April 28th, 2025: Spring

I've noticed over the years that I will occasionally form associations between seasons and media. Generally, the link relates to a time when I felt very connected to what I was engaging with. I have a few of these associations with the earliest parts of spring, when the temperature rises noticeably above freezing and the snow begins to melt in earnest, marking the shift from winter to spring. The right combination of temperature, humidity, and excess water on the ground produces a slightly sweet and earthy aroma that otherwise doesn't occur often.

One of the connections I have with this particular part of the year is the Game Boy Advance. The memories that could explain why this is have long since passed. For as long as I've been able to go back and complete one of the third-generation Pokemon games, I've never made the time for it. This seems like a nice spring to change that.

- Launch game and immediately set text speed to fast.
- Sound is mono by default? Set it to stereo. Maybe I'll regret that later for some reason I can't think of right now.
- Started new game
- The default names for the male character are Sean, Terry, Seth, and Tom. I thought Brandon would be listed here since I'm pretty sure that's the canonical name of the third-gen male protagonist.
- Got to the end of the ride with the moving boxes and stepped out of the van into the world of Pokemon (circa 2003).
- Was instructed to set the clock in the character's room, which I went to do.
- Seeing that the interface for setting the clock is analog only gave me a good chuckle as I imagined how many kids in 2025 have little to no experience reading time on clocks like these and would actually struggle to perform something that the game intends to be a trivial maintenance task.
- The period-correct GameCube decorating the room is indigo colored. Definitely the most iconic color for the GameCube.
- Got the cutscene for the dad possibly being on TV and then getting told to go find Professor Birch.
- Popped by the lab, but Birch wasn't there and one of the lab guys said he was out in the field doing research.
- Decided to stop at his house to meet May.
- I made the decision to look at the clock in her room, which did show the time, but also allowed me to make the observation that the background color of hers was pink while mine was blue.
- Now that I had exhausted those options, it was time for me to find Birch in the wild.
- Research? My ass! He was getting chased around by a wild dog instead.
- Chose Mudkip without putting any kind of unnecessary thought into the decision.
- The Level 2 Poochyena was no match for my ultimate lifeform: the Level 5 Mudkip.
- Got thanked by the professor and told to come by his lab later.
- The game immediately jumps to later. Works for me.
- Had to look up the word "aplomb" in a dictionary. Since this is no longer 2003, I just used the Internet to do that.
- Received the Mudkip that I chose.
> Got: SLAPKINS [M]
- Was told that May was on Route 103 and that I should visit her.
- Made it to Oldale Town without incident.
- Talked to the guy who works at the PokeMart and got a free potion. Nice.
- Made it to May without incident.
- The fight went about how these fights always do. Slapkins is now at Level 6 and learned Mud Slap.
- Went back to the lab since that's what May said the game wanted me to do next.
- Got the PokeDex from Birch and the Running Shoes from mom.
- First wild encounter was with a Wurmple.
- Found out I had Pokeballs, so I decided to catch it.
> Caught: DAVEY [M]
- Wait, how did the moving van get to the house? I haven't made it very far in the game, but I haven't seen any paved roads anywhere so far.
- Ran into my first trainer battle. The trainer just had a Zigzagoon and it went fine.
- Found a wild Zigzagoon and caught it.
> Caught: GARY [M]
- Second trainer battle. Went fine, despite not having healed after it.
- Got Oran and Pecha berries from some plants. Replanted them after.
- Made it to Petalburg City. Slapkins is now at Level 10.
- Entered the gym and talked to the dad. Wally came in and asked for a Pokemon.
- Did the Pokemon catching tutorial despite having already caught two.
- Did the profile thing with the guy in the Pokemon Center but couldn't think of anything good and ended up with "Hey, there I am walking great".