I can’t imagine that. It has had such significant meaning in my life for the last 16-17 years.
It’s very simple for me. Whenever I hear the word Pokemon, an image of Pikachu pop into my head. They both start with the letter P and have yellow color. So whenever I hear Pokemon, I think of Pikachu.
I just feel happy when I see Pokemon. The cards taught me how to read and brought me closer to my dad as we learned to play the TCG together. I was fortunate enough to compete in tournaments and play at a very high level and had a blast growing up. And now, it feels very satisfying and makes me feel justified in spending my time knowing there is financial value in the hobby. Pokemon brings me joy. Simple as that.
Card wise, Raichu EX from Sandstorm is my first card, but Empoleon from Diamond and Pearl may be my favorite card due to the tournament success it led me to. Those 2 cards will always have a special place in my heart.
When I think of Pokémon I get a rush of pictures in my head. Pokedex, Pokeballs, Ash, Misty, Brock, Gym Leaders, Gym Badges, The back of English cards, Kanto starters, Mewtwo & Game Boys all in a swirling vortex.
Hell yeah!
Haha…that’s great:)
It appears that way lol.
The first thing I think of when I hear the word “Pokemon” is the late, great ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.
It’s a long story…