For those that have been reading the blog since its inception, you are used to my slow but steady journey towards a living Pokédex. I completed Gen 1 and sent all 151 to Pokémon Home and had begun my Gen 2 journey. Over the past few months, life has been busy and I have admittedly been in a bit of a rut when it comes to not only gaming, but being able to have sustained focus on something (even stuff I love). I’m sure a bit of depression is at play here and it’s not uncommon for me to have periods where my mood will dip. I’m sure most can relate. Lately, I’ve not felt inspired to continue my journey to a complete living Pokédex and instead have just been watching YouTube videos about gaming/Pokémon. A few months ago, I came across a YouTuber named Nostalgic Nighthawk who was producing Generation 3 content. I couldn’t get enough. I never really played Gen 3 games that much– at least not to completion and there was such a big jump in complexity from Gen 2 to 3 that there was so much more to know/learn. The other aspect of this newfound YouTube channel was that there was a small, blooming community around the content and the love of Pokémon. I don’t socialize too much and mostly do so via online gaming or forums. Both of these things– the opportunity to socialize and finding fresh, new Gen 3 content reconnected me to Pokémon.

So what does this all mean? Well, for one, I’m not giving up on my Living Pokédex challenge– it’s just on a hiatus. What I’d like to do is experience Generation 3 Pokémon for the first time and document my journey. This won’t be a completionist kinda thing, but instead experiential. There are so many other things in my life that I have experienced that I wish I could go back to experience for the first time again. My plans are simple– I’m just going to game and write about it. I’m not going to come up with any specific structure or promises– it never works out when I do that. I may also record some videos for my dormant YouTube channel. Nothing fancy, just me playing Pokémon and talking about it. I do have some aspirations though. I’d like work towards some specific Emerald goals though: beating the elite four, completing the Hoenn Pokédex, win all Master Rank contests, and collect all the gold badges in Battle Frontier. Additionally, I would like to complete all the contests and utilize my e-Reader in the other Gen 3 games Ruby and Sapphire since I have a complete collection of e-Reader cards. Anyhow, I hope you stick around for the journey. I’m excited to get started!