Heheh, right on. Appreciate the legitimate reply. I'll admit, the EV training and such is a little too intense for me. I was in 8th grade when Red and Blue came out in the States, and I played the games then, and fell out of them until HeartGold came out. I put, like, 300+ hours into HeartGold, doing EV training and whatnot, and when I came out the other side of that, it was like . . . damn, I have to quit Pokemon. hahah. (I did recently play through a couple of the GBA era titles but I made sure to just play them quickly and not get too terribly obsessed.)
Despite me having to generally stay away so I don't lose my entire life in those games, they hold a special place in my mind.
I agree with the EV training being to intense, they dumbed it down greatly in the newest games at least. My first game was the original gold when i was about 7, one of the best games i've ever played still.
What a great game to be able to play when so young. I'm convinced Pokemon will be a never-ending, always evolving franchise . . . curious to see what new iteration of Pokemon there will be when I'm, like, 87 and about to die.