Pokémon Red and Blue

Pokémon Red and Blue
Developer: Game Freak Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Game Boy Released in JP: February 27, 1996 (Red & Green); October 10, 1996 (Blue) Released in US: September 30, 1998 Released in EU: October 8, 1999 This game has unused areas. This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused items. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences. This game has a notes page This game has a prototype article This game has a bugs page This game has a prerelease article

Pokémon Red and Blue is the original game that glued many children to their Gameboys as they began their quest to become the Pokémon champion.

Prototype Pokédex Order

Unlike in later games, the internal Pokémon species table is far from sorted - the Pokémon aren't grouped by their evolutionary families or any other reasonable order. For example, index numbers 0x01, 0x02 and 0x03 are Rhydon, Kangaskhan and Nidoran♂. This order, however, is likely a prototype Pokédex order or even the order in which those Pokémon were originally added to the game.

One of Game Center CX's special episodes features an interview with Satoshi Tajiri, the original creator of Pokémon. Here, what is possibly an early design document or proposal for the games is shown, complete with close-up shots of three different Pokémon - Nidoking, Slowbro and Kadabra - with their sprites from Pokémon Red and Green, names, and numbers. Interestingly, the numbers of those do not match up the final Pokédex order, and instead match up perfectly with the aforementioned internal species table, placing Nidoking at number 0x07, Slowbro at 0x08 and Kadabra at 0x26. It can also be assumed that those screens come from a very early version of the in-game Pokédex function, considering the layout of the screen, and the faintly visible Super Game Boy border.

Also of note is Nidoking's apparent prototype name which, instead of "ニドキング" as in the final games, is given as "マイコー♂" here.

190 Pokémon

The aforementioned Pokémon species table has 190 entries, 39 of which are completely blank and result in the game loading MISSINGNO. (see below) instead. Words from Shigeki Morimoto have supported that there were once 190 Pokémon planned for inclusion in the games. [1]

MISSINGNO.

This is arguably the most (in)famous prototype leftover in any game, due to its accessibility in the game via a glitch, especially since doing so produces some interesting and helpful side effects, such as mass duplication of items in the player's inventory (this is due to a glitch).

The name "MISSINGNO." stands for "missing number", since it's used to fill in empty slots in the table of Pokémon species data. These slots were most likely from the original 190 before 39 were removed.

In the aforementioned Pokémon species table, there are 39 entries which give the Pokémon a Pokédex number of #000. As the base stats are ordered by Pokédex number as opposed to index number, this results in all MISSINGNO.'s (as well as 'M explained below) sharing the same type (Bird/Normal), stats, start moves, graphics, etc (see also: this). Because its graphic pointer isn't valid, its appearance is a block of corrupted graphics. MISSINGNO. points to data that defines it as a "??? Pokémon", with a height of 1.0 meters and 10.0 kilograms, as well as a filler Pokédex entry saying コメント さくせいちゅう—“Comment to be written”. This information was not translated in the English versions and hence displays erroneous values when the Pokédex is viewed.

Each MISSINGNO. also has a separate cry. Most of these are simply set to three zeros, resulting in its cry sounding similar to Nidoran♂'s cry. However, there are a few unique ones (see here). It may also be worth noting that each individual MISSINGNO. has a pointer to different data telling it not to evolve or learn any new moves at new levels (simply two 0x00 bytes). These two are the biggest hints that these were once real Pokémon, but later deleted.

MISSINGNO. is often confused or mistaken with another, similar glitch Pokémon called 'M. They both have the Pokédex #000 hence duplicate the sixth item. Non-Skeletal/Ghost MISSINGNO. and 'M both use an identical "sprite", have the same base stats, etc. Anything that the game reads that is stored in index order is different. For example, 'M will attempt to evolve into Kanghaskhan at any level, unless it is greater than or equal to level 128, when it will attempt to evolve into Clefairy and immediately evolve from Clefairy into Kangahskhan. Also, its cry is similar to Zapdos's.

MISSINGNO.'s Cries

ID	Cry
0x43
0x4F
0x51
0x5E
0x5F
0x7F
0x89
0xB5

Bird type

There is a missing "BIRD" type for Pokémon within Red and Blue. This type remains unused in Gold and Silver, showing that those games were based off of this game's engine. The Bird type has no weaknesses nor resistances. It may have been the precursor to the final game's Flying type.

Coincidentally, the MISSINGNO. glitch Pokémon's data gives it the Bird type, which is what led to its eventual discovery.

Extra field move

In the list of field moves, there is an unused entry between Fly and Surf. It points to an empty string in the field move name table. It has a move id of 0xB4 although the highest valid move id is 0xA5, suggesting that there were moves that were removed before the game was released. Its position in the list of field moves, between two HM's (all HM's are in order) suggest this may have once been an HM too.

At offset 0x80096 is the unused text string "Ground rose up somewhere!". This is near the string used when using Strength and has been suggested it was originally for a field move.

(Source: Sawakita)

Unused Items

To do: More detail on what throwing rocks/bait does in normal wild battles and trainer battles. There is apparently data within the coding of Generation I games that shows Coins were at one point available for purchase at the price of (PD)10 per Coin

There are several unused/dummied items in the game. They remain unchanged in Pokémon Yellow.

• BoulderBadge, CascadeBadge, Thunderbadge, Rainbowbadge, Soulbadge, Marshbadge, Volcanobadge and Earthbadge: It looks like the badges were originally going to sit in your inventory, instead of being displayed on your player info screen. They were probably removed since your items are cluttered enough as it is. If hacked into your inventory, when used outside of battle, they change the music to a loop of one of the jingles you get after Oak evaluates your Pokedex. Using the BoulderBadge in battle causes you to throw a rock like in the Safari Zone! Similarly, the CascadeBadge throws bait!
• Coin: Item data exists at identifier 3B for a 'Coin', presumably one from the Game Corner. In the final game, Game Corner coins are stored within the Coin Case instead.
• ????? (07): An item with a dummied out name. Using it is identical to using Surf from a Pokémon. Either HMs didn't exist early in development, there were abandoned plans for a surfboard item, or this is a testing item.
• ????? (2C): This item also has a dummied out name, attempting to use it does nothing, and returns Professor Oak's unusable message regardless of whether the player is in battle or not, suggesting that it might be a dummied out key item.
• TM51 - TM55: These items contain what would eventually become the HM moves. They work pretty much as you'd expect, teaching your Pokémon the appropriate move.

Starting character names

In Pokémon Red, when the player begins a new game, his/her name is set to NINTEN and the rival's is set to SONY. These are normally not visible, because one is forced to choose a new name for both characters before they are displayed, but using a code to skip the name entry dialog, you can make these appear in the game.

In the Japanese Pocket Monsters Blue, the player's name becomes "ゲーフリ"; an abbreviation of Game Freak, and the rival's name becomes "クリチャ", a reference to Creatures, Inc. [2]

Trainers

There exist two unused trainer classes in the game: Chief and Professor Oak.

Chief

An unused trainer class named 'Chief', triggered by a hexadecimal identifier of 0xE3 exists within the game. It actually has no sprite, but uses the Scientist sprite because its identifier is directly before that of the Scientist class (0xE4). No rosters appear to be defined for a Chief, neither has the Chief been found to give any valid victory speeches when defeated.

Professor Oak

A battle with Professor Oak is programmed into the game, although he never battles the player in the final version. One can trigger this battle either with the GameShark code 01E2D8CF (where the level of what would be a wild Pokémon corresponds with the roster value), or by using one of various glitches in the game. His team consists of a Tauros, an Exeggutor, an Arcanine, a Gyarados, and the fully evolved variant of the third starter Pokemon (the one neither the player nor the rival chooses). Based on this team (and their levels), it's likely he was supposed to appear at the very end, maybe even after the final rival battle.

When defeated, (presuming Professor Oak used one of the valid rosters above) Professor Oak will give whatever dialog that the trainer you used to fight him says when defeated. He has no real phrases of his own.

Alternatively, it is possible to battle him via the Ditto Trick (an extended version of the Mew Trick.) using a Pokemon with a Special stat of 226 and he can be encountered (though without his appropriate roster.) as a glitch trainer while doing the Missingno/Old Man Glitch and having the "MN" symbol in the third, fifth, or seventh slot of the player's name.

The data for this battle is still present in the data of Pokemon Yellow.

Maps

Pokémon RBGY/Unknown Dungeon

Deleted maps

There are 26 deleted map locations, though header data still exists with the exception of a tentative unused town with its own fly flag. All of these freeze the game when entered.

Possible Extra Town

File:Area11 PkmnRBY.png

Presumable unused map data for identifier 0x0B, note that it appears north of Indigo Plateau because its co-ordinates are undefined.

There is an empty map; map 0x0B, which is stored with city/town maps (0x00 to 0x0A; routes start with Route 1 at map 0x0C) and has Town Map location data as a town (not route; this is worth stressing) north of the Indigo Plateau, since an unused flag when checked allows the player to fly to it. Additionally, no Pokémon appear in map 0x0B. From this, it can reasonably be concluded that there was at one point another town in that location, removed from the final game.

The relevant town map name, is presumably undefined and shares its name with prefix 0x00 - Pallet Town. It erroneously appears to be north of Indigo Plateau because its co-ordinates are undefined and the game defaults to co-ordinates (0,0).

Victory Road rooms

There are 3 deleted maps using the Victory Road map header with identifiers 0x69 to 0x6B.

Pokémon League rooms

There are 17 deleted maps using the Pokémon League map header with identifiers 0x6D to 0x70, 0x71 to 0x75 and 0xED to 0xF4.

Extra Pokémon Tower map

There is 1 deleted map using the Pokémon Tower map header with identifier 0x94.

Rocket HQ rooms

There are 3 deleted maps using the Rocket HQ map header with identifiers CC to CE.

Extra Rock Tunnel map

There is 1 deleted map using the Rock Tunnel map header with identifier E7.

Alternative/Unused locations

For unknown reasons, complete maps exist within the final game which correspond to real locations, but these corresponding maps use different music for what was actually used for the same location in the final game. [3] These maps can be accessed via the map location modifier code: 01XX5ED3.

Location	Final identifier	Corresponding identifier	Music of final version	Music of corresponding version
House invaded by Team Rocket	0x3E	0x49	Cerulean City	Mt. Moon
Underground Path entrance (Route 6)	0x4A	0x4B	Pewter City	Vermillion City
Cinnabar Island (PokéMart)	0xAC	0xAD	Pokémon Center	Cinnabar Island

Duplicate Diglett's Cave map data

There are two copies of the map data for Diglett's Cave in the US Red and Blue versions (probably other versions too). In these versions, one of the maps is at ROM offset 0x60258 while the other is at 0x61F86.

Options

NORTH/WEST/SOUTH/EAST

In addition to the normal options such as YES/NO and HEAL/CANCEL, additional options "NORTH/WEST" and "SOUTH/EAST" are present but are never used in the final game. However, "NORTH" and "EAST" are referenced in the Safari Zone but within strings of text, not as options.

Unused PokéMart data

PokéMart data is listed between the Fuchsia City and Cinnabar Island marts, but doesn't seem to be used. It lists Great Ball, Hyper Potion, Super Potion, Full Heal and Revive.

Localization errors

¡El malvado (POKéMON) atacó!

In the Spanish Pokémon Rojo y Azul, encountering a Pokémon with a rod returns the text "¡El malvado (POKéMON) atacó!". This is a presumable mistranslation, because the original English text was "The hooked (POKéMON) attacked!", as in a Pokémon attached to the rod. ¡El malvado (POKéMON) atacó!, when translated back to English translates more to "The wicked (POKéMON) attacked!", or "The evil (POKéMON) attacked!".

(Source: POKéMON-STATS.COM)

The RAICHU you traded to me went and evolved!

Whilst this dialogue string is used for a Cinnabar Lab trade by an NPC in the final game, an error persisted in the localization of the original Japanese Blue string. The original trade involved the player sending over a Kadabra for a Golem. In normal gameplay, a Kadabra would evolve when traded for another Pokémon. However, Pokémon Red and Blue involved the player sending over a Raichu for an Electrode instead. The changes in the Japanese Blue were not addressed, which would cause the odd message "The RAICHU you traded to me went and evolved!" to appear, if the player was to trade over his or her Raichu. In normal gameplay, it is impossible to evolve a Raichu.

Reference to a "TM" in French version

The official acronym for TM (Technical Machine) in the French Pokémon Rouge et Bleu is CT. Whilst CT is used correctly elsewhere, if the player exchanges a Lemonade for a TM49 in the Celadon Rooftop Square the acronym "TM" from the English Pokémon Red and Blue is referenced instead of CT in the dialogue string "TM49... TRIPLATTAQUE!".

(Source: PRAMA-Initiative)

Unused characters

The following sutegana are left in the English versions: ぁ, ぃ, ぅ, ぇ, ぉ, ァ, ゥ, ェ.

Butterfree for Beedrill trade

There is an unused Butterfree for Beedrill trade, which was carried over from Pocket Monsters Red and Green. In Red and Green, the traded Beedrill was originally nicknamed "ピピん" (Pipin), though in the special edition Japanese Pokémon Blue (which Pokémon Red and Blue's game engine is mainly based upon) its nickname was changed to "チクチク". As such, there is unused text in the English Pokémon Red and Blue for a Beedrill called "CHIKUCHIKU". [4]

Miscellaneous

Default total PP of Struggle

Struggle is an attack which cannot be learned in normal gameplay. It is only used when the user's Pokémon attempts to attack but has no available PP for any move left (note that in-game trainers cannot run out of PP in Red/Blue). Regardless, the default total PP data for Struggle is referenced as 1, though there is a special handler for Struggle such that its remaining PP remains at 1 regardless of how many times the move is used.

The default total PP for Struggle has remained at 1 in all main handheld Pokémon games as of Generation V.

Pocket Monsters Green reference (Red Version only)

In Pokémon Red, there is tile VRAM tile data for 'GREEN'. Unsurprisingly, this is not viewable in normal gameplay. In Pokémon Blue, respective tile data for 'RED' does not exist.

Unused battling AI

There is data for unused battling AI which is normally never applied to any Trainer Class, including 'use X Accuracy' and 'use Dire Hit'.

(Source: IIMarckus' Pokémon Red disassembly project)