Competition: Win a Switch Lite Pokémon Edition with Sword & Shield

Whether you're a lifelong fan of Pokémon or looking to start your first Pokéjourney with Sword & Shield, you probably wouldn't mind a shiny new Nintendo Switch to play on.

And what luck! Nintendo would like to give a shiny new Nintendo Switch Lite to one of you.

All you need do is reply to the tweet below with your answer to the question: "Where did you begin your first Pokémon adventure?"

Maybe that was playing Pokémon Red and Blue on your first ever handheld? Or Gold and Silver? Or Sun and Moon?

Maybe it was watching the Pokémon cartoon on Saturday mornings before being told to go play outside?

Or maybe - no judging here - it was screaming into your N64 microphone to Hey You! Pikachu?

Let Nintendo know via Twitter - just remember to use the hashtag #GameBoy30. (Yes, Game Boy was 30 years old this year. No, don't mind us as we crumble into dust.)

To get you in the mood, here are five possibilities we've thought of...

Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow

The beginning is usually a pretty good place to start. Pokémon Red and Blue (or Red and Green, in Japan) are the original Game Boy classics that started everything for Pokémon - with "enhanced" edition Yellow swiftly following - and they mark the entry point, by virtue of that, for a huge amount of fans. If you want a sense of real canon to your entry into the series, this is the way to do it.

The games absolutely hold up, thanks to the fascinating old sprites and brilliantly evocative pixel art, that leaves your imagination to fill in the blanks. More than that, though, Red, Blue and Yellow's superlative gameplay is still the core of every mainline Pokémon game to date, from the turn-based battling, to the wild encounters, to the tricky environmental puzzles. It's fantastic.

Frustratingly they're not available on the Switch, but you can buy them on 3DS digitally or, if you want to go super-authentic, get a classic Game Boy (or Game Boy Colour or Advance) and pick up an old cart. We'd say go with Yellow, for the characterful addition of your own little Pikachu following you around. And you should absolutely move on to Gold, Silver and Crystal after: arguably the greatest sequels of any games around.

Pokémon Go

Three years in, there's still nothing else like Pokémon Go. Yes, it requires you get off your bum and go outside, British weather and all. But there's perhaps no more realistic route to becoming a real-life Pokémon trainer.

Venture out, find monsters and fill your Pokédex, battle Team Rocket and go on quests. Join one of the many real-life communities the game has fostered, which work together to take on raids and share local information - or sneakily work against each other for gym control. It's a Pokémon journey on your smartphone - and it will take over your life.

Pokémon: The Trading Card Game

Even though it was first released 13 years ago, Pokémon's TCG is still one of the most popular card games in the world. It transforms digital Pokémon battles into a tabletop experience and, to ensure your victory, you must create a deck containing a mixture of Pokémon, Energy and Trainer cards.

With beautiful artwork, including watercolour pictures and little clay sculptures, Pokémon cards are also fun to collect. You may find yourself attending Pokémon Card Tournaments not just to play, but to collect the rare promotional cards that are only available at the event.

Pokémon Let's Go

The Let's Go games got a predictably frosty reception on first reveal, with fans wanting something entirely new, for starters, but also baulking at the idea of something even more accessible.

For youngsters, though - or just someone who prefers things a little lighter and more easy going - they're perfect. Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee are a wonderful, relaxing entry points for the series, going back to the world and story of Pokémon Yellow but adding roaming, animated Pokémon themselves to the overworld, bringing it all to life.

There's optional motion-controlled catching, if you fancy mucking about with your Joy-Cons, and you can drop in with a second controller to join the main player, too, if you fancy guiding the little one through a trickier spot. Honestly though, we recommend you play Let's Go either way, kids or no kids, because they're a delight.

Pokémon: The TV Series

Pokémon's long-running cartoon show has tracked the exploits of Ash and Pikachu for over 1000 episodes - and really, we'd be surprised if you hadn't already caught one or two. For those too young to start their own Pokémon game journey - or for big kids who simply enjoy watching Ash beat Team Rocket over and over - there's plenty here to love.

The TV show is your best look at the wider Pokémon world - to the people and places not featured in the still-simple Pokémon games. And recent seasons have moved away from the typical Pokémon of the week formula to offer more slice of life anime asides. It's actually... pretty engrossing. Fancy catching up? Netflix has hundreds of episodes in its library, while the Pokémon TV app has many more to stream.