Game devs reveal their favorite Pokémon memories — and how the series has shaped their work

My biggest regret in life is selling my Pokémon games for five bucks

After Pokémon Go gave us a glimpse of world peace, there's no question that the monster collecting franchise is about as mainstream as video games get. Pikachu is just as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The continued pandemonium around card prices has ensured near-daily Pokémon headlines. You'd be hard-pressed to find any pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Even Pokémon fan games go viral every year.

Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally underappreciated. These are games that didn't get their fair shake, or games that were buried under the hype of the mainline series. They're Pokémon games that were stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto new mediums. They're often also Pokémon games that probably would have blossomed if they ever got sequels or modern remakes. With these criteria in mind, this list will not be yet another reminder that Pokémon Conquest or any of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games slap. We're pulling an Excadrill and digging deeper.

Still, these might be Pokémon games you already know about or played back in the day. So, before you rearrange your glasses and start typing 'Actually,' let us just agree that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?

Too many Pokémon games focus on the battling aspect of the series, and not nearly enough of them focus on the ordinary aspects that would come with living with a pet. Sure, there are minor mechanics like these in modern games — you can play with, pet, and feed your monsters in camps, for example. But I am dying for a Pokémon game that is more in the vein of Nintendogs or The........

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