If you grew up in the '90s, you may, like me, be a Pokémon purist.
Until 1999, the only Pokémon games were Red and Green. (No, not Sapphire Red and Leaf Green — just Red and Green). These are the only games that matter.
See also: The Complete History of Pokémon
It may sound like the hazy veil of nostalgia is blinding me from all things great about the following generations of games. But to me, the original 151 Pokémon are — and always will be — the best.
Now I know you may not agree, and that’s fine. But you’re wrong. Here’s why:

Image: Mashable composite: blogwallpaper, Wikipedia
With the release of Pokémon X and Y, a sixth generation of Pokémon will join the others, bringing the total number of creatures to more than 600!
Who can keep track of 600+ characters? I can’t even remember where I left my keys, let alone the eight (!!!) evolutions of an Eevee. Even with the 16GB Pokédex, you won’t have enough memory to catch them all.

Image: Mashable composite: Nintendo
Some may argue that you always start the game with a water, fire or plant type. That may be true, but the following starter Pokémon are just knockoffs of the original starter designs.




Images: Nintendo

Image: ebay, smpratte
Made as a special collector card by CoroCoro magazine, a Pikachu Illustrator card will set you back $20,000 or more. A shadowless first-edition Charizard is also extremely valuable, and can sell for up to $500.

Image: Imgur, randomasianorphan
Stand in front of the door to the Underground Path on Route 8. Walk down one step (only one step!), and immediately press start. Fly to Cerulean City, and cross the Nugget Bridge until you find a trainer with the Slowpoke — but don’t actually approach him, or your game will glitch!
Defeat the trainer, find the treasure map, climb the astro crag, open the door to the shrine of the silver monkey … wait, what was I doing again?
Catching a mew is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. The harder to get, the better to have.

Image: deviantart,zahuranecs
All of the greatest Pokémon games on Nintendo 64 were created from the original generation. In fact, Pokémon Snap was even more exclusive — it only had 63 out of the 151 Pokémon. There were never any Guilavas. Instead, there was a surfing Pikachu and dancing Chamanders. Not to mention the thrill of going to your local Blockbuster, and printing your perfectly-framed photos.
There was also Pokémon Stadium, which was a huge success and later turned into a series of its own. To be fair, those did include newer generations of Pokémon. However, they stemmed from the first game, which exclusively featured the original 151.
The characters in Pokémon Puzzle League were purely for cosmetic reasons, though it's worth mentioning that the only species included were — yep, you guessed it — the OG Pokémon.
Let's not forget about Hey You, Pikachu!, which leads to my final point ...

Image: Flickr, JD Hancock
Pikachu is, without a doubt, the most popular Pokémon, and widely regarded as the official mascot of the entire Pokémon franchise. It has its own game, endless amounts of merchandise and Ash Ketchum's heart. Pikachu was even painted on a Boeing 747!
Your love for Pikachu actually helps it grow, as it thrives off your friendship. It is the perfect Pokémon in every way: It's adorable, but a fierce fighter, as well as loyal and independent.
And you know what generation Pikachu is from? Surprise, surprise — the original 151.
Image: Mashable composite: Nintendo