I didn't have a Gameboy Advance and like most people didn't really give a trout about a small spin off game on a handheld. Of course it turned out that it wasn't just some forgettable spin off and anyone who only played the first two numerical entries would be lost by the end of the second.
And i disagree about it not being that hard to follow. Necessary information was left out of the second game so anyone who only played the first wouldn't be able to understand everything happening. Then they kept releasing side games on multiple handhelds i didn't even own at the time so it was clear the series wasn't for me in anyway after that.