Hello. I'm cmd (Teh Pig on the forums) and I started playing Pokémon when I was just turning 8. I used to think it was trash before that (Was a weirdo) because I thought it was all about trading cards, like Yu-Gi-Oh. But then one day I saw my friend playing his Diamond. He left it down for a second, and said I could continue. He was Surfing, so I just started going around in circles until I ran into a Tentacool. The first Pokémon my friend had out was Empoleon. I decided to use Metal Claw. Of course, Tentacool was KO 'D straight away. There was something about killing a creature with a metal claw that was intresting... after about a week of nagging my Mom finally let me buy Pokémon Diamond. I quickly got addicted, freaking out whenever I saw a Bidoof (I know, it's actually true) and, judging by her backsprite, thinking Dawn was a pirate. And that's my addiction story.