Yea, I remember when Pokemon was manly! with pokemon like Pikachu and Squirtle.
In all seriousness, I would never call Pokemon girly or manly at all. It's a game set in some kind of world where the only conflict or concern is apparently collecting small animals to pit them in fights against each other, but the animals are mostly cute and cuddly and supposedly deadly.
That said, though, the reason why I stopped playing after Gold/Silver was that the new Pokemon just werent as eye-catching or memorable as they were before. I remember looking at the new pokemon advertised in Ruby/Sapphire and forgetting about most of them after checking out the ad. The first 2 generations of Pokemon had great and memorable art design and naming- the first 150 especially. After that, I admit, the naming and the designs just seemed so... different than what I was used to.
I could be biased, of course, but I had a good time with Red/Blue and Gold/Silver. Would rather leave it at that and not soil my fond memories
Still enjoying the game because it is still one of the best games out there. Story, game-play, replay, social challenges, huge levels of variability, sustainability... its got it all. coupled with better graphics and a wi-fi community, i dare say it's a perfect game. I was just thrown off by the dress-up/ musical part. 
