As kids from the 90s are starting to approach their 30s it seems that nostalgia is coming in strong through various mediums. They're starting to hit the age where the things from your childhood are beginning to get rebooted or brought back to life in various ways. A property that has managed to withstand the test of time while in the same instance providing an overwhelming amount of nostalgia is of course Pokémon. The video game series, as well as the movies, have released new iterations over the last 20+ years and have managed to stay towards the front of cultural popularity. The original games that made their way to the U.S. in 1998 are turning 20 this year. In honor of this anniversary, it only seems fitting to take a look at the incredible moments from the original games that started it all. We live in a world where there is so much entertainment to consume that you often don't have enough storage space in your brain to remember every detail of every experience you've ever had. Considering most of us haven't played those games in a very long time, despite their release on the Nintendo 3DS virtual console, I bet there will be at least one thing on this list you don't remember if you're a lapsed fan. If you've kept up with the series and are a die-hard fan, feel free to let me know what I left out. Let's now take a look at 25 awesome things fans forgot about Pokémon Red & Blue.

25 The Iconic Intro

Nowadays it seems that we simply mash through menus trying to start the games we play as quickly as possible. Many of us probably remember turning on our Game Boys for the first time after getting either Red or Blue for our birthdays, Christmas, or some other gift-centric celebration.

The moment Gengar and Nidorino first appear on the screen and the music starts playing you were instantly captivated as an 8 to 10-year-old kid.

It's immediately followed by the title screen, your character, and either Squirtle or Charmander depending on which version you had. Hearing the first couple of seconds of the intro will teleport you back in time in a magical way.

24 Chubby Pikachu

Over the years the Pokémon Company has redesigned Pikachu ever so subtly with the goal of making him slimmer and more athletic. Considering he not only became the face of Pokémon, but also one of the most recognizable things on the planet, they felt he needed to better reflect their values. In the original games, Pikachu was a lot chubbier than he is now. His body was rounder and he looked more like a ball than he did a mouse. Though his newer look is still adorable and friendlier than ever, it's great to go back and see what he used to look like. There are entire forums dedicated to the argument of chubby vs. slim Pikachu.

23 Giovanni Gym Leader Plot Twist

As you adventure through the Kanto region and collect your badges you keep wondering why the gym in Viridian City is vacant. You end up spending a lot of time trying to figure out who the leader is. One of the more popular assumptions is Bill, but obviously, that's not right. Once you find out that Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni, is the gym leader you become instantly upset. How can a town let a crime leader run their gym? Oh right, he probably didn't give them a choice. Fighting him and winning is a nice conclusion to your battles with Team Rocket, that is until you meet Team Rainbow Rocket in Pokémon Sun & Moon.

22 You Meet Bill — And He's A Pokémon

Playing through Pokémon Red & Blue you knew you were on an adventure. For many kids, it was their first introduction to the role-playing genre. They quickly realized that the human characters you met were just as interesting and bizarre as the Pokémon you would encounter. Coming across his lab for the first time was such a fascinating experience. You enter the lab of this guy you'd only heard rumblings about. Next thing you know you're helping him turn back into a human in a very surprising situation inspired by The Fly starring Jeff Goldblum. A quick shoutout to both Bill and Eevee.

21 MissingNo. Nuff Said

When you're on a playground in elementary school it seems that all your value came from knowing secrets about video games no one else knew. We're all familiar by now with the infamous Mew rumor that spread across the country. The one involving the truck that supposedly moved and would reveal Mew underneath.

Another rumor that spread like wildfire, but ending up being true was that of MissingNo.

A strange glitched pokémon you can encounter given the right circumstances. Everyone had an uncle that worked at Nintendo, so it was hard to figure out who was actually telling the truth.

20 Link Cable Trading

Before the days of the internet, kids had to actually meet in person to share accomplishments, feats, and highlights from their video game experiences. Few things invigorate nostalgia in the same way as seeing a link cable for the Game Boy. You're instantly reminded of going over to your friend's house and trading in hopes of getting the version exclusive Pokémon that you had no chance of catching unless you bought the other version. It was a real sign of trust seeing as someone could pull the link cable before the trade is completed and steal your Pokémon from you. Thankfully the internet has allowed us to trade from the comfort of our own air-conditioned living rooms.

19 The Poké Center & Poké Mart Were Separate

In the current iterations of the Pokémon games, they've simply merged the healing center and the item mart into one building. It makes sense considering both of them deliver services specifically for trainers so it only makes sense for them to be connected.

Also, from a gameplay perspective, it streamlines everything and makes the game feel more efficient.

There's no reason they should ever revert to the old setup unless of course, they did another remake, but that doesn't mean we can't miss it. Having an extra building in towns only added to the world-building, which in hindsight was simply game time padding.

18 The Endless Rumors About Catching Them All

When you're trying to collect all of the Pokémon in Kanto you really need inspiration and incentives. The inspiration was easy considering there were tons of playground rumors revolving around the reward for completing the Pokédex. Some people said once you had 150 of them Professor Oak would give you Mew, some said 8 more gyms would open, and plenty of others. The incentives came from the Professor's aides. They gave you items if you encountered and captured certain numbers of Pokémon on your adventure. This was a great way to keep you motivated and focused on capturing everyone one.

17 Safari Warden's Missing Teeth

In role-playing games, you're used to doing some odd side quests. Many times non-playable characters will have you pick up their laundry, or deliver someone something. Rarely are you tasked with finding someone's teeth in a game.

The Warden of the Safari Zone is precisely the person who does this.

You're rewarded with the HM for strength, but it still leaves you with so many questions. How old is this Warden? Do they not have dentists in the Kanto region? If he can misplace something in his own mouth why should he be trusted with rare and endangered Pokémon?

16 Choosing Your Starter Wasn't Always Easy

Now, I understand that choosing your starter in any Pokémon game matters, but for kids, at the time they hadn't played a game that made you make such a difficult choice. This wasn't a simple dialogue choice, but rather a choice of your best friend that would accompany you for the next 50+ hours. For some, it was simple considering their favorite Pokémon was one of the starters. For others, it was a more strategic selection as they tried to calculate if they wanted to be stronger in the early or late game. Either way, it was a lot more important than people give it credit for and helped develop a lifelong attachment to that Pokémon.

15 Puzzle-Based Gyms

Pokémon gyms are a unique aspect of the games because they're this universes version of a role-playing dungeon. The really cool thing about a number of the gyms in the Kanto region was that they involved puzzles. As a trainer, you had to overcome these puzzles using your wit and intellect and then you'd be ready to battle for that badge. Some of the more memorable ones were Lt. Surge's switches as well as Sabrina's teleporting pads. If you paid attention there were also clever ways to avoid certain trainers so you could fight the gym leader as soon as possible.

14 Sleeping Snorlax Was A Surprise

When you first came across Snorlax in your adventure you immediately knew what you had to do. There was no way you were going to wake him up normally or simply move him aside. You needed to find the Pokéflute and wake him up.

As a kid, I never realized that once I woke Snorlax up that I would then get to fight and possibly capture him.

I doubt I was alone in this obliviousness. The sudden sense of accomplishment quickly followed by trying to figure out how you're going to catch this behemoth of a creature is an exhilarating memory. If you screwed it up somehow, thankfully you were given another opportunity.

13 Mew Glitch

Funny enough, this is a glitch I didn't know about until the ports of both Pokémon Red & Blue made their way over to the Nintendo 3DS via the virtual console. Mew's code was actually in the same, and it can be accessed in a similar way to how you come across MissingNo. It doesn't require a GameShark, just some simple planning, positioning, and execution. Though once captured Mew acts like any other Pokémon it stills functions as an unauthentic capture and you can't transfer it to the Pokébank. Here's hoping they hold another event at shopping malls so we can all complete our Pokédex.

12 Gary/Blue/Your Rival

Every generation we see the introduction of a new Pokémon professor that helps get the trainer accustomed to their new surroundings. With this, we also meet our rival or counterpart that we'll encounter throughout our journey. Through the 7 generations of Pokémon games, there still hasn't been a rival quite like Gary Oak. Being the nephew of the man that teaches you about Pokémon is one thing, but the fact that Gary isn't pure evil, but simply just a kid with a chip on his shoulder makes him feel like a true and healthy rival. Also, he helped you learn what was important in terms of being a successful trainer.

11 Bicycle Road Put You To The Test

The bicycle was a real game-changer considering it doubled movement speed and really allowed you to traverse the world in a timely manner. The bicycle road introduced a forced movement mechanic where the player had to fight back in an attempt to stop racing down the hill and running into numerous trainers. After defeating all of the bikers, thugs, and weirdos it was still a blast to go back to for the simple fact of speeding down the road. Coming up in the opposite, however, was a real challenge to anyone's patience. Bicycle road often gets forgotten, but that doesn't mean it's not worth remembering.

10 Celadon Game Corner Introduced Us To Loot Boxes

With the rise of microtransactions over the years, in-game gambling has become a huge issue and we've recently seen entire countries take stands against the pervasive nature of said microtransactions. Many adults feel that the addition of chance in games will lead to issues and addictions amongst the title's audience. It's an interesting discussion to be had given how much money publishers are making with these systems. We all remember where we first saw this, right? The Celadon Game Corner. A rigged slot machine that rewarded you with rare and interesting Pokémon if you were patient and persistent enough.

9 Viridian Forest Was Magic

Everyone fell in love with Pokémon due to the relationship between Ash Ketchum and Pikachu in the animated series. Plenty of kids hopping into the Kanto region wanted to get a Pikachu of their own and start building that special bond.

Viridian Forest is most notably an alley of bugs that become the grinding area for those who chose Charmander.

For those with the guide, you knew Viridian Forest was the place to make that dream a reality, for the rest of us it was simply a chance encounter. Little did we all know this was also the place of residence for everyone's favorite electrified rodent.

8 Safari Zone Works Completely Different From The Main Game

The Safari Zone was a complete left turn during your journey throughout Kanto. As a trainer, you were so used to leveling up your team in order to defeat gyms and capture weaker Pokémon. Once you realized that the Safari Zone functioned completely different, it was, in essence, a soft reset. You had to learn an entirely new way to catch Pokémon. The coolest part was that you knew you had to get good at it considering a good amount of rarer Pokémon were only catch-able in the Safari Zone. In order to successfully complete your Pokédex, you had to be persistent, efficient, and extremely patient.

7 Legendary Birds Took 8-Zillion Pokéballs... And It Was Stressful

As you progressed through Kanto on your quest to catch all 151 Pokémon you knew there was going to come a time when you had to face off against the 3 legendary elemental birds. Walking up to these legends and seeing them standing right in front of you was stress inducing. You had to make sure and save your game right before attempting to fight them because you knew you were in for a real challenge. The catch rate was abysmal, so it really came down to patience and a bit of luck. Once you captured all 3 of them you felt like you were truly unstoppable.

6 Team Rocket's Hideout

We've previously talked about the Celadon Game Corner and how it was many kids introduction to the world of gambling and prize chasing. When you first arrived you knew something just didn't feel right. There was a certain uneasiness surrounding the regulars that surrounded you as you pulled the lever over and over again hoping for a jackpot. When you decided to get a little curious and found out it was a cover for an entire crime syndicate our little minds exploded. We were accidentally funding the most villainous group of individuals in the world of Pokémon. It then became our mission to shut them down and end Team Rocket for good.