"Stories of Playing Pokemon Red, as a kid who didn't understand anything"

A little while ago I saw a post talking about finishing Pokemon Gen 1 for the first time, and it got me thinking about my experience with the game -- as a kid who just really didn't understand back in the day. I remember telling this story to friend growing up, and I always thought it was fun to hear about their experiences as well. So figured I'd go ahead and share what I had to say, and hear what you guys have to say as well!Anyway...When I got Pokemon Red, I was only 7 years old. I had never played an RPG before, and all my knowledge came from my love of the new show airing on Kids WB. Back then I wasn't the best at reading (english/reading was my worst subject in school), and there were a lot of things I simply didn't understand. Trying to get through Pokemon had me misunderstanding a lot about the game, and ultimately lead me to making some MAJOR mistakes. But that didn't keep me from continuing to play it non stop for the next few years of my life (until the release of Silver).I still remember not understanding that "Lvl" meant level, and that I wasn't actually running around with a level 116 party. Kids at school made fun of me and thought I was lying/making up stories when I told them how strong my pokemon were, but it was really just me not realizing it was an l and not a 1. I also didn't fully understand the whole "you should level all your pokemon" concept, and only focused on one Pokemon from start to finish -- which happened to be a beedrill I left in the daycare and saw evolve not long after I took it out. Then there was the whole legendary pokemon issue -- I killed them all!I didn't know legendaries were one of a kind. I thought they were a "challenge" to fight, and so that's what I did. Didn't catch a single one of them, and didn't realize my mistake until kids at school told me. That's when I decided when I got to Mewtwo (which I was excited for), I wouldn't make that mistake. But... that lead to another issue...The other problem I had is, I didn't understand moves like flash. I went through EVERY dark cave without it! Spent hours fighting my way to lavender town, only to be scared by the music and turn around to go back to where I came from. Took me weeks to even months to finally get the courage to go back.I struggled my entire way through that game, and things continued to happen I never expected. Still remember the anxiety a battle against a bellsprout caused me when I got caught in it's wrap, and had to wait for all 200 + of my HP to drain to 0 to escape the battle. I hadn't saved in who knows how long, and the GB batteries were dying on me. Fun times. The real kicker though, and the mistake I'll never forgive myself for... Came from Mewtwo.Again, after many years of playing this game daily -- I finally arrived at the moment. I was older, and understood the game better at this point, and could actually read/understand what was going on! All my time spent on it, finally brought me to Mewtwo. So, I started the game up on my N64 Pokemon Stadium, kicked on the turbo speed, made by way through the cave, and finally came face to face with the pokemon I had waited oh so long for. Of course I was smart enough to make a save before at this point, and I continued to reload each time I failed. Then, an idea hit me. I watched/played the games with my dad, and I figured "hey, why not wait till he gets home to show him Mewtwo?" So, that's what I decided to do. But of course I wanted to continue playing the game, but didn't want to back track through the cave... So what did I do? I started a new game.Thing is, I had done this many times. I'd start a new game, and simply not save! It let me replay parts of the game again (now with newfound knowledge), but not lose all my hard work up until then. So, no problem, right? Yeah....... There was still one thing I didn't understand... Changing Pokeboxes saved the game back in the day, and stupid me did just that.Let's just say, I was devastated when my dad got home. I ran up to the TV so excited to show him Mewtwo, and instead I booted the game up to me looking at a PC in the Pokemon Center... It was all gone.Yeah....... I never made it back in Red. I eventually went on to get Yellow and FINALLY caught Mewtwo there, but it once again took a long time. Smoother sailing as a 9 year old, sure, but it wasn't something that could just happen over night. Plus Silver released not long after.Anyway, thanks for reading my story! Look forward to hearing from you guys about your experiences via /r/pokemon https://ift.tt/zRVsyaJ