Hurrah for games for children! Except Pokémon is a game for MEN. Obviously. Or something.
Just like all the other Pokeymang games, Sapphire starts with you meeting a tree-named Professor (Birch, in this case), the Professor’s kid, and your rival (May, in this game), and your own My First Pokémon (I picked a Torchic). And off I went, into the Magical World of Pokémon(TM).
Walked through some grass, and got to the first Gym, to find my dad. Couldn’t fight there yet, but did show a kid Wally how to catch Pokeymen. Got hold of a Pokéball or ten, and set about catching some for myself. Which was harder than I expected, since my Torchic was up to level 12 already, and so killed almost all the Pokeymen in one hit, preventing me from catching them. Luckily, I managed to damage some slightly less, and caught a Zigzagoon and a Lotad, and soon after got a Poochyena. Levelled them up a little too, before saving for now.