99 Fun Facts About Pokemon Red and Blue

Which studio developed Pokémon Red and Blue?

Game Freak began as a self-published fanzine of arcade game tips, and only turned into a development studio in 1989.

In Japan, Pocket Monsters Red first went on sale paired with which version instead of Blue?

Green: Japan's first pair was Red and Green, and the improved Blue edition that followed months later supplied the graphics and script for the Red and Blue sold abroad.

Pokémon Day falls on February 27 each year to mark which 1996 event?

Games' Japanese launch: Pocket Monsters Red went on sale in Japan on February 27, 1996, and the company now saves major game announcements for the anniversary.

How many Pokémon are in the original Pokédex of Red and Blue?

151, and no single cartridge offers them all: each version leaves some species out, so completing the Pokédex means trading with a friend.

In which fictional region are Pokémon Red and Blue set?

Kanto, modelled on the real Kantō region around Tokyo, returns in the sequels Gold and Silver, where players can travel back to it after beating the new region's league.

How many Gym Badges must the player collect to enter the Pokémon League?

Eight badges open the Pokémon League, and they work as keys in another way too: several also unlock a move such as Cut for use outside battle.

What accessory lets two Game Boys trade Pokémon?

Link Cable: Game Boy owners had used it for head-to-head play in games like Tetris, and swapping creatures through it was Pokémon's new idea.

Who is the Pokémon professor in the player's hometown in Red and Blue?

Oak cannot normally be battled, yet unused data in the cartridges holds a full team for him, including the fully evolved form of the starter nobody picked.

What is the player's hometown in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Pallet Town: the player cannot simply walk out of it, because stepping into the tall grass without a Pokémon brings the local professor running to stop them.

Which Pokémon joins Charmander and Squirtle as a starter choice in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Bulbasaur is the Grass-type pick, while Fire-type Charmander is the hard road: the first two Gym Leaders use Rock and Water Pokémon.

In Red and Blue, which starter does the rival take after the player's pick?

The one that beats it: the rival waits for the player's choice, takes the starter with the type advantage, then challenges the player to a first battle before they leave the lab.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, which title does the player's rival hold when they meet for the final battle?

League Champion: the rival beats the Elite Four shortly before the player arrives, so Lance, the last of the four, turns out not to be the final opponent.

Which criminal organisation does the player battle throughout Pokémon Red and Blue?

Team Rocket: its boss, Giovanni, hides in plain sight, since he turns out to be the secretive Gym Leader of Viridian City.

Which settlement in Pokémon Red and Blue holds the Pokémon Tower, a graveyard for Pokémon?

Lavender Town: its tower is haunted by the ghost of a Marowak killed while protecting her child, and the player must face the ghost before her spirit can rest.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, which Pokémon waits deep inside Cerulean Cave once the Elite Four are beaten?

Mewtwo: notes left in a ruined mansion tell how scientists created it in a laboratory, only for the creature to wreck the place and escape.

What is the name of the famous glitch Pokémon in Red and Blue?

MissingNo., short for Missing Number, worried Nintendo enough that it called the creature a programming quirk and warned that meeting it could scramble the game's graphics.

Travelling up and down the east coast of which place in Red and Blue triggers the games' most famous glitch?

Cinnabar Island: its east shore has no wild Pokémon list of its own, so after the old man's catching lesson in Viridian City the game reads the player's name as creature data.

Who created Pokémon and pitched the idea to Nintendo?

Satoshi Tajiri then spent six years building it, and the games arrived just as the Game Boy seemed finished, only to revive the ageing handheld.

Which childhood hobby inspired the concept of Pokémon?

Insect collecting: as his Tokyo suburb was built over and the bugs vanished, the series' creator wanted to hand children the hunt he had lost.

A rare item drop in which Famicom role-playing game inspired the trading of Pokémon?

Dragon Quest II: a friend found two of its ultra-rare Mysterious Hat while the series' creator found none, and nothing let them pass one between consoles.

Which sleeping Pokémon blocks the road in Red and Blue until the player wakes it with the Poké Flute?

Snorlax: two of them sleep across Routes 12 and 16, and playing the flute both clears the road and starts a battle with the woken Pokémon.

In Japan, Pokémon's rival character was named after which Nintendo designer?

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, lent the rival his first name, while the hero was named after Pokémon's own creator: pupil against mentor.

Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon, was modelled by its designer on which animal?

Squirrel: designer Atsuko Nishida was obsessed with the animals at the time and gave Pikachu cheek pouches that store electricity the way a squirrel's store food; it was made a mouse only later.

What was Pokémon originally called before the name ran into trademark problems?

Capsule Monsters, which the staff shortened to CapuMon, turned out to be a name that could not be trademarked, so the project became Pocket Monsters.

Which item is priced at 1,000,000 in a Cerulean City shop in Red and Blue, more than any player can carry?

Bicycle: the price sits one above the 999,999 the player's wallet can hold, so nobody ever pays it, and the bike is claimed with a free voucher from Vermilion City instead.

Who composed the music of Pokémon Red and Blue?

Junichi Masuda wrote the soundtrack of Red and Blue as the studio's composer, then went on to direct many of the later Pokémon games.

Which legendary bird waits at the end of the abandoned Power Plant in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Zapdos: the plant has stood abandoned for years and is overrun with Electric-type Pokémon, which makes it the natural roost for the Electric legendary bird.

How was the special-edition Pocket Monsters Blue first sold in Japan?

By mail order to CoroCoro readers: the comic magazine carried the order form in 1996, and the game did not reach ordinary shops until October 1999.

Which Pokémon is the mascot on the box of Japan's Pocket Monsters Blue?

Blastoise completes a set: the colour versions' boxes each show the final form of one of the three starters, with Charizard on Red.

Which Pokémon did a programmer secretly slip into the first games as a prank?

Mew was slipped in by programmer Shigeki Morimoto just before release without Nintendo's knowledge, and the company later turned the stowaway into a prize at promotional events.

Which seemingly useless Pokémon does a salesman sell for 500 at the foot of Mount Moon in Red and Blue?

Magikarp can do little but splash at first, yet the bargain pays off: train it long enough and it evolves into the fearsome Gyarados.

Which Gym Leader guards the first badge of Pokémon Red and Blue, in Pewter City?

Brock hands out the Boulder Badge in the games, but in the anime he walks away from his gym to travel alongside Ash.

Which Red and Blue character has been fused with a Pokémon by accident when the player first meets him?

Bill: his own teleporter experiment went wrong, and once the player works his computer to pull the two apart, he rewards the rescue with a cruise ticket.

Aboard which cruise ship in Vermilion City does the player earn the move Cut in Red and Blue?

S.S. Anne: its captain is lying seasick in his cabin, and he hands over Cut in thanks for a back rub.

Players in which region had to wait until October 1999 for Pokémon Red and Blue?

Europe: the games arrived there on 5 October 1999, a year after North America and just two weeks before American players moved on to the upgraded Yellow version.

A town called Monte Real was renamed 'Pokémonte Real' for a day to launch Red and Blue in which country?

Portugal: the distributor chose Monte Real because its name invited the pun, and to treat children who live far from the big cities.

Which Pokémon does the rival start with in Pokémon Yellow?

Eevee was meant for the player: the rival shoves in and grabs its Poké Ball first, so the professor hands over a Pikachu he has just caught instead.

In Pokémon Yellow, how does the starter Pikachu travel instead of staying in its Poké Ball?

Walking behind the player: the game copies Ash's Pikachu from the anime, and the player can turn round and talk to it to see how it feels about them.

Yellow's hidden minigame unlocks only for a Pikachu that knows which move?

Surf: a Pikachu could learn it only by winning a Nintendo contest or by clearing a challenge in a companion console game, which made the minigame, Pikachu's Beach, a rare prize.

Which car maker built a Pikachu-themed car to promote Pokémon Yellow?

Volkswagen gave its New Beetle Pikachu's ears and jagged tail for the launch of Yellow, in the same craze that saw a Japanese airline paint Pokémon across its jets.

What unreleased version may have been planned to accompany Pokémon Yellow, judging by leaked source code?

Pokémon Pink is mentioned in leaked program code for Yellow, and fans suspect it would have starred Clefairy, which was lined up as a mascot before Pikachu's popularity pushed it aside.

In 2016, Red, Blue and Yellow were re-released on which Nintendo handheld?

Nintendo 3DS: the 20th-anniversary re-releases let players send the Pokémon they caught forward into Sun and Moon through the Pokémon Bank service.

What were the Game Boy Advance remakes of Red and Blue called?

FireRed and LeafGreen came with a wireless adapter in the box, so friends could trade through the air instead of plugging their handhelds together.

Which game did Pokémon overtake as Japan's best-selling game of 1997?

Final Fantasy VII was 1997's worldwide best-seller, but in Japan the Pokémon cartridges, by then a year old, outsold it.

Which Pokémon can be obtained in Red and Blue only as a costly prize at Celadon City's Game Corner?

Porygon is the dearest prize on the counter at up to 9,999 coins, and since none live in the wild the prize desk is the only way to get one.

Red and Blue won one prize at the 1999 Interactive Achievement Awards but lost three others to which Nintendo 64 game?

Ocarina of Time beat it to Console Game of the Year, Console RPG and Interactive Design; the prize Red and Blue did win was for character or story development, a category new that year.

In 2014, thousands of users of which website beat Pokémon Red together by typing commands into a shared chat?

Twitch: an anonymous Australian programmer set up the stream, and the crowd, typing clashing commands all at once, needed more than 16 days to finish the game.

Which Nintendo 64 game let players upload their Red and Blue teams to battle in 3D?

Pokémon Stadium, the first of its line sold in the West, was really the second: the original came out only in Japan in 1998 with just a fraction of the creatures.

Which Japanese sport's referees began officiating in Pokémon-patterned outfits in 2022?

Sumo: the referees' robes mixed Pokémon with traditional patterns at the January 2022 tournament, and prize banners showing Pikachu were paraded round the ring.

Which Pokémon does the starter Pikachu of Pokémon Yellow refuse to evolve into, just like its anime counterpart?

Raichu is what a Thunder Stone makes of any other Pikachu, but Yellow's partner refuses the stone, echoing the anime Pikachu who turned down the same offer.

The unidentified ghost haunting Pokémon Tower in Red and Blue turns out to be the spirit of which Pokémon?

Marowak was killed protecting her child Cubone from skull thieves, and her ghost cannot be caught even once a scope reveals who she is.

Which Viridian City Gym Leader in Pokémon Red and Blue is secretly the boss of the game's criminal gang?

Giovanni favours Ground-type Pokémon and hands over the Earth Badge, the last one the player needs before the Pokémon League.

Which Pokémon is the mascot on the box of Pokémon Red, a role it reprised for the 2004 remake?

Charizard looks like a dragon of European folklore, yet in battle it is a Fire and Flying type rather than a Dragon type.

In Lt. Surge's Vermilion City Gym in Pokémon Red and Blue, where are the two door switches hidden?

In trash cans, fifteen of them laid out in a grid. Guess wrong after finding the first switch and both locks reset.

Which item, a gift from a rescued company president in Pokémon Red and Blue, catches any wild Pokémon without fail?

Master Ball is the prize the game's criminal boss was trying to steal when the player storms the company's top floor in Saffron City.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, what does the old man blocking Viridian City's road need before he will move?

His coffee was a change made in translation: in the Japanese original the old man is passed out drunk and has to sober up first.

Which Pokémon battles Nidorino in the opening sequence of Pokémon Red, a fight restaged in the anime's first episode?

Gengar squares off with Nidorino in Red, while the opening of Blue swaps its opponent for a Jigglypuff.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, how does Kadabra reach its final form, Alakazam?

By being traded to another player: a design choice that means nobody can complete the Pokédex alone.

Which villainous duo from the anime repeatedly ambush the player in Pokémon Yellow without ever being named?

Jessie and James first strike inside Mt. Moon, where they try to snatch back the fossil the player has just picked up.

Which Gym Leader in Pokémon Red and Blue runs the Water-type Gym in Cerulean City and awards the Cascade Badge?

Misty styles herself the tomboyish mermaid, and her Starmie punishes anyone who picked the Fire-type starter.

In which Fuchsia City attraction of Pokémon Red and Blue do players throw bait and rocks instead of battling?

Safari Zone visitors pay 500 for 30 Safari Balls and a step limit. Bait makes a Pokémon less likely to flee but harder to catch, and rocks do the reverse.

Pokémon Yellow was remade in 2018 as a pair of Let's Go games for which console?

Nintendo Switch owners caught wild Pokémon with motion controls, or with an optional Poké Ball Plus controller, instead of battling them.

Which 2016 mobile game launched with only creatures from Pokémon Red and Blue to catch?

Pokémon Go sent players outdoors to catch the first generation's creatures on their phones; most species of neighbouring Johto arrived in a February 2017 update.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, walking through what kind of terrain triggers battles with wild Pokémon on most routes?

Tall grass is where the professor stops the unarmed player in the opening minutes, warning that wild Pokémon live there.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, what happens to a Pokémon whose HP drops to zero, a rule its creator insisted on?

It faints and can be revived at a Pokémon Center: the series creator wanted no bleeding or dying, to avoid adding pointless violence to games.

In which sequels does the hero of Pokémon Red and Blue wait in a mountain cave as the toughest final battle?

Gold and Silver pick up three years later in the neighbouring region of Johto, and make his battle the hardest in the game.

The three legendary birds of Pokémon Red and Blue have names ending in one, two and three in which language?

Spanish uno, dos and tres close the three names, in the same order the birds appear in the Pokédex.

Which Mount Moon find in Pokémon Red and Blue became a mock deity for a crowd-played stream in 2014?

Helix Fossil revives into the shellfish Omanyte, and the crowd opened the menu to consult it so often that worshipping it became the run's in-joke.

Which caped Dragon-type trainer is the fourth and final member of the Elite Four in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Lance moves up to the top spot in the sequels, and is said to buy identical capes at the Celadon Department Store.

Which company's Saffron City headquarters is seized by criminals in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Silph Co. fills an eleven-floor skyscraper that is effectively a giant maze, with the company president trapped in an office at the very top.

Which Pokémon lives in the wild in Pokémon Blue but can never be caught in Pokémon Red?

Meowth trades places with Mankey, which turns up only in Red, giving owners of the two cartridges a reason to swap.

Which Pokémon can be obtained in Pokémon Red and Blue only by trading an Abra to a character on Route 2?

Mr. Mime arrives with the nickname Marcel, thought to be a nod to the French mime artist Marcel Marceau.

Which prehistoric Pokémon is revived from the Old Amber found in Pewter City's museum in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Aerodactyl has to be regenerated by scientists at a distant laboratory, while the museum itself keeps an Aerodactyl fossil on display.

Which artist drew and finalized most of the original creature designs for Pokémon Red and Blue?

Ken Sugimori drew every creature from several angles so the graphics team could render it, and went on to art-direct the whole franchise.

Which humanoid Pokémon from Red and Blue was recoloured from black to purple after being called a racial caricature?

Jynx was redesigned after cultural critic Carole Boston Weatherford likened it to blackface, and one of its anime scenes was cut from the English dub.

What reward waits beyond the five trainers on the bridge north of Cerulean City in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Nugget gives the crossing its name, Nugget Bridge, and the man who hands it over is a member of the criminal gang in disguise.

What must the player hand a gate guard to be let into Saffron City in Pokémon Red and Blue?

A drink bought at Celadon's department store does it, since every guard is thirsty; the 2004 remakes ask for tea instead.

In Blaine's Fire-type Gym in Pokémon Red and Blue, what can the player do to open doors without battling?

Answer a quiz question about Pokémon correctly and the door unlocks; get it wrong and a waiting trainer attacks instead.

Which kindly old man gives the player the Poké Flute after being freed from Pokémon Tower in Red and Blue?

Mr. Fuji had climbed the tower to calm a restless spirit when he was taken hostage, and he looks after abandoned Pokémon at his volunteer house.

Which pitch-dark passage in Pokémon Red and Blue is far easier to cross with the move Flash?

Rock Tunnel has never been developed, so it is pitch black inside, and trainers are advised to bring a Pokémon that can light the way.

What does a player of Pokémon Red and Blue receive for completing the Pokédex?

A diploma is the only reward in the first two generations; later games added a second certificate for the national list.

Pokémon caught in the 2016 re-releases of Red and Blue could first be transferred up to which later pair of games?

Sun and Moon received them through the online Pokémon Bank service, a link announced as the series turned twenty.

Which single battle stat in Pokémon Red and Blue was split in two by later games in the series?

Special covered both dealing and resisting non-physical moves until later games divided it into Special Attack and Special Defense.

Which Nintendo accessory lets players of Pokémon Yellow turn their Pokédex entries into stickers?

Game Boy Printer output came on thermal paper with an adhesive backing, so each entry could be peeled off and stuck down.

Which cave must every trainer cross to reach the Pokémon League at the end of Pokémon Red and Blue?

Victory Road is three floors of boulder-pushing puzzles, open only to trainers who hold every badge.

Which pink Pokémon was first considered alongside Pikachu as a lead character for Pokémon merchandise?

Clefairy lost out because Pikachu proved more popular with schoolchildren and appealed to both boys and girls.

Which voice actress, already Pikachu in the anime, gave the starter its voice in Pokémon Yellow?

Ikue Ōtani's Pikachu has a voice and a personality of its own in Yellow, growing to love or hate the player depending on how it is treated.

Which Fuchsia City Gym Leader in Pokémon Red and Blue hides behind a maze of invisible walls?

Koga, a poison-loving ninja, later joins the Elite Four and leaves the Gym in the hands of his daughter.

Where in Pokémon Red and Blue does the player finally face the Elite Four after earning every badge?

Indigo Plateau serves as the capital of the Pokémon League, and can be reached only through a long cave that acts as a final test.

Which new island chain did the 2004 remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue add to the original map?

Sevii Islands number nine in all once two event-only islands are counted, and a resident says the name recalls a legend that they were made in seven days.

Which 1960s Japanese superhero TV series inspired the Poké Ball concept of Pokémon Red and Blue?

Ultraseven's hero carried tiny containers holding friendly beasts that he could send out to fight when he was unable to transform.

On which home computer was the music of Pokémon Red and Blue written before being converted for the Game Boy?

Commodore Amiga software did the composing at the composer's home, and a conversion program he wrote himself fitted the results to the handheld's four sound channels.

Which American museum inducted the first Pokémon games into its World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2017?

The Strong, a museum of play in Rochester, New York, has also run the National Toy Hall of Fame since 2002.

In the opening theme of Pokémon Red and Blue, white noise was used to imitate which marching instrument?

Snare drum sounds were faked with hiss because the hardware offered only four sound channels, which also had to carry every sound effect and creature cry.

Which rare Pokémon roosts on the lowest floor of the Seafoam Islands in Pokémon Red and Blue?

Articuno is the ice member of the trio of legendary birds, and only one can ever be found in a save file.

Which four-part 2013 anime retells the plot of Pokémon Red and Blue with Red as its hero?

Pokémon Origins aired on TV Tokyo ten days before X and Y went on sale, with each part handled by a different director.

Which shortcut in Pokémon Red and Blue links Vermilion City to the road near Pewter City?

Diglett's Cave is a long burrow dug by the wild Diglett and Dugtrio that still live inside it.

Which kimono-clad Gym Leader of Celadon City in Pokémon Red and Blue uses Grass-type Pokémon?

Erika is billed as the nature-loving princess, a student of flower arranging who awards the Rainbow Badge.

Which Pokémon is available in Pokémon Red and Blue only as a gift from an employee in a Saffron City office tower?

Lapras is handed over on the seventh floor, while the building is still overrun by the game's criminal gang.