2. The Slogan Screws You Over
It's short, simple, gives you the objective and really brings in the sense of adventure. You're ready to go on your very own Pokémon journey as you find, catch and train all the Pokémon you can. In fact the Pokémon universe is set to have 150 monsters to add to your collection, ensuring you'll be playing for hours to find and catch them all! Right? Wrong. Get this, in a game sold on the premise of 'Gotta catch 'em all', you
can't even catch them all. If you buy Pokémon Red, for example, you can't catch the following Pokémon: Sandshrew, Sandslash, Vulpix, Ninetails, Meowth, Persian, Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebel, Magmar and Pinsir. That's eleven Pokémon you immediately can't catch because they're exclusive to Pokémon Blue. Of course that means, if you bought Pokémon Blue, there are just as many you can't catch because you didn't buy Pokémon Red. Add this to the numerous occasions in-game where you have to pick between Pokémon to join your party and have no way of catching the other options (the most egregious of these coming at the beginning of the game, so you're doomed from the start). The only ways around this are hacking the game or buying the Game Boy link cable and trading with your friends. Japan has also hosted competitions where entrants could win the chance to have the 151st Pokémon, Mew, added to their game files. At this point, the idea of catching 'em all is long gone.