Lol oh man. Meanwhile I never got far enough in my first Pokemon games to get a legendary. The first legendary I caught was Groudon, and I just chucked the master ball, and this was when I was like 14 ish. I played my first Pokemon games around 9 or 10. Amazing what a few years difference does.
Also, I remember one more thing I did. On Gold, I enjoyed breeding. I REALLY enjoyed breeding. I would leave two rattatas or something in the day care and keep breeding eggs. Eventually I ran out of cash to get them out, and I thought I had effectively stuck myself. I couldn't get through Ice Path. I thought I had no way to get money now. I restarted the file.
I also bred a magikarp and a chinchou and thought I'd get a hybrid fish pokemon. I got a magikarp.