Which versions did you choose? (and why?)

[Coronis]

Reading through R_N’s GTS adventures had me wondering about this.

For me personally, picking a game is all about the version exclusives - in particular the mascot (though actually with the exceptions of BW2, SM, USUM and ScVi I’ve ended up with one of each version so far… god such a money dump!

Gen 1

I didn’t initially play Gen 1 as a child sadly, and when I did start playing on emulators I played Yellow - the ability to catch all the starters really enticed me (plus then later you could easily use cheats with VBA if there was any sort of exclusive)

Gen 2

Now I can’t be sure if this was me or my parents… Silver was the first Pokemon game I played and I remember receiving it for Christmas one year (I think there’s still an actual video tape of that!) I don’t remember wanting a specific game of the two at the point (or even realising?) and fortunately Ho-oh/Lugia weren’t actually version exclusives at that point. Lugia is definitely my preferred of the two design wise.

Gen 3

(R/S)

In hindsight I’m a little surprised I took Ruby for this (actually I think I asked for Ruby for Christmas then Sapphire for my next birthday), as blue was my favourite colour at that time, young me however was really into dinosaurs and Groudon smashed that fascination for me. Nowadays eh, I used Kyogre all the time when I did play competitive (Gen 4), but neither of them are that appealing to me anymore.

(FR/LG)

Fire Red. C’mon, Charizard! Plus I knew it wasn’t making any story difference, why wouldn’t I get the mascot version.

Gen 4

(D/P)

Honestly probably my laziest reason - I didn’t really have a preference on Dialga/Palkia and chose Diamond purely because its a better gem imo.

(HG/SS)

Once I figured out they were once again, not version exclusive (surprised at the time that was kept in), I went with HG, knowing Ho-oh tied into the lore more and to change it up from Silver.

Gen 5

(B/W)

Actually got a Japanese version of BW first, was too hyped for more Pogeymanz and couldn’t wait. Surprisingly went for Reshiram I guess because Black > White (far more edgier), and later got an English White.

(B2/W2)

Continued with Black here - preferred Zekrom and Kyurem-B plus found it interesting how the Legends were different for the same game names

Gen 6

(X/Y)

Was always going for Y here, Xerneas had nothing on Yveltal for me, I did prefer Mega Charizard-X but I preferred Mega Mewtwo Y.

OR/AS

Tastes and times had changed for me - probably the games I played the least until BDSP, again wanted to go a different direction in the remakes, plus Kyogre became slightly preferred for me over Groudon, so I went Alpha. Sadly was stuck with Latias but again, didn’t spend too much time on these games.

Gen 7

(S/M)

Oh Lunala you beautiful beauty. Was really a no contest here, plus I loved Midnight Lycanroc. And I loved the whole night aspect of the game with it running 12 hours apart from real time.

(US/UM)

Not that much changed here so I ended up going with Ultra Moon again.

Gen 8

(Sw/Sh)

C’mon a Sword vs a Shield? I’m all for the underdogs (lol doggos) but lets be real here, Shield was never happening for me. Sword all the way… that opening with the Slumbering Weald and Zacian and its cry was just amazing and sealed it for me.

(BD/SP)

Initially hyped for a DP remake, like many I found myself completely disappointed and honestly disinterested in these remakes. My Switch says I spent 60 hours on it but I have barely any memory of playing it. Just went Brilliant Diamond cos…. whatever.

Gen 9

Honestly this one ended up being tougher than I initially thought. Once I heard the games names I was all over Violet - purple now being my favourite colour ahead of blue. When I heard about the Ancient/Future themes I leaned a bit towards Scarlet, plus another female Professor. I slightly preferred Koraidon over Miraidon, but thought both were pretty good. What probably clinched it was the Armarouge/Ceruledge. Ceruledge ended up being a big part of my ingame team and though I was disappointed re: Violet Paradoxes vs Scarlet, I’m happy with that choice.

Oof that ended up way bigger than I thought, anyway would love to hear everyone elses experiences and thoughts.

 

[TerrickTerran]

Gen 1 though I came into it later, I picked Leaf Green simply because the original green didn't exist outside Japan
Gen 2 Soul Silver because I like Lugia more than Ho-oh
Gen 3 no idea why I started with Ruby initially but I prefer Maxie to Archie as a villain now
Gen 4 Diamond just liked it more than Pearl
Gen 5 Black....I prefer the color and the future theme was fun
Gen 6 X is one of my favorite letters. No other reason
Gen 7 Moon.....I like dark themes
Gen 8 Sword...Attacking is more fun than defending
Gen 9 Violet....Purple is my favorite color

 

[R_N]

Red: Charizard is cool!!!!!
Silver: I liked Lugia more, and the silver colored cart
Sapphire: I love Blue and Kyogre looked cooler
Leaf Green: Well I got red "last time"!
Diamond: Dialga looked cooler than Palkia and I liked the bluer aesthetic of Diamond
Heart Gold: Well I got Silver "last time"
White: Zekrom is cooler + I could get Reuniclus & Braviary (I did not use Braviary)
BW2: My plan was always to get both anyway. I actually got Black 2 first for the Challenge Mode key for White 2 though. Though, huh, can't remember how I synched up the memory link now...
X: Xerneas was more appealing to me, it had Swirlix and I liked X's box colors.
Alpha Sapphire: I just really wanted to go through Sapphire again
Sun: Solgaleo is rad, I wanted the normal clock, it had Passimian.
Ultra Sun: No reason to rock the boat....
Sword: Sword dog was better than Shield dog
Brilliant Diamond: I just really wanted to go through Diamond again
Scarlet: I liked the Past Paradoxes more than the Future ones, and I favored Koraidon a little more than Miraidon anyway.

 

[Gryoine]

Gen2: Started with Silver, later Crystal when Silver's battery died
Gen3: Sapphire and Leaf Green
Gen4: Diamond (see above), Soul Silver, later Platinum
Gen5: White
Gen6: X, Alpha Sapphire
Gen7: Moon, Let's Go Eevee (had played Yellow before so Eevee was something new)
Gen8: Sword, Brillant Diamond
Gen9: Violet

I usually got the "not Red" games while my brother got the red games until he stopped getting them in gen6 (aside from Sun to go with my Moon). I also skipped BW2 and USM initially.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

I started with Gen 4 and my version of DP was Diamond, because I like blue better and Dialga was cooler in my book. Platinum is obviously itself, and for HGSS I went for HeartGold since Ho-Oh and gold were both cooler in my book.

For Gen 5 I had both versions of BW1 but White was my first because Zekrom was cooler and some of the exclusives I had heard of were better in my book. Subsequently I went for White 2 with the sequels.

For Gen 6 I chose Y between XY because it had nicer exclusives imo, especially Charizard Y, Dragalge, Heracross, Tyranitar, and the like. Alpha Sapphire was what I chose with oras.

Gen 7 I chose Sun and Ultra Sun, even if I had both versions of the former.

Gen 8 I went for Shield since I liked the exclusives of Shield a tad more, like Galarian Ponyta, Goodra, Tyranitar, and Reuniclus. Even if it meant losing out on Sirfetch'd which was a bit unfortunate. For that afterthought we call BDSP it's obvious I went for Brilliant Diamond since Diamond was my OG so naturally I mirrored that. Legends: Arceus is obviously itself.

For Gen 9, I chose Violet. I liked Ceruledge more than Armarouge, and the older exclusives appealed to me better like Mismagius and Dragapult (yes, Ghost is one of my favorite types). It also covered some Pokemon I missed out on with my chosen Gen 8 versions like Salamence and Clawitzer, allowing me to have a game where I could use those.

For the first three gens I played them retroactively, Gen 3 being alongside Gen 4 to complement it since the DS was backwards compatible and encouraged Gen 3/Gen 4 Dual Slot interaction, and Gen 1/2 via 3DS Virtual Console. For those, Red was my chosen version of RB, Yellow is itself, Gold was my choice for Gen 2, Crystal is obviously itself, and for Gen 3 I chose Sapphire and LeafGreen respectively.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Ooh, nostalgic thread... go on then.

Gen II

Starting with this one because... it was my first generation. I received Crystal for either my birthday or Christmas (actually not sure which, but they're only a month apart anyway) and it was all go from there. To be honest I can't recall if getting Crystal was a deliberate choice or just because it was the latest game; I presume the latter, since friends already had Gold/Silver and I probably wanted to be "ahead". But I've always really liked Suicune and it's remained my favourite Johto legend since.

When the Gen II titles eventually got released on the 3DS, however, I opted for Silver first (although eventually relented and got Gold too). I'm kind of agnostic on Ho-Oh and Lugia, by which I mean I like them equally - they don't have the same "duality" a lot of later pairings have. But I definitely prefer Silver's exclusives over Gold - Phanpy is great (who didn't want a Donphan after seeing the first movie?), Skarmory has more immediate cool power than Mantine does, and I adore Ledyba while loathing anything spider-shaped so Spinarak and Ariados are out. While Delibird is catchable in Crystal, I was obsessed with it for ages because I never managed to catch one - I'd run into it in the Ice Path, it'd use this mysterious Present attack that had a brutal-looking exploding animation, and promptly run away. I had to have this rare and powerful Ice-type!!!

...ah, the mistakes of youth.

Gen I

A while after getting Crystal, I got Red to fill in some of the gaps in my Pokedex. I've always liked Blastoise more than Charizard so idk why Red; I think I chose it simply because my cousin had Blue (which was, in hindsight, kind of a dumb reason). It was very much a utility buy, though: I played through the game - it's intensely funny to think back of all the things I didn't know about, like Lance being part of the original E4 - but mostly used it for getting the fossils, the starters, and the legendaries you can't get in Gen II.

I didn't even realise Yellow existed until a bit later when my friend told me about it, upon which I decided I had to have it. Definitely the Gen I game I enjoyed playing most: the additional difficulty absolutely blew me away. If there existed a vanilla Yellow remake I'd have bought it in a heartbeat (I don't play Pokemon on emulators but I've even looked to see if there's a fangame like this - they always seem to add in extra crap like original characters and later-gen Pokemon, though).

Gen III

So this was the first generation where I knew it was coming beforehand. I knew hardly anything about the games beyond those occasional TV ads of a kid in an underground cave seeing a Groudon appearing from the lava - for a long while I genuinely thought Groudon and Kyogre were the final starter evolutions. But eventually I got round to learning more about them and dived into playing Gen III properly.

I opted for Sapphire for a couple of reasons. I wasn't actually crazy about either mascot, but most people I knew were getting Ruby so I figured I'd be different. This proved to be the right decision as, while I was waiting for the game to arrive, I happened to see the episode of the anime where Brock gets Lotad. I adored this creature - Water/Grass sounded like a crazily good type, so I was determined to have one on my team. By good luck, I'd chosen the title Lotad was exclusive to!

I initially took to all the Sapphire exclusives and felt satisfied that I'd chosen the better version. Amusingly, however, as time's gone on I find myself preferring the Ruby exclusives: Mawile over Sableye, Zangoose over Seviper, Solrock over Lunatone, Latios over Latias. Maybe it's just me wanting what I can't have. Emerald, of course, eventually became my favourite of the three (we all thought we were so clever for guessing that the third game would be Emerald long before it was officially announced...) and fittingly Rayquaza is my favourite of its trio.

Then came FRLG. Well... green's my favourite colour so that one was kind of nailed on. But I'd bought a guide to both games before I chose the one I wanted, so I was able to research version exclusives ahead of time. Seeing that Psyduck and Oddish were both FireRed exclusives (they're both catchable in Sapphire) confirmed for me that LeafGreen was the only real option: most of its exclusives were species I liked a lot - Slowpoke, Magmar, Remoraid, Sneasel. Plus Porygon is cheaper in LeafGreen. Legitimately a crucial factor.

Looking back, though, I did come to slightly regret my choice. Electabuzz, Scyther, and Growlithe are all very cool Pokemon... and just better all round than their counterparts (sorry Magmar, Pinsir, and Vulpix, but it's true). Plus, Shellder is a longtime favourite and I was annoyed I didn't have the chance to use it - especially when I eventually learned of Icicle Spear, which a guide referred to as if it was a mysterious secret move akin to Volt Tackle. I thought Shellder had finally been given the attention it deserved.

Gen IV

Once again, the B version: Pearl. Why exactly? Hmm. Hard to say. I was obsessive about learning everything I could about these games before they came out, so I found out all the advance information I could.

DP, in general, have pretty crap version-exclusives. Getting Purugly instead of Skuntank wasn't, at the time, much of a draw. Bastiodon and Rampardos I can take or leave. Mr Mime vs Sudowoodo? Eh. I did like Mismagius more than Honchkrow, but not enough that I was determined to use it on my team. And I'm not massively drawn to either Dialga or Palkia either. Both Pokemon with cool types: Dialga's Steel/Dragon was new, but Palkia's Water/Dragon reminded me of Kingdra, that fearsome foe.

In the end I think it was more convention than anything else. Again, most people I knew seemed to like Diamond, so I decided I'd be different and get Pearl - having previously gone with the "B" version twice, I figured that was my thing and I'd stick with it.

And then came HGSS. Of course there was no MindCrystal or whatever an imagined third version would have been called. I was so happy we were getting a Johto remake that I decided I couldn't wait for HeartGold and ordered the Japanese version before it came out in Europe; for much the same reasons I mentioned, I figured I'd go with SoulSilver as standard so I'd get that in English as my "proper" save file. And what do you know - my little habit paid off! For the first time, Game Freak swapped the "traditional" version exclusives around, meaning that a few of the Pokemon I'd historically seen less of like Mawile, Latios, and Groudon were available to me. That was a nice surprise, and a nice validation for doing the same thing over and over. It also meant I could easily complete the Pokedex thanks to having both versions for once.

Although in hindsight I'd say HG's story "fits" better, with the Kimono Girls summoning Ho-Oh instead of Lugia, Lugia's story and additional lore in HGSS is a lot more interesting than Ho-Oh's, so my choice to get SS in English paid off (the abysmal localisation I recently ranted about on a different thread notwithstanding).

Gen V

After reading the Famitsu review of BW that gave the games a perfect score, I was interested enough to preorder the Japanese version of Black. Why Black? Why, because Reshiram is prettier!

...ah, my dumbass clearly didn't learn from my experience with HGSS. I should have ordered White in Japanese, then Black in English!

In the end it's not so bad, though. Black and White did such an interesting job of the whole duality idea that I really can't pick a true favourite. I like Reshiram more, but to be honest there's so much else I prefer about White that I'm really split. I prefer old Opelucid City and White Forest, but rotation battles over triple battles, for sure. Iris's trajectory is more satisfying if you face her as a gym leader first, then face Drayden as gym leader, then fight Iris as the champion. White has the better exclusives, too - Solosis, Braviary, Thundurus, Lilligant - plus it gives you the opportunity to catch a ridiculous number of older-gen Pokemon you can't get in Black.

When it comes to the sequels though I can pick my favourite with ease. Aesthetically, I prefer Black 2's darker interface and menu accents, as well as Black Kyurem and the dormant, water-y look of Reversal Mountain in Black 2. But it's not just aesthetics: Black 2 is much the better game overall, since it comes with Challenge Mode (the only proper way to play the game, let's be real) - also, while Black 2 makes Gible exclusive (and you get a free shiny!) Dratini weirdly isn't correspondingly exclusive to White 2, meaning that players of Black can potentially get both while players of White cannot. No contest.

Gen VI

At this point, I feel like no-one will be surprised when I say Y was my initial choice. But actually this time around I had a really strong inclination towards it - Yveltal is so much more mysterious and attention-grabbing than Xerneas (I was really taken with that moment in the trailer when it spreads its wings and extends its tail, briefly resembling the letter Y) and Y's other version-exclusives felt like no-brainers. Skrelp and Dragalge over Clauncher and Clawitzer - who on earth would choose a pure Water-type over a Poison/Dragon?! Amaura and Aurorus charmed me from the first moment and I thought that Tyrantrum was really ugly - still do, although it does have an utterly gorgeous shiny. Plus Y also boasted Shellder, Heracross, and Larvitar... though they did a sneaky fakeout by switching around the Mega Stones so that you couldn't actually get Mega Tyranitar without trading.

Still, it was kind of moot by this point given the ease of global trading. The only thing I really think X has going for it is that both of its exclusive megas (meaning Mewtwo and Charizard) blow Y's out of the water. But I've never been particularly crazy about either Charizard or Mewtwo. Clearly I am literally the antithesis of what Game Freak thinks fans want.

Then we got ORAS - Alpha Sapphire! No contest. Giving Groudon an additional Fire-type so it's even MORE weak to Water? Seems sensible. Primal Kyogre looks way better in my opinion, too. But in general I was more struck by Team Aqua's redesigns - and, again, the ease of trading meant that all the exclusives didn't matter so much this time around.

Gen VII

This is the generation where I broke all the rules: I went with Sun first. For pretty much the first time, I liked the "A" legendary better - Solgaleo just has an immediate presence and energy to it Lunala doesn't. I know people love Lunala but I just can't bring myself to be that into it. Lions... they're just great.

Plus the whole reverse-time thing sounded like more trouble than it was worth.

I ended up selling my copy of Sun because the postgame is so empty, and figured I'd give it another shot. Now, funnily, even though I prefer Solgaleo... the fused Lunala-Necrozma form just appealed to me in a way the Solgaleo-Necrozma didn't. Both are spooky, but Dawn Wings hits that eerie, alien look in a way Lunala felt like it was trying to. I ended up enjoying Ultra Moon a lot; it's got an engaging postgame in general, and I appreciated the increased difficulty curve.

Before the eShop went down I threw caution to the wind and downloaded Ultra Sun, just in case I ever wanted to replay Alola (I don't want to delete my current save on UM). I'll get round to it one day, I'm sure.

the rest

I skipped SwSh and LGPE (though I'd choose Eevee for sure if it came to it). Haven't yet bought ScVi - might do, might not. I'm definitely leaning more to Scarlet, since I share the general appreciation for Koraidon - such a good design. And the general past theme of Scarlet appeals to me more: the ancient Paradox Pokemon are great.

 

[MegaFlareon]

First Pokemon Game: Pokemon FireRed
Reason: I definitely remember it was simply because Pokemon LeafGreen was out of stock in the game store where it was bought. I ended up having an Arcanine (FireRed exclusive) in my first ever playthrough so the version I chose did have an impact. I also remember grinding 9999 coins for a Porygon (the hard way, via slot machines) and then ultimately found out that it's cheaper in LeafGreen. Madness.

Second Pokemon Game: Pokemon Sapphire
Reason: only because I like the color blue better than red tbh. I did also get Pokemon Emerald a while after.

Third Pokemon Game: Pokemon Emerald
Reason: No competition lol. It was very popular at the time, so I went with the crowd and played it.

Fourth Pokemon Game: Pokemon X
Reason: I was a teenager at this time so I had more reasons when choosing a version. I like Xerneas' appearance than Yveltal's. I remember another particular reason is that because I wanted to use Mega Pinsir ingame, an X exclusive Pokemon. Other reasons include: blue color palatte, and X feels like a "cooler" letter than Y.

Fifth Pokemon Game: Omega Ruby
Reason: While I like blue better than red, I ended up liking Groudon over Kyogre as I grew up. Hoenn has a lot of Water Pokemon available so I wanted to choose one of them and not get a competition for a teamslot with a legendary. I also prefer the Sun weather in Pokemon over rain.

Sixth Pokemon Game: Pokemon Sun
Reason: A metal lion with Fiery characteristics (despite being weak to Fire) is awesome imo. Solgaleo is the sole reason why I chose Sun (unless I am forgetting something).

Seventh Pokemon Game: Ultra Moon
Reason: I chose Sun before, so I wanted to try out the other legendary.

Eighth Pokemon Game: Pokemon Shield
Reason: Galarian Ponyta/Rapidash is a Pokemon that I really wanted to try out, and it's a Shield exclusive Pokemon. Worth it! Also, Zamazenta looks cooler than Zacian.

Ninth Pokemon Game: Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu
Reason: Pikachu is much, MUCH, cuter than Eevee. That's it, basically. Eevee's appeal to me comes to its evolutions, which isn't possible with Starter Eevee. Obligatory mention that this game's graphics are fantastic.

Tenth Pokemon Game: Scarlet
Reason: I like the past motif more than the future. I also like the Scarlet paradox Pokemon more, especially Scream Tail.

I also played Red, Yellow, Gold, Pearl, and HeartGold via emulator but I don't think it counts. Also played Radical Red lol.

 

[Ironmage]

Emerald: All 5 gen 3 games were released at the time, and Emerald had the most total features.

Diamond: probably was just the title legendary. Might have even been that my sibling preferred Palkia and we wanted to have a paired set.

HeartGold: Likely for Ho-oh at this time as well. Still wasn't looking that much into things.

Black: I preferred the more modern/technological aesthetic of the locations, I think it was still a bit of a toss-up since I preferred Zekrom at the time.

(Skip): At the time, I was content with one game per region. In my current phase of trying to explore games I missed the first time around, B2W2 is definitely on the list.

X: I mis-resarched. I only checked the availability of mons, not of Mega Stones. Aggron had to wait a year for my error.

Omega Ruby: Preferred Groudon, didn't have too much else to be the deciding factor.

Moon: Preferred Celesteela. I think there was also an aspect that since I had gone to bed early growing up, I hadn't done much with in-game night so the inverted clock cycle appealed to me.

Ultra Sun: Because I previously had Moon

Blue (VC): Venusaur is the best Kanto starter, but Green wasn't available on English VC. As a result, I went with Not Red and Definitely Not Yellow.

(Skip): Same region as the last game I had played, with less appeal. Seeing how Eevee was done as a mascot made me no longer think it should be one.

(Skip): Not a fan of Dexit or the shift in world design.

Brilliant Diamond: Nostalgia factor. Still a bit iffy on whether I should have bought it, to be honest. Hounded by my promise to ensure there's an available Aggronite after X's mishap?

(Skip): See my entry on SwSh. I much prefer Violet's paradox designs, but that only matters if there's something interesting enough I can run through with them.

 

[RocketSurgery]

I usually choose the version based on which version exclusives I like more. You'll see a bit of a recurring theme in the deciding factors.

Red/Blue: Box art, rather than version exclusives, was the deciding factor here:

. I was dead-set on picking Squirtle as my starter, so obviously I had to pick blue.

Gold/Silver. I don't remember why I picked Gold. Maybe I liked Ho-Oh better than Lugia. I don't think my planned in-game team had any version exclusives.

Ruby/Sapphire: I think I picked Ruby for

and maybe

. I like Kyogre better than Groudon, but at the time I was probably on the legendaries are lame bandwagon, so it wasn't a deciding factor at the time.

Fire Red/Leaf Green: Otherwise only obtainable in RS by transfer from Colloseum, FRLG made it possible to catch a mon I was trying to keep in my favorites:

. Only available in Leaf Green, so that's what I went with.

Diamond/Pearl: Once again, Misdreavus was a version exclusive, and it finally got an evolution,

. Unfortunately it was still outclassed by Gengar, and there was only one dusk stone in the game, so while I bred a ton of Misdreavus I don't think I ever evolved one into Mismagius. Old gens sucked for making evo items one offs.

BW/BW2: I played these games, but never owned them, and I do not remember which versions I actually played through. I would guess Black for Reshiram. No idea about BW2.

X/Y: I liked

way more than Yveltal, and

better than Charizard Y. I do like

waaaaay better than Mewtwo Y, but I guess it didn't sway my decision.

Sun/Moon: Ghost is my favorite type, so

was the sole deciding factor here. (Although I actually bought Sun too with the excuse that I would play through it in Chinese, since I never restart my games).

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon: While the version exclusive legendary was also ghost, I could fuse the extra legendaries from SM, so

was the deciding factor here.

Let's GO Pikachu/Eevee: Had to go with the mascot

. It also had the least bad of the baddy bad movee names.

Sword/Shield: Shield had several version exclusive ghosts like

,

and

. I also liked Zamazenta's design better than Zacian's, though it wouldn't have been the deciding factor.

Scarlet/Violet: I had a hard decision with this one because all of the paradoxes sounded awesome, and before having seen them I was leaning toward violet since I thought I would like the robot designs more since I like Transformers (forgetting that I also loved dinosaurs as a kid), but Scarlet also had paradox misdreavus. When it turned out that

was the only ghost type among the paradoxes, and after seeing their menu sprites and finding the past paradoxes to have the edge design-wise, I ultimately went with Scarlet. (I was actually a bit disappointed initially that Flutter Mane didn't have as big of a design shift as some of the other paradoxes, but after seeing the feather details I was more more on board). In terms of Koraidon vs. Miraidon, I did also like Koraidon better, especially its head wings while gliding.

 

[Mex]

I have spent too much money on this franchise and so have both versions of several games, however

Gen 1

Red was the original game I played, it was a birthday present a long time ago and, even once the Virtual Console versions released, it was my choice. Idk why, probably nostalgia

Remake wise, I own Leafgreen (also a present) and Let's Go Eevee (bought myself)

Gen 2

This one's actually the gen i've played the least, I never owned the originals physically, so it's solely VC releases, where I own both Gold and Crystal. Gold was just because I like Ho-Oh more than Lugia, while Crystal was due to the event Celebi

Remake is Heartgold, same reasoning

Gen 3

Ruby and Emerald for base copies, Ruby was another present while Emerald was self-bought.

For the remakes, both. Once ORAS was released i started getting one copy on launch and the other as a christmas present soon after, a pattern that's held for some time, only breaking twice

Gen 4

Every single game.

Platinum was the first, as a christmas present soon after it released. I picked up Diamond and Pearl a couple years back just for completion's sake

Brilliant Diamond was bought on release, while Shining Pearl was another Christmas present

Gen 5

White, and Black 2

I like Zekrom. Would like to pick up the other 2 games but they're kinda hard to find for a reasonable price

Gen 6

Both here, again
Y was a christmas present soon after release, X was a birthday present several years after

Gen 7

All games here as well
Sun and Ultra Sun were both the main versions, bought on release, while Moon and Ultra Moon were both Christmas Presents shortly after

Gen 8

For a change here, only Sword, though i did buy the DLC with it

Didn't get a switch until a couple years after the games released, and by the time I had one BDSP had been announced, so I didnt want to get both versions and the christmas present stuff that usually happened never did

Gen 9

Finally, another generation with all games

Violet main, Scarlet present. Have pre-ordered the DLC on Violet while waiting on Scarlet to see if there's anything of interest that would cause me to actually want to own it for both games. Likely going to be another christmas thing if i'm honest though

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

This topic is fun. We had a similar thread a few years ago, and because I am lazy, I'll just quote what I posted there. It's not like my answers have changed since then either.

I have so far always ended up getting both versions from all game pairs before OR/AS, but I always get one of the games before the other so I'll answer based on that.

Red/Blue:
Blue. Because it was one of my favorite colors as a kid, and it had Blastoise on the cover, which was my favorite starter at the time. I thought Charizard was overrated, and red was a "girly" color which I didn't want to have anything to do with.

Gold/Silver:
Silver. It was another of my favorite colors, and it had Lugia on the cover. Which I liked thanks to its role in the second movie. Ho-oh did pretty much not exist for me at this point, nobody I knew had ever seen one in the games and it had only appeared for like 5 seconds in the anime, while everybody loved the awesomeness that Lugia was.

Ruby/Sapphire:
Ruby. This time, it was not my own decision. I was planning to get both games as usual but as one of my best friends was also getting one of them, I let him decide which one to go with and started with the other one myself. He chose Sapphire, so Ruby it was for me.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
FireRed. Same as for R/S, I let my friend choose and he picked LeafGreen. This time though, he changed his mind afterwards and never got it. And in retrospect, I feel that I should have abandoned my first choice and picked LeafGreen instead of FireRed as my first game of these since I started out with Blue from the originals.

Diamond/Pearl:
Pearl. This was the first but not last time I made my decision based on version exclusives. I liked the ones from Pearl a bit better, with Palkia, Mismagius and Salamence being the main ones.

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
SoulSilver. The reason being that I got Silver first from the originals. However, I somewhat wish I had gotten HeartGold first instead as I had more fun with it than SoulSilver even if (or maybe because) I played it less. Though I'm not a fan of either of these two games so it might not have made a big difference in the end.

Black/White:
Black. Again based on version exclusives, though it was much harder this time around. Black had Reshiram, Gothitelle, Breloom and Houndoom. White did have Thundurus, Lilligant and Braviary though, so it wasn't an easy choice. The version differences in areas didn't affect my choice much since I like both Black City and White Forest as well as both versions of Opelucid City.

Black 2/White 2:
Black 2. Since I went with Black from the first pair, Black 2 was the logical choice for a followup.

X/Y:
X. Not the easiest since I didn't get to know about the version exclusives this time around due to the worldwide release, and I didn't want to risk potential spoilers by trying to find the version exclusives from the leaks during the few days before the release. In the end, I went with X first because I liked Xerneas better than Yveltal. And I don't regret it at all.

While I don't have either of OR/AS yet, if I ever get at least one of them, the first one will be Omega Ruby since I started with Ruby from the originals.

But that was in 2015, and more games have been released since then. So here are my choices regarding the newer games:

Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Omega Ruby. As hinted at above, I ended up getting it first since I started with Ruby from the originals, and when it comes to remakes, I prefer to start with the one that is a remake of the game I started with from the originals. I was originally not interested in these games though, and I didn't get OR until September 2015. But I'm glad I did, these games were amazing and they are my third favorites in the series.

Sun/Moon:
Moon. I didn't have any preference regarding the cover legends, they are both great. But I got Moon, and it was because of Luna. Everything is her fault. Or maybe it is thanks to her? Thank you, Luna. The inverted time was really cool too, making it feel a bit more unique than Sun.

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Ultra Moon. Since I started with Moon from the first pair, I decided to continue on that track and start with Ultra Moon from the follow-ups.

For the Switch games, I stopped getting both games from all pairs. I got either one game or none at all.

Let's Go Pikachu/Let's Go Eevee:
Neither. These were the first but not last games I skipped completely. They just didn't interest me at all. But if I had gotten one of them, I would have picked Pikachu since it has several version exclusives I prefer over their Eevee counterparts, notably the Sandshrew, Oddish, Mankey and Scyther lines.

Sword/Shield:
Sword. It is the "blue" game from this pair, I think Zacian is cooler than Zamazenta, and Swords symbolize offense, which I prefer over defense. Looking back now, Sword also have several version exclusives I prefer over their Shield counterparts, which was nice. And the DLC gave me the best rival in Klara! Though Avery is probably cool too.

Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Neither. The second games I skipped completely. I was considering giving them a chance, but in the end, I ended up skipping them. They reason is that they are just not what I want out of a modern Pokémon game. If I had gotten one of them, it would have been Shining Pearl as I started with Pearl from the originals.

Scarlet/Violet:
Violet. When the games were first announced, I was more interested in Scarlet. I thought the name "Scarlet" sounded cooler than "Violet", and I like red a little more than purple. But when the cover legends were revealed, I started to reconsider. I thought Miraidon was much cooler than Koraidon, and it ended up making me change my mind, so I got Violet. This is the only time where I had originally planned to get one version, but then changed my mind and got the other. And once more, Violet ended up having several version exclusives I prefer over their Scarlet counterparts, like Mismagius, Salamence, Clawitzer, Dragapult and Miraidon (obviously). I also prefer the future theme of Violet over the past theme of Scarlet, it follows my own vision for Pokémon as I want the series to move forward into the future instead of being stuck in the past.

To summarize, my (first) choices so far have been the following: Blue, Silver, Ruby, FireRed, Pearl, SoulSilver, Black, Black 2, X, Omega Ruby, Moon, Ultra Moon, Sword and Violet.

 

[Hugin]

Generally, I take the blue version. There's no reason behind this, it was just how me and my brother split them back in the day and I've carried it forward. Any time I do otherwise, it's turned out poorly.
Yellow, Silver+Crystal, Sapphire, X, Moon, Ultra-Sun, Shield, Violet.
I picked Ultra Sun just to invert things and Shield for the version exclusives, and disliked both of those.

 

[Worldie]

Going off memory for the old ones..

Gen 1: Blue, then Yellow
I actually learned of Pokemon way before having a gameboy, so I downloaded Blue on emulator. I don't quite remind why Blue, probably it just was the first one I found, I didn't even know there were differences back then.
When I *actually* bought one for my GameBoy, Yellow was already out, so I opted for the one with the mascot. Ah was nice to be young...

Gen 2: Silver
I felt "Gold" was just too shiny so I picked Silver. I'll pretend I just liked to be alternative, though probably there were other inside reasons I never figured out. Regardless, I didn't know of what differences there were, and I had friends who had Gold anyway, so I was able to complete both this and Yellow's pokedex. Including Mew and Celebi, I honestly have no idea how we came to obtain them, I knew how to dupe and abused that a ton but I don't quite remind how we were able to get them, probably someone else who had gamesharks traded them to us, it was.. a lot of time ago after all.

I didn't actually have a GBA, so I ended up skipping on gen 3 and 4.

Gen 5: White
I played this one on emulator once more, I vaguely remind just liking the white cover legendary's look more. No particular reason once more, I just felt like playing it.

Gen 7: Moon, then UltraSun
I'm putting gen 7 here, because that's when I actually had a 3DS and a job, and was actually able to buy a pokemon game on release.
I opted for Moon because I liked Lunala and definitely not because I just had developed taking a like to the "second" or "worst" version of everything.
Having played Moon and also having started to develop a bit of a obsession for playing Battle Tree (oh how I miss facilities...), I ended up getting the opposite version for Ultra, just in order to be able to have more or less the entire pokedex available without needing extra steps.

Gen 6: X and AlphaSapphire
Incidentally, I bought gen 6 games after playing gen 7. I picked X mainly because i would rather have had Xerneas than Yveltal in my bank "for future use", and similar reason for Kyogre. No real other reason, I was just thinking of whichever cover legendary I rather have.

Let's Go: Eevee
Honestly this was mainly a "heck mainstream" moment. With Pikachu being shoved off everyone's butt for literally forever, I just took the other one out of spite. Also Eevee cute.

Don't ask me why i keep this random picture of my partner Eevee

Gen 8: Shield
This one is more of a funny one, as I've often been a tank player in MMOs, so I *obviously* had to go for shield doggo. Also honestly the design of "dog with a shield embed in its neck" looked more interesting than "dog that's just holding a sword in his mouth".

Gen 4.5: Brilliant Pearl
I was mainly interested in actually buying one of BDSP since gen 4 at this point was the only gen I didn't play (I ended up "playing" gen 3 on a friend's GBA as kid, but since it was his and I mainly just watched as he played / played a bit for him, I'm not really including it in this list, and regardless, I did play ORAS anyway which is kinda gen 3.5).
In this case I didn't really care of which version, I just asked some friends which one they were taking, and since all 3 of them were getting Diamond, I took the other one in case they needed help with the dex for their sons/daughters or something.

Gen 9: Violet
Jet bike > Oversized dog mount and you cannot change my mind.
That, and honestly I just like purple and pink. Was a pretty istant decision.
Fwiw I actually ended up buying Scarlet later on as well, so tecnically both, but I haven't actually even started it as I plan to use it for speedruns anyway so little point in investing time in a save for now.

 

[Esserise]

For Gens 1-3 I was a child, I missed out on Gen 4, and ever since I got my spouse into Pokémon by loaning her my copy of White, we’ve always opted to get opposing versions so that exclusives are never a factor. Thus, 99% of the time, my version choice has simply come down to whichever mascot I thought was cooler. Running down the list:

Gen 1 - Red

Gen 2 - I actually don’t remember for sure. I ended up with all three eventually, so the memories kind of blur together. I want to say that I mostly remember playing Gold, but I also feel like, knowing my tastes at the time, I would have preferred Lugia over Ho-Oh. So I don’t think I can say on this one.

Gen 3 - Ruby

Gen 4 - Nothing, because as I said, I’d lost interest in the series by this point, but hypothetically, I feel like I probably would have chosen Diamond at the time. In reality, I didn’t play a Gen 4 game until after Gen 5 had already started (and when I did, it was Platinum because I knew by then that it was considered to be the better game compared to DP).

Gen 5 - White, because of White Forest. I thought, “Why would I want more battles when I could have a ton of exclusive Pokemon instead?” Also chose White 2 to keep the story consistent.

Gen 6 - Y

Gen 7 - Moon and Ultra Moon

Gen 8 - Sword

Gen 9 - Scarlet

And then as for remakes:

FRLG - Technically neither, though I would eventually go on the play LeafGreen on an emulator many years later.

HGSS - HeartGold, though I don’t remember a specific reason why.

ORAS - Omega Ruby because my wife wanted Alpha Sapphire.

LGPE - Pikachu, because having Pikachu ride around on my shoulder throughout the game just seemed so much more natural than having an Eevee standing on your head.

BDSP - Shining Pearl, because over the years, my preference for Dialga over Palkia had waned.

 

[Ransei]

Sapphire - This was my first Pokemon game and the only one that I noticed in the market I got it from.
Diamond - I got this at a GameStop about 6 months later for my 11th birthday. I don't think Pearl was an option. It's fine. I liked Dialga more anyway. I eventually got Pearl.
White - I received this on the same day as Diamond as a birthday present. I eventually got Black as well.
HeartGold - I traded Diamond for HeartGold to a friend about a month after getting Diamond. It was a great trade. I eventually got SoulSilver as a Christmas present.
Black 2 - Because Black was the main one I played and I gave away White.
X - I traded Pearl for X to that same friend about a month after getting Pearl. It was a great trade. I eventually got Y as a Christmas present. to myself in 2021
Omega Ruby - I wanted to get Alpha Sapphire, but it was sold out at the time in the Wal-Mart I was in. I eventually got Alpha Sapphire.
Moon - I liked Lunala more than Solgaleo. I eventually got Sun.
Ultra Moon - I played Moon, and like Dawn Wings more than Dusk Mane. I eventually got Ultra Sun.
Red - I found this made more sense than Blue since Gen 1 is all about Red's adventures and Charizard has always been the most notable Pokemon of his.
Shining Pearl - I liked Dialga more but I wanted to represent the Pearl Clan from Legends Arceus, because I liked them much more than the Diamond Clan.

Other games I have or have had at some point: Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, "Platinum", Legends Arceus.

 

[Coronis]

For Gens 1-3 I was a child, I missed out on Gen 4, and ever since I got my spouse into Pokémon by loaning her my copy of White, we’ve always opted get opposing versions so that exclusives are never a factor. Thus, 99% of the time, my version choice has simply come down to whichever mascot I thought was cooler. Running down the list:

Gen 1 - Red

Gen 2 - I actually don’t remember for sure. I ended up with all three eventually, so the memories kind of blur together. I want to say that I mostly remember playing Gold, but I also feel like, knowing my tastes at the time, I would have preferred Lugia over Ho-Oh. So I don’t think I can say on this one.

Gen 3 - Ruby

Gen 4 - Nothing, because as I said, I’d lost interest in the series by this point, but hypothetically, I feel like I probably would have chosen Diamond at the time. In reality, I didn’t play a Gen 4 game until after Gen 5 had already started (and when I did, it was Platinum because I knew by then that it was considered to be the better game compared to DP).

Gen 5 - White, because of White Forest. I thought, “Why would I want more battles when I could have a ton of exclusive Pokemon instead?” Also chose White 2 to keep the story consistent.

Gen 6 - Y

Gen 7 - Moon and Ultra Moon

Gen 8 - Sword

Gen 9 - Scarlet

And then as for remakes:

FRLG - Technically neither, though I would eventually go on the play LeafGreen on an emulator many years later.

HGSS - HeartGold, though I don’t remember a specific reason why.

ORAS - Omega Ruby because my wife wanted Alpha Sapphire.

LGPE - Pikachu, because having Pikachu ride around on my shoulder throughout the game just seemed so much more natural than having an Eevee standing on your head.

BDSP - Shining Pearl, because over the years, my preference for Dialga over Palkia had waned.

I’m so jealous people are actually living this dream!

 

[TheMantyke]

Yellow was my first game, but starting in Gen 2, my sister and I established a tiny tradition:

1) She got the version listed first, I got the version listed second.
2) For a first playthrough, she always got the fire starter. I always got the grass starter,

My sister's long since fallen away from the franchise, but I've kept up the trend all these years! Ignoring 3rd versions, my attendance record looks like:

• Silver
• Sapphire
• Leaf Green
• Pearl
• Soul Silver
• White
• White 2
• Y
• Alpha Sapphire
• Moon
• Ultra Moon
• (I didn't buy lgpe)
• Shield
• Shining Pearl
• Violet

Every single version listed second, and just to keep up that old tradition! It's gotten to the point for me where playing the first listed version of a game just feels "wrong" somehow. It's silly, but I've enjoyed keeping to it all these years.

 

[bdt2002]

I say this as if I still actively care about most of the main series games in general, having had a bit of a rocky relationship with them over the past year or two. For most of the games (or at least the ones I cared about) I have tried to get my hands on one of each for, like, trades and stuff, but I generally tend to prefer one over the other most of the time. Those versions are the ones I'll be listing here.

• Blue
• Silver
• Ruby
• FireRed
• Pearl
• SoulSilver
• White
• Black 2
• X
• Omega Ruby
• Sun
• Ultra Sun
• Let's Go Pikachu
• Sword
• Shining Pearl
• Violet

My reasoning mostly comes down to the available version-exclusive content as well as what version other people in my friend groups are playing. Black 2 in particular deserves a shout-out for something I've always found hilariously stupid- the guaranteed Shiny you can get from Benga in this version is a Gible, a Pokémon that shows up nowhere else in all of Gen 5, compared to White 2's Shiny Dratini that could still theoretically be obtained elsewhere. Who thought this was a good idea again?

(Editing this post with footnotes to prevent double-posting)

• Pearl & SoulSilver: Although I can't remember which I bought first, these two were my first main series games I bought, closely followed by White in the #3 spot. These two being my first main series games I find very fitting, given how a Gen 4 spin-off (Guardian peak Signs) was my first game overall, and because Spacial Rend is literally just Dragon-Type Aeroblast which I find funny.

• Let's Go Pikachu: I've said on other threads before that I picked this one because it felt more accurate to the original Yellow, even if my opinion that we should have gotten a FRLG "re-remake" instead hasn't changed. Said game could have fit nicely alongside ORAS from Gen 6, given the whole Mega Evolution thing and because FRLG did come in between Hoenn and Sinnoh (which would later get its, ahem, "remake" during Gen 8). Minor spoiler alert, but for this same logic I do think we'll go back to Johto again before a Unova remake happens.

• Ruby, SoulSilver, Black 2, & Omega Ruby: Without even realizing I was doing this, I kept choosing the game with specific version exclusives in them, namely Latios, a Pokémon I'm especially fond of because of Guardian peak Signs. Coincidentally, these are also the pattern of versions that have Groudon in it, up through Gen 6 at least. Due to my absolute refusal to play Gen 8 games, as well as the fact I never finished Ultra Sun out of boredom, I am not sure if this pattern continued.

• Violet: After coming off of my least favorite generation of Pokémon to date, I was treating both Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet as "if these games are bad, I'm quitting for good". In doing so, I ended up going with Violet as my main choice this time around, as a reference to the fact that I need to learn to let go of the past and at least try to enjoy the future. Now were those games actually good, on the other hand? Ehhhh... I'll let you decide.