Alright, I'll be serious this time.
I remember picking up Pokemon Red version in early january in 1999 after spending a weeked at the coast with a friend that had both version and let me play one on the trip. From that moment, I was instantly hooked. A month later after I had bouth red version and saved up enough allowance, I went back to my local wal-mart and purchased blue version and played through it just as excited as I was the first time I played through the story in red. Then in october of that same year, Pokemon yellow hit store shelves and I just had to have the latest iteration in the pokemon series. Played through the same story (slightly altered though) for a 3rd time and still couldn't get enough.
Then once Gold/Silver hit, I remember the day I bought gold version. I had begged and begged my mother to let me buy it and I promised I wouldn't start it until I had finished my homework that day. Finally being able to crack open that box and start a brand new and fresh journey in the world of Pokemon had never felt so great. Months later I picked up Silver and trudged through the same story but with just as much as enjoyment.
Ruby/Sapphire finally hit and this is where I had almost left pokemon behind. Being very late in finally getting one of the versions and after playing through it, I felt that something was lacking. I just didn't get the same feeling from playing through the Ruby/Sapphire story as I had when I played through Red/Blue/Gold/Silver. The ruby/sapphire series IMHO is quite possibly the worst pokemon rpg to date. It just felt like step backwards in the series and made me almost completely dismiss the series as a whole.
Finall Diamond/Pearl hit and I immediately became rehooked. Playing through Diamond on launch day felt just like playing through red for the first time, it just had that magic effect to bring me back into the series. Being such an improvement over ruby/sapphire and bringing back some old elements from gold/silver while also fine tuning and balancing the combat system, diamond and pearl felt like the breath of fresh air the series needed.
Now 10 pokemon rpgs, 10 years and over a thousand hours later, pokemon still has that addictive gameplay and charm to keep me in it.