Pokémon has been a big part of my life since childhood. Many of my best childhood memories involve playing all of the games with friends and my cousin and my little brothers.

The franchise turned 21 today, February 27 (much like I did just a couple months ago; I literally grew up with these games!), and so, to look back on the games in commemoration, I decided to check out the nearly-a-thousand eponymous creatures that populate them and the six-membered teams I've collected through the years.

The basic premise of the Pokémon games is that you are a kid taking off on a journey to collect these creatures. There are hundreds of them -- nearly a thousand now that the games keep expanding! -- and you have to train them by battling other Pokémon and work your ranks up to be the strongest trainer in each game. You challenge evil teams with nefarious plans and purposes along the way, while also vying to become the Champion of the region you explore in each game.

I decided to list my most memorable team (with all of my favorite creatures) from each game and generation! I've played every game but instead of trying to list or remember each team, I went for narrowing down my favorite or most memorable per new generation. For generation 2, I played the remakes more extensively than I ever did the originals, so I decided to list my HeartGold team rather than a team from the original Gold/Silver/Crystal incarnations.

1. Pokémon Blue

I didn't start with the original games, but quickly after finishing Sapphire, I went back to play Red, Blue and Yellow. My best memories are with Blue, where I finished with this team and totally loved it. I messed around with the glitches and was able to catch an ultra-rare Mew using a complex glitch. It was really rewarding to beat these games because the mechanics were so much simpler, and yet somehow made these games more challenging.

2. Pokémon HeartGold

While I owned Gold, my most memorable foray into the Johto region was in HeartGold -- its remake ten years later. HeartGold expanded on the features of the original games and did a wonderful job of making the nostalgia worthwhile and giving them a new flair. As I examine my teams in each game, I try to find a pattern but it is really difficult for me to discern anything consistent. If anyone else can catch something, by all means, point it out.

3. Pokémon Sapphire
 

Sapphire was the first game in the series that I ever played and it still holds a really special place in my heart to this day. I will never be able to match up to the magical feeling of playing Sapphire at nine/ten years old and exploring the tropical region of Hoenn. Ruby and Sapphire were pretty revolutionary installments in the series as well, introducing many new and innovative components to the familiar mechanics of the series. Now that I look back on it, I can appreciate the game even more than I did before, and that's hard to match up. A part of me thinks I continue to play just to try and match up to that experience.

4. Pokémon Diamond

Diamond was another really incredibly nostalgic experience for me, too. It was the first time I ever lived through the crazy pre-release period of a new generation of games. The unveiling of new creatures, new features, and a new storyline was an insane experience to live out. I would await patiently for new information online before the games released, and it was really fun! I fondly remember being taken to Toys R Us and GameStop alongside my cousin and we would download the exclusive legendaries, like Darkrai and Manaphy, in order to complete our collections. While not as innovative to the series as Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl continued the uphill trend of the series. In terms of music, I think Diamond and Pearl is among the best in the series: and that's a huge compliment.

5. Pokémon White

Black and White seem to be the black sheep of the series, with a lot of people hating its approach: this set of games featured nothing but new creatures until after beating the main storyline. It felt like a reboot in that sense, introducing the largest amount of new Pokémon since the original 151, as well as a lot of those new creatures acting as parallels to those in the original games. I really admired this generation for its attempt at creating a vast new region with a lot of character and world-building. The storyline in these games is phenomenal as well, actually touching on really good themes.

6. Pokémon X

I admired X and Y for its sheer graphical updates: a 3D world, no more sprites... it was mind-bending in my original experience with X to see the sheer innovation for the series to move in such a different direction. However, they don't hold up 3 years later just for the step down in story and the lackluster new creatures. I did love the starters in this generation, though, and as you probably noticed: Chesnaught is the only grass-starter I've ever used! The knight/mage/thief theme behind Chesnaught, Delphox and Greninja was really solid. While X and Y are probably my least favorite games in the series, they are still Pokémon so they are not terrible and still a really good time!

7. Pokémon Moon

Sun and Moon have just arrived a few months ago, and I believe that they are the most innovative in the series since Ruby and Sapphire. By improving X and Y's graphical updates, introducing some pretty unique Pokémon (each with interesting backstories behind them) and including an engaging story that trumps even Black and White's, there is a ton of great stuff here. These games also did away with the familiar gym leader set-up that has been with each of the passing generations, and the idea of building a league and becoming the Alola region's first champion actually felt accomplishing. Again, I really liked all of the starters in this generation and choosing was tough but I really dug Primarina's Water/Fairy typing and it felt like it would be the most dynamic choice.

The Pokémon series has been a huge part of my life and I continue to be a fan! Comment and share your stories with the series (whether you were a fan of the TV show or the games!)!