3 Pokémon games that didn't get the love they deserved

The most heartbreaking Pokémon episode isn't the one you're thinking of

To live is to experience regret. Some regrets are small in retrospect, like regretting not asking that cute classmate out to the middle school dance. Others huge, like regretting turning down (or even accepting) a job offer, affecting your life and career for years to come. Whatever your regrets are, I’m sorry, but they pale in comparison to mine. I’ll never forgive 14-year-old me for selling his Pokémon games for a whopping five bucks.

Let’s back up. Like any kid straight out of the ‘90s, my childhood was full of Pokémon. Catching the anime on Cartoon Network, renting the movies from Blockbuster, collecting the cards (even if they only lived in a binder, never to be played with). Playing the games, of course.

Pokémon Crystal was my first foray into the series. I can still picture its sparkly cartridge sticking out of my Game Boy Advance. As a youngin, I was transfixed by its near-perfect gameplay loop; I didn’t have the desire to catch ‘em all (I didn’t complete my first Pokédex until 2022’s Pokémon Scarlet), but you bet I was driven to be the very best, like no one ever was.

That drive carried over to the next........

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