Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team
Also known as: Pokemon Fushigi no Danjon Aka no Kyuujotai / Ao no Kyuujotai (JP), Pokemon Bulgasaui Dungeon Parang Gujodae (KR) (Blue Rescue Team) Developer: Chunsoft Publishers: The Pokémon Company (JP), Nintendo (INT) Platforms: Game Boy Advance (Red Rescue Team), Nintendo DS (Blue Rescue Team) Released in JP: November 17, 2005 Released in US: September 18, 2006 Released in EU: November 10, 2006 Released in AU: September 28, 2006 Released in KR: August 30, 2007 (Blue Rescue Team), August 8, 2024 (Red Rescue Team, Nintendo Switch Online) This game has unused animations. This game has unused areas. This game has unused playable characters. This game has unused code. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused abilities. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article This game has a notes page This game has a bugs page This game has a Data Crystal page

To do: Could these games have assets leftover from Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko's Great Adventure 3 Advance, as they use a very similar game engine to that game?

Now you, too, can live out your secret desires to be a Pokémon! Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team are the first two releases of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon sub-series, released respectively for Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.

Only Blue Rescue Team was ever released in South Korea, as Daiwon distributed the Game Boy Advance there; as a result, there are no first-party Korean games for Game Boy Advance at all.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Notes

Bugs

Debug Room Hidden area reserved for game testing.

Unused Dungeons 12 unused dungeons within the game's code.

Unused Pokémon Used, yet Unused.

Unused Graphics Uhm... I don't think I recognize that Pokémon.

Unused Animations A bunch of animation leftovers.

Unused Moves 58 unused and semi-unused moves.

Development Text Be aware of debug attacks!

Regional Differences Legend has it that sea beyond the horizon is glittery.

Debug Menu

There is a Debug Menu that can be accessed by patching byte 0xE5B08 (Red Rescue Team) or 0xB7184 (Blue Rescue Team) to 0x10. This can be done by using the following cheat code:

Red Rescue Team (GameShark)	Blue Rescue Team
E5199391 437FC95F 5483DD13 B5A5B62A	Not applicable

For Blue Rescue Team, the ROM patch must be done manually with a file editor, since there aren't any Nintendo DS cheat devices that support this feature.

As a result, this will replace the "Delete Save Data" option; also note that after opening the main menu, the cursor will point to it by default rather than to the "Continue" option.

The first five options make the menu disappear and the game freeze, except for the music. The "Storage" option makes the game freeze without the menu disappearing. The "h-open" option will return you to the main menu.

However these features do work in a leaked Japanese Debug-Enabled build, in which is documented here.

Provisional Map

Besides the Debug Room, there is another unused area accessible via these cheat codes:

Red Rescue Team (GameShark)	Blue Rescue Team (Action Replay)
820C0AB4 0007	0210FAF0 00000007

After activating the code, walk though any warp point in the overworld to access this area.

Despite the "Makuhita Dojo" area label shown in the overworld menu, this room seems more like a house than a dojo: it has a bed, a fireplace, and many flowerpots. The Japanese label "仮マップ" on the lower part of the map means "provisional map". Also, it is possible to walk on the table, but not on the stairs present on the right.

There are two Pokémon NPCs in this room: a Noctowl and a Gulpin, respectively. When talked to, they will both give a red "Unregistered dialog script" line. If the room is accessed before saving Magnemite, these NPCs will be absent.

The background music is the same as the one used for Makuhita Dojo mazes. Leaving the room (after disabling the cheat code) will send the player to in front of the Makuhita Dojo entrance.

Unused Items

To do: Add the Japanese description strings.

These can be found in the Kangaskhan Storage after activating the respective cheat code (except for the "Nothing" item):

Red Rescue Team (GameShark)	Blue Rescue Team (Action Replay)
420389FA 0001 000000EF 0002	A213C112 000003E7 D5000000 000003E7 C0000000 000000EE D7000000 0213BF36 D2000000 00000000

Item name (EN)	Item name (JP)	Sprite	In-game description	Function
Nothing	なし		No information available.	An item placeholder used for Pokémon in friend areas.
Ring D	ゆびわＤ		Ring D	Unknown.
Ring E	ゆびわＥ		Ring E	Unknown.
Ring F	ゆびわＦ		Ring F	Unknown.
Alert Specs	けいかいメガネ		A hold item that prevents the Pokémon from having its held item snatched away or swatted down.	Just as the in-game description says. Note that this is pretty useless since its effect applies on the item itself, which doesn't have any other effect.
Excavate	ほりおこし		Teaches the move Excavate. It digs through the wall the user is facing.	No Pokémon can learn it, so the only way to access its move is by hacking (see the Unused Moves sub-page).
Spin Slash	かいてんぎり		Teaches the move Spin Slash. It inflicts damage on all foes surrounding the user.	Same as above.
Observer Orb	ようすみのたま		Changes the status of the target to Paused, making it incapable of action.	Just as the in-game description says.
Possess Orb	とりつきだま		A leader's hold item that enables the leader to possess a friend and survive. It only works for the team leader.	It makes an adjacent ally faint in place of the leader, which completely heals them.
Reviver Orb	ふっかつのたま		A hold item that revives the Pokémon if it faints. It does not work if the holder faints from an explosion.	Just as the in-game description says.
Toss Orb	ものなげのたま		Enables the Pokémon to throw items.	It makes the user perform the item-throw animation.
Beatup Orb	よびだま		Synthesis item	Same effect as the Beat Up move.
G Machine 6	Ｇマシン６		Synthesis item	Same function as the Link Box item.
G Machine 7	Ｇマシン７		Synthesis item	Same function as the Link Box item.
G Machine 8	Ｇマシン８		Synthesis item	Same function as the Link Box item.
Weavile Fig	マニューラぞう		Weavile event item.	This item name appears in the descriptions for missions which offer the Weavile Statue as a reward. However, the player never obtains it in their inventory, since the statue is displayed outside the base instead. This item also functions as the Link Box item.
Switch Box	きりかえばこ		A curious box that enables the user to switch the rescue team's leader. Only official team members may become the team leader.	Just as the in-game description says. However, it doesn't work until the main story is finished.
Mime Jr. Fig	マネネぞう		Mime Jr. event item.	Same as the Weavile Fig.

Audio Data

To do: Search for all unused sounds in this Zip archive.

Unused Music

There are two unused tracks in the games. It is unknown where they would have gone, but judging by the file names they were at one point intended for a cutscene and training menu of some sort. The word "zukkoke" is Japanese for "foolish" or "stupid."

Red Rescue Team: EVENT_ZUKKOKE
Blue Rescue Team: SND_BGM_M_EVENT_ZUKKOKE

Red Rescue Team: SYS_TRAINING
Blue Rescue Team: SND_BGM_M_SYS_TRAINING

Unused Sound Effects

An alternative sound effect for evolution goes unused:

Red Rescue Team: EVOLUTION_02
Blue Rescue Team: SND_ME_M_EVOLUTION_02

A track consisting of four consecutive sound effects, of which only the third is used. Judging by the file name ("orugoru" is Japanese for "music box"), this could have been intended for the Music Box item. In the actual game, the Music Box never makes any sounds and disappears from the inventory if the player attempts to use it.

Red Rescue Team: EFF_ORUGORU
Blue Rescue Team: SND_ME_M_EFF_ORUGORU

Redundant Sound Effects

There are two sound tracks consisting of almost identical data, used when leveling up:

Red Rescue Team: LEVELUP (used), FANFARE (unused)
Blue Rescue Team: SND_ME_M_LEVELUP (used), SND_ME_M_FANFARE (unused)

There is another couple of sound tracks, which in this case consist in the very same data, used when receiving a mission reward:

Red Rescue Team: REWARD (used), NEWS (unused)
Blue Rescue Team: SND_ME_M_REWARD (used), SND_ME_M_NEWS (unused)

Silent Tracks

There are two tracks which make no sound when played, which are labeled internally as DUMMY and SAVE_01 in Red Rescue Team and as SND_BGM_M_DUMMY and SND_BGM_M_SAVE_01 in Blue Rescue Team.

Unused Tactics

To do: Check if there is any unused code related to these Tactics.

Name	Description
All for one	The Pokémon will try to avoid being alone. It will try to stay with the team.
Group safety	The Pokémon will try to avoid being alone. It will try to stay with friends of the same species.
unused	None.

These tactic names and descriptions are found in the ROM along with the used ones. The behaviors in the descriptions are not implemented; a Pokémon with any of these tactics will behave as if their tactic is "Let's go together".

Unused Code

To do: Check the Korean version of Blue Rescue Team for any dual-slot features or leftovers, since they would be unused as a result of the one-sided release.

Pokémon-removing function

This is found the start of the dungeon-generation code, but there is no way to execute it in the released versions of the games. It does delete all Pokémon on the floor, giving "debug damage" as reason in the exploration log.

(Source: TheZZAZZGlitch (video))

Unused Move Ranges

To do: Analyze the game's code to document their precise function.

Two unused moves have a unique Range: なにもの？ (Who?) has "None" (00), and Spin Slash has "Foe at side" (09), which seems to be the same as Cut's "Foes within 1-tile range" (02).

AI Targeting Items

There is unused code that allows AI-controlled Pokémon to head towards nearby items on the ground. The code is hidden behind a check for the Pokémon being the party leader; as the leader cannot be controlled by the AI, this code is never reached. The code is mostly functional, though the AI gets stuck on the item if the toolbox is full or if the Pokémon is a wild Pokémon that is already holding an item.

The item-targeting behavior can be enabled by hacking the code to removing the leader check, and can be seen at 41:23 in the video.

Warp Seed AI Usage

The AI normally does not use Warp Seeds, but there are unused checks within the AI code for using them. If Warp Seeds were usable, the AI would eat them if under 20 HP, or throw them at an ally who is under 20 HP.

Enemy Evolution

To do: Find a way to enable this behavior and get a screenshot/video of it.

There is a dungeon flag allowing eligible enemies to evolve once a party member faints (assuming the player has no Reviver Seeds). This code is still fully-functional, but goes unused since the flag is not actually enabled on any dungeons.

(Source: https://github.com/pret/pmd-red/blob/cfe77992955aec88fb7834d00c24cacdf762fefd/include/dungeon.h#L17)

Evolution Friend Area Requirement

The code for checking whether a Pokémon can evolve at Luminous Cave includes cases for being unable to evolve because the player doesn't own the evolution's Friend Area, or because the evolution's Friend Area is already full, but as no evolutions in the game change the Pokémon's Friend Area assignment these scenarios can't actually happen in-game.

(Source: https://github.com/pret/pmd-red/blob/3d73fd4735766c20ce36adc7528c581916b97883/src/luminous_cave.c#L53)

There are also unique text strings for each.

Unused Dialogue

Luminous Cave Dialogue

Since no evolution in the game has a different Friend Area than their pre-evolutions, these dialogues go unused alone with the code that checks for this scenario.

Text (JP)	Text (EN)
…………………………。 なんじ　しんかは　まだ　できない。 しんかするには　ともだちエリアが　ひつようだ。	... Ye cannot evolve yet. Ye need your Friend Area to evolve.
…………………………。 なんじ　しんかは　まだ　できない。 しんかさきの　ともだちエリアが　いっぱいだ。	... Ye cannot evolve yet. The Friend Area to which ye shall go has no room for ye.

?????????? Dialogue in Dungeon

These are the in-dungeon dialogues of the ?????????? unused Pokémon, the Mystery Dungeon equivalent of MissingNo.

Usual	1/2 HP or less	1/4 HP or less	Level Up
Something...	This is getting tough...	I can’t go on...	I leveled up. I’m happy!

Revisional Differences

Early Japanese copies of Blue Rescue Team had a nasty glitch that could potentially wipe the save data from any inserted Game Boy Advance game that wasn't Red Rescue Team. This was fixed in revision v1.1 of the Japanese release, and all international versions of the game.

Console Differences

As both games were simultaneously released on different generations of hardware, there are a few significant differences:

• The music has been re-arranged between versions, particularly affecting the instrumentation.
• Blue Rescue Team uses the top screen for features such as the game map and Pokémon information while in a dungeon.
  • This will show the overworld map coordinates of certain dungeons that remain unseen in Red Rescue Team.
• Both games are compatible with each other through the Dual-Slot feature on the Nintendo DS. Through the Receive Team feature, Blue Rescue Team can unlock the exclusive Rescue Team Maze at the Makuhita Dojo, a short dungeon starring the team imported from Red Rescue Team as the bosses.
• Blue Rescue Team can use the exclusive Unknown Dungeon feature to connect to other copies of Blue Rescue Team and Pokémon Trozei! to receive unique items.