'Pokémon Blue Version' is a very special game for me in various of ways. Not in the least part because it is just a very good game. One of the few role playing games that I liked over the years, and technically, probably the only 'jRPG', but I guess that depends on your definition of the genre.
The game was a phenomenon. People would say Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto today, are big. No, Pokémon, that was big. Everything lived and breathed Pokémon back in the day. This is the only game ever which I know was big with literally everyone, and everyone played it. Gamer of not, it was everywhere and on everything. The fact that the franchise is still big today, is testament to how big it once was. My friends played it as well, and we played and talked about it all the time. It was the talk of the playground day in, day out.
This game also ties into a strong memory about my late dog. When he was young, and I was young, I left my GameBoy Color laying around with Pokémon Blue inside and 'The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening' in the case. Being a dog with a tough character back then, he proceeded to try to eat said GameBoy. With GameBoy's being indestructible, it of course still worked, though the screen was replaced because it had a line of dead pixels. My Link's Awakening cartridge was completely shattered, because being in the case it was on the front line. Pokémon Blue however has a big hole where his tooth sank in, but still worked perfectly. It does to this day. That cartridge is now forever a tangible memory of that dog and a big piece of my childhood.