Pokémon Crystal

Pokémon Crystal Version
Developer: Game Freak Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Game Boy Color Released in JP: December 14, 2000 Released in US: July 30, 2001 Released in EU: November 2, 2001 Released in AU: September 30, 2001 This game has unused code. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a notes page This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

Pokémon Crystal is the update to Pokémon Gold and Silver with a focus on Suicune and the mobile phone stuff, which is removed from all versions except for the Japanese version. Pokémon Crystal was notable for being the first Pokémon game where you could play as a female character.

Leftover Content

Maps

To do: Confirm this. And Crystal also made minor changes to many maps as well as some big changes (e.g.: Ice Path, Champion room at the Pokémon League) so the Gold and Silver maps could still be there as well.

All of the unused maps from Gold and Silver remain in the ROM of Crystal. The Game Genie code to restore the Safari Zone gate's door is even the same!

Clock Reset

Like the non-Japanese versions of Gold and Silver, the international releases of Crystal contain a hidden debugging function to reset the clock. However, the process to activate the menu was made more complex:

1. Hold Down + Select + B
2. Release Down + B, leaving Select still pressed
3. Hold Left + Up
4. Let go of Select

Alternatively, the GameShark code 010464CF can be used.

(Source: the Pokémon Crystal disassembly)

Introduction And Title Screen Music

To do: Dump the music.

The music from the opening sequences of Gold and Silver remains in the ROM, despite not being used in Crystal.

Super Game Boy Features

Even though Pokémon Crystal is not compatible with the original Game Boy models or the Super Game Boy (It is compatible on the Super Game Boy 2), it has an unused Super Game Boy border programmed into the game. It can be enabled by setting the flag at offset 146) to 03. It is a leftover from the Japanese Gold version in all releases; being that the border does not fit well with Crystal, it was likely that it was never intended to be used at all. To enable the Super Game Boy features on real hardware or on an emulator, use the Game Genie code 031-46F-E6A (note that because the Super Game Boy checks for the bit after booting, you must first power it up with any game that has Super Game Boy enhancements inserted into the Game Genie, then insert the Pokémon Crystal cartridge with the Game Genie to see the hidden features).

It is worth noting that music was planned to play on the error message screen that appears as load functions are present.

There are several other unused palettes that may be leftovers from Gold and Silver. Game Genie codes ??9-A8B-91B + ?69-A7B-B31 will load any of these unused palettes. ATTR_BLK settings are not actual palettes but rather attribute settings and they appear black, so they won't be documented.

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  ID B6 5A

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  ID 26 5B

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  ID 36 5B

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  ID 46 5B

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  ID 66 5B

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  ID 86 5B

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  ID 96 5B

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  ID A6 5B

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  ID B6 5B

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  ID C6 5B

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  ID D6 5B

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  ID E6 5B

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  ID F6 5B

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  ID 06 5C

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  ID 16 5C

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  ID 26 5C

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  ID 36 5C

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  ID 46 5C

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  ID 56 5C

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  ID 66 5C

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  ID 76 5C

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  ID 86 5C

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  ID 96 5C

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  ID 76 5C

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  ID 86 5C

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  ID 96 5C

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  ID A6 5C

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  ID B6 5C

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  ID C6 5C

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  ID D6 5C

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  ID E6 5C

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  ID F6 5C

The unused commands are listed at 0x9A86.

21010300000013110000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
21010705000A130D0000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
2205070A000C1311030501000A030300 - ATTR_BLK
0A08130A030A0004080B030F0B001307 - PAL23
21010705000107070000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
210107050B0113020000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
21010705010108080000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
2101070507050D0B0000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
220503050000130B030A00041309020F - ATTR_BLK
230707100000020C02000C0012010200 - ATTR_BLK
0C02120302000C04120502000C061207 - PAL23
02000C08120902000C0A120B00000000 - PAL23
2203072000001304030F000613110305 - ATTR_BLK
0F011204000000000000000000000000 - PAL01
21010710000013050000000000000000 - ATTR_BLK
2102070A0004130D03050006130B0000 - ATTR_BLK
51480049004A004B0000000000000000 - PAL_SET
512B0024002000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51410042004300440000000000000000 - PAL_SET
514C004C004C004C0000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51000000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51360000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51370000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51380039000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
513A0000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
513B0000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
513C0000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51390000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
512E002F003000310000000000000000 - PAL_SET
511A001A001A001A0000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51320000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
513C0000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
513D003E003F00400000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51330034001B001F0000000000000000 - PAL_SET
511B0000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
511C0000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
51350000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_SET
01FF7F00000000000000000000000000 - PAL01
09FF7F00000000000000000000000000 - PAL23
59000000000000000000000000000000 - PAL_TRN
89000000000000000000000000000000 - MLT_REQ
89010000000000000000000000000000 - MLT_REQ
99000000000000000000000000000000 - CHR_TRN
A1000000000000000000000000000000 - PCT_TRN
B9010000000000000000000000000000 - MASK_EN
B9000000000000000000000000000000 - MASK_EN
795D08000B8CD0F46000000000000000 - DATA_SND
795208000BA9E79F01C07EE8E8E8E8E0 - DATA_SND
794708000BC4D016A5CBC905D010A228 - DATA_SND
793C08000BF012A5C9C9C8D01CA5CAC9 - DATA_SND
793108000B0CA5CAC97ED006A5CBC97E - DATA_SND
792608000B39CD480CD034A5C9C980D0 - DATA_SND
791B08000BEAEAEAEAEAA901CD4F0CD0 - DATA_SND
791008000B4C2008EAEAEAEAEA60EAEA - DATA_SND

(Source: nensondubois for finding palettes, SGB table, and Game Genie music code)

SILVER

In Gold, the default name for the player's rival when a blank name is provided is SILVER in English and シルバー in Japanese. This remains true in Crystal, which further suggests that it was developed from Gold rather than Silver.

In contrast, the default name in Silver is GOLD in English and ゴールド in Japanese.

Shiny Mew

File:Pokemon Crystal Shiny Mew.gif

For the sake of consistency, every Pokémon in every Pokémon game is given a Shiny variant. However, all Mew distributed to Generation I games have a fixed set of DVs that prevents them from becoming Shiny when traded to Generation II games, rendering this alternate-colored sprite almost-unused. While Shiny Mew is unobtainable without cheats or glitches, this may be seen normally if a Shiny Pokémon Transforms into a Mew.

Shiny Mew would later be available in Emerald as a normal Shiny chance for the wild Mew encounter at Faraway Island (via the Japanese Old Sea Map distribution).

Version Differences

Changed Graphics

The sprite changes in the localizations of Gold and Silver also apply to the localizations of Crystal. Except for Jynx, the changes in the Pokémon sprites were also taken into account for the Japanese Crystal.

The other changes in the layouts and graphics of the games were also reused for Crystal.

PokéCom Center

One of the primary differences between Japanese Crystal and Gold & Silver is that the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City is replaced with the Pokémon Communication Center (or PokéCom Center for short) to allow access to the Pokémon Mobile System GB. Japanese players could connect their Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance to their mobile phones using a special link cable and access the wireless network, which was shut down in December 2002. This feature is very similar to the Global Terminal featured in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

This is what the PCC looks like from the outside. Its sign says "For mobile tips! POKéCOM CENTER"

This is what the ground floor of the PCC looks like. The left-most desk continues to operate as a Pokémon healing service, while the center desk acts as the mobile trade center, and the area to the far right is the Pokémon News Machine where players could read about each other's Pokémon adventures. The stairs go to the typical second floor Pokémon Center layout with the regular link cable rooms. The pink door in the upper left corner leads to the Administration Office.

And this is the Administration Office, which can be accessed from the aforementioned door at the top-left of the map.

In the international releases, there's an unused warp right above the stairs on the ground floor of the regular Pokémon Center that leads here. Without hacking the ROM or using glitches, it can be accessed with GameShark code 0160E4D4, which alters the behavior of the warp tile so that it behaves like a hole tile.

(Source: Bulbapedia)

GS Ball Event

To do: Was the U.S. distribution method similar to one in the JP version? I can't seem to find any specifics about this.

Players in the U.S. also had the ability to get Celebi through the New York Pokémon Center, but only during its opening month (November/December 2001). Although no legitimate method was used outside of Japan and a portion of the U.S., the code remains in them.

The GS Ball event got reprogrammed and adapted to the regular Pokémon Center in the localizations. This event can be activated by setting the byte at 0x3E44 in a regular English v1.0 save file to 0x0B or by using GameShark code 010B44BE.

Mobile Center

The Japanese version's Mobile Center feature was disabled internationally, causing some graphics to become unused. Its translation is incomplete as various text remains untranslated and displayed as gibberish since most of the Japanese characters are no longer present.

The Mobile Center (shown as "Mobile" in-game) can be accessed on a save file with GameShark code 010576CF in all non-Japanese versions.

The English localization made the most progress, followed by German and Spanish. The profile entry screen defaults completely blank except in English.

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  English

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  German

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  Spanish

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  French

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  Italian

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Mobile Stadium

In the Japanese version, this feature can be used to send data of timed mobile battles to the Japanese Pokémon Stadium 2 via the Transfer Pak, which is then converted into a battle video. The Vs. Recorder item in recent Pokémon games provides similar functionality.

Like the Mobile Center, the Mobile Stadium feature was disabled internationally, and it suffers from the same incomplete translation issues. It can be accessed with the aforementioned GameShark code 010576CF in all non-Japanese versions.

In the English versions, its entry on the menu is misspelled as "Mobile Studium".

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To do: Replace Italian picture with English.

Occasionally, a connection attempt will display a Pichu animation with music. This screen has intact Japanese text.

Curiously German and Spanish, like English, translated the intro text, while it was left blank in Italian and French. In addition English revision 1.1 and the European languages have a glitched background due to an unintentional LF→CRLF/CR→CRLF conversion.

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  German

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  Spanish

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  French

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  Italian

Battle Tower

To do: Check how it actually works in the Japanese version.

Another major difference in the localizations of Crystal is the Battle Tower. Unlike in the Japanese release, it does not rely on the Pokémon Mobile System GB so it's open to everyone. This also means that access to the tower in the Japanese version after the shutdown of the mobile service is impossible; however, the GameShark code 0160D7D4, which alters the behavior of the warp tile so that it behaves like a hole tile, can be used to enter it (the "walk through walls" GameShark code is required: 01003ED1 01003FD1 010040D1 010041D1).

Music

To do: Dump sparse41.miniusf here.

Copies of the game released outside of Japan feature three unused music tracks, which originally played when accessing the mobile phone functions.

Game Genie code ??A-F2A-B3B will play any song at the title screen menu. They can also be listened to with the GameShark code 01xxA9C2, which modifies the overworld music.

This remix of the Pokémon Center music is used in the Pokémon Communication Center, once the player successfully connects to the Pokémon Mobile System GB service for the first time. Its ID is 66.

This music is played when accessing the Mobile Center and Mobile Stadium and its ID is 5F. A remixed version also appears in the Japanese version of Pokémon Stadium 2 as "sparse41.miniusf" when accessing the equivalent "Mobile Stadium" menu.

Has ID 5E. It is used in the Japanese version on the mobile connection screen.