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For 90s kids, there's no need for explanation. For others, well, pokemon was a phenomenon. It was everywhere, on TV, in magazines, toys, stickers. You could trade pokemon at the school excursion on the bus.
You felt alive in this world, pokemon gen 1-2 were the pinnacle of pokemon for me. And in gen2, finishing the game, and lo and behold, there's a whole other region (kanto) waiting for you to explore it. The night cycle in the game blew my mind in ways that I have been chasing ever since.
I know it will never be reached again, but the memory will remain as powerful as it was that evening of the early 00s. What is your greatest gaming high, that you know will never be topped again, and that you have been chasing ever since?
I know what you mean about Gold and Silver. Everything you mentioned, plus events that happened on specific days of the week, "mystery gift" functionality via IR, and more stuff I'm forgetting. There were also radio stations you could "listen" to (read text) that made the world feel alive.
Even in gen 1, trading/battling revived link-cable culture, which I'd only ever seen people use for Tetris, years before.