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A single, long GIF captures 20 years of Pokemon

A single, long GIF captures 20 years of Pokemon

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This week fans of Pokemon are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the series. If you've followed the creature-collecting games from the original Game Boy to the Nintendo 3DS, this GIF, embedded below, will pluck your heart strings like Meowth plucks an electric guitar.

What I dig most about the GIF posted by @_gamemix_, other than its charming art style, is how it communicates the evolution of Nintendo's portable hardware without text or sound. In a few seconds, the GIF travels from a link cable to a DS cartridge to a Wi-Fi connection. I've never felt so nostalgic for outdated wires.

If you're new to Pokemon, we created a video that explains the series' success over the decades, above. Now's a great time to give the games a try. The original Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, and Pokemon Yellow were released this week for download on Nintendo 3DS, in all of their monochromatic glory.