Nintendo is finally launching the first-gen Pokémon games on the 3DS Virtual Console, and this event has gotten the peeps over at Red Bull thinking about all of the classic myths which grew up around the games back in the late '90s - before the internet came along and made it easy to debunk such nonsense.
No, you can't move that truck near the harbour in Red and Blue, and no, Mew isn't hiding under it. Pikablu doesn't exist. Kids didn't commit suicide upon hearing subliminal messages in the Lavender Town music. It is not possible to break your Game Boy playing Pokémon Red and Blue.
Red Bull covers all of these mistruths - lies which have grown in legend over the years like a tale about a ghost that a friend of a friend of a friend claims to have seen out of the corner of their eye 20 years ago - and also mentions another personal favourite of ours. Some people claimed that it was possible to improve your capture rate in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver by bellowing "Gotcha" in the DS microphone at the right moment. Like the other stories recounted here, it's complete and utter piffle.
Such made-up cheats and hacks were commonplace in the early days of the video game industry, as anyone old enough to recall the infamous Sheng Long in Street Fighter II debacle that played on so many gamer's minds during the SNES era will attest. However, the arrival of the internet has made such myths relatively easy to disprove - although when a game captures the imagination of so many like Pokémon does, it's inevitable that some tall tales will slip through the cracks.
[source redbull.com]
Comments 58
Obligatory "slow news day?" post.
God I remember all of these. I think the only ones I tried actively solve were the rumors involving Mew. I remember hearing that Japan had got Mew through the real life pokemon centers, but the states didn't have one yet. So anything involving Mew was instantly tested, and of course, failed.
The suicide one is true though. =0
Everyone knows the secret to improving your capture rate is hitting left right left right left right (etc.) and A B A B A B A B (etc.) as quickly as you can starting with the pokéball's first bounce.
Everyone knows that.
How about holding down A when you throw a pokeball to try and improve the capture rate?
I still press B Down to improve my capture rate on closure... I won't let anyone debunk that for me.
@bro2dragons Haha, I beg to differ (see above)
I remember back in elementary school, I bought a book of cheats for N64/PS1 games at a book fair, and left my N64 hanging at Super Mario 64's "Thanks for Playing" screen after the credits for hours, waiting to unlock Peach as a playable character. I think that book of cheats was cheating me out of $5...
@Zebetite
They are waiting for the NA Eshop post of nothing.
You improve pokéball capture rates by going "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...hhhhh" until it snaps shut.
@ikki5 @Zebetite Like this comment section would be complete without your comments.
@Fee Nope, it's false.
You can believe it as much as you want, but it's still false...
I never fell for any of these weird video game rumours. That is... until I went through the completely ridiculous process of encountering Missingno. It was such a randomly detailed sequence if events that lead to one of the strangest glitches I've encountered.
After I learned that was true? Sure! There could be a Mew under that truck. The old lady at the day care could totally give you a Pikablu.
My gullibility kicked in full force.
I hate to admit it, but back in the days I got tricked by the Mew under the truck XD
Luckily it wasn't the worst one, just had to recover from another game a pkmn with cut and continue until getting surf, If anything I swam where few players did!
Still what I find really interesting is how rumours spread back in the days, there was no internet and still many of those were knew by players worldwide.
@Desrever I happen to write quite rarely on this site, but I couldn't resist expressing the feeling of pure, unadultered bliss that hit me as soon as I saw your avatar
Should rename post to "Let's ruin fun/childhoods."
Did pressing 'up' on the D-pad and holding 'A' when you throw a Pokeball to capture a Pokemon increase the capture rate?
The worst, really is that I also tried the truck thing to get Mew... and I only ever owned Pokémon Yellow version.
facepalm
I am still trying to decide if I should buy the over priced game or not.
You know I wonder if we would be able to get MissingNo in the VC.
You can get Mew with the same glitch used for MissingNo tho.
Now that my friends was old school video game trolling at it best. The only two I believed was the Missingno and the down B for increased capture rate. Unfortunately one of the 2 corrupted my Pokemon Blue.
It was funny how most of the myths was like the start and end phrase of a 90s cartoon called Freaky Stories.
I still say "Gotcha!" in the mic even in the later Pokemon games. I don't know why, but it feels good to say it when you're anxiously waiting for that little ball to roll 3 times and then confirm the capture.
I remember a friend in school tried to convince me of the existence of Mewthree, that you had to walk around Rt. 2, click a certain item a bunch of times, blah blah blah. Anyway, here's hoping that the Mew exploit will still be intact.
@clvr Hey! Glad to hear! I made it almost 10 years ago, and I still haven't found anything better to replace it with, since.
No matter what, I will still hold Down + B to make my Pokeball capture rate skyrocket! Muahahahahaha!
Hmm I always used to hold down L and R when trying to capture a Pokemon instead. Never heard of the Down B capture rate boost before.
@BrizzoUK Me too, lol. Always did it, always will.
I will always hold down B to run. Even in the later games where you could activate a feature to run permanently without holding down B.
Interesting read, though I already knew almost all of it. I wasn't aware that people shouted GOTCHA in heart gold though.
Edit: For a while, I used to kept trying to keep pressing A when attempting to capture a pokemon, especially in the Red and Blue safari zone. That never helped me capture them successfully.
@Damo Of course you can capture Pikablu. Just not in Red/Blue/Yellow/Green.
@Baker1000 I could've sworn that the sound clip of the Poké Ball being thrown changed if you did that! Or it was probably my overreactive imagination as a child...
To be fair though, I caught a Lugia in my first attempt with a Poké Ball doing that "trick"!
@Baker1000 I still do that to this day. Until someone give me straight proof that doesn't improve your catch rate I'll never stop believeing that old rumor I use to hear on the playground. Even if that does happen I'll still do it just for added luck.
Never heard the one where you say "Gotcha" into the microphone.
I always just mashed the a button.
@riChchestM
I improve my capture rates by chanting stay stay stay in the ball! I tell you people it works!
@chiefeagle02
Mew3?
@TossedLlama
No that'll land you in hot water with Officer Jenny though.
@Tempestryke Yeah, he tried to sell it as an evolution of Mewtwo.
Sorry people, pretty sure there's nothing you can do to improve capture rate. Notice how people in this thread have said different button combinations...
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Catch_rate
I once had a friend who thought shouting 'wake up' during a battle would make a Pokemon wake from sleep. That's untrue too.
@chiefeagle02
My friend tried to convince me about mewthree also. Only you were supposed to play your poke flute in front of mewtwo a bunch of times to make him evolve.
@chiefeagle02
XD
Pikablu was an old nickname for Marill, so you technically can capture it. Nothing like random info from an old pokemon magazine
It's pretty ridiculous how only a few of the lies survived. I remember everyone saying that you had to look at that arcade machine by the ocean to get Pikablu. Too bad it wasn't real, and I did try the lies.
It almost doesn't even make sense how Missingno was discovered so fast, honestly.
@Lizuka - I feel the same way, and yes, I also heard it was B as soon as the Pokeball "explodes" to capture them. I actually captured most of the Pokemon with a Great ball, because of it, including the legendaries, regardless of whether the rumor was true.
I always hold both A and B buttons when throwing a poke ball and works nearly every time.
@Fee No. It isn't. This is easily checkable.
All I can say is I hope they left the Mew glitch in (catching it on the Nugget Bridge)
That was completely legit and I hope they didn't fix it
Twice I was reminded about Pikablu on here lol I had some douche childhood friend who use to think he was always right and he swore up and down Pikablu was a real thing that he saw it and then it was fake and he was quiet forever.
@MatthewTheLucky You're easily check-able. What tier you in PU? Bro you be checked by an unown, and farfetch'd be a hard counter. I hope your trainer @Mopati 's got 250 to spare cuz you just got burned son.
I think that proves that the suicide thing is real. I will accept no further arguments on the subject.
The Missingno glitch is truly bizarre and of course it made some of the other myths believable. I still occasionally press down and B when I throw a Pokéball However, I never successfully exploited the legitimate Mew glitch.
@FriedSquid
That second part is actually true in Colosseum and XD.
@Lizuka Not in Red and Blue though
You improve capture rates by closing the DS while it's in the ball, making the little "ting" noise with your mouth, and pretending you caught it.
There was some kid that always told me you could go to Orange Islands in Gold and Silver. The Official Pokemon Fan Book almost got me to believe him, especially since you could go back to Kanto, but I realized it was fake after scouring the internet for info.
@crimsontadpoles
Yeah, I remember being in middle school around heart gold and thinking that saying, "Gotcha" actually worked😅 I wonder what an idiot I looked like, yelling Gotcha on the bus
What I want to know is will the 3DS VC versions feature the Mew glitch since it's the only way to 'legitimately' capture a Mew? Or will they just patch Mew out of the game altogether?
@AshFoxX The Japanese collectors editions of the games come with a download code for both the VC releases and the 6th gen games so I doubt that. As for fixing the glitches, I kind of hope not.
If they bring back the originals, then they HAVE to bring back MissingNo.! ...well, they don't HAVE to, but it would be nice...
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