To preface this week’s article, I’d like to point out a realization that I came to shortly after establishing this series. I do recognize that myths within the Pokémon mythology can tend to be rather narrow subject as we delve further and further down this rabbit hole. So I will admit that with subjects like this week’s, I may from time to time embrace a wider approach to writing these. In other words, I will be a bit less argumentative and I will focus more on simply presenting facts this week.

            So, this week we will put the Beta of the Red and Green Version games under the microscope. As with any game, the Beta version of the original Pokémon games for Gameboy differed immensely from the final version. The creatures were named even more oddly than they are now (or should I say, less imaginatively), there were trainers that were not featured in the retail version, and there were even more ways to make the game crash. It was an odd world to say the least.

Also missing from the beta, a sense of scale.

                There are things that have almost become sort of unofficial staples of the series. One of these staples is the theme of blissfully unaware NPC’s (Non-player Characters). No matter how old the series gets, every new game seems to have a few trainers that are just plain clueless. No other games were quite as guilty of this as the Generation 1 games. There was a very limited assortment of trainer classes at the time of their release. Each class had its own sprite and name that pertained to the type of Pokémon he/she specialized in. There was also another trainer class that was omitted, it was known as the Chief. It allegedly shared the same sprite with the Scientists and judging by the dialogue of the Team Rocket Grunts, this trashed class was most likely intended to be encountered during the Silph Co. takeover.  But, it is entirely possible that this may have just been a prototype name for the Scientists.

I come from the land of “Yes.”

Now, let’s get back to ignorant NPC’s. One of the original trainer classes specialized in Flying type Pokémon. These trainers were known as Bird Keepers and they often made reference to owning “Bird” Pokémon. There is actually a reason for this. In the beta, the Flying type was actually called the Bird type. This was most likely changed in the final version for the simple fact Flying Pokémon were not exclusively based on actual birds, especially after Gyarados was changed from Water/Dragon to Water/Flying. Despite the change, the trainers’ text was not altered and they’ve been referencing a scrapped type ever since. Game Freak seems to be trying to play it off in that, to this day, there are still trainers that call bird-like creatures (Pidgey, Spearow, Taillow, etc.) “Bird Pokémon.” Although it could be that creators find it humorous and enjoy referencing a past hiccup. It could go either way.

Birds are much more intimidating in Japan.

Now, I will actually dispel a rumor that has been huge for years. Mew was NOT catchable by regular means in the beta. Mew didn’t even exist yet at that point. It was a creation of one of the developers who snuck it into the games’ code at the last moment without telling his co-workers. Such is the cause of the Mew glitch in Red and Blue (and no, it’s still not under the truck).  Besides Mew being a last minute addition, there were other sudden changes. Many of the original 150 Pokémon had names in the beta that were worlds apart from the names that we’ve come to love. I’ll list a few of my favorite examples. The Jigglypuff evolutionary family was named after types of ice cream, Tentacruel was Man O War, Cubone was Orphon, and Lapras was named Ness, an obvious reference to the Loch Ness Monster (although a Pokémon/Mother crossover would be hilarious).

Case in point.

Lapras also forces another point into the spotlight. Some of the beta designs of the original Pokémon were very archaic. Many looked like they were rejects fresh  from the set of Jurassic Park.

“We clocked the Ness at 32 miles an hour.”

A huge assortment of items was dropped in the testing stages as well. The gym badges were planned to be key items. But, since all items were placed in one unorganized pouch and bag space was very limited, these were simply kept track of on the trainer’s page in the START menu (in addition, the Boulder and Cascade badges would allow you to throw rocks and bait respectively). Another item that was changed was the Pokédex. It was intended to be usable in battle, much like in the anime, but there were problems getting it to work without crashing the game. The last unused item was labeled as ????? before it was removed. This incredibly badass item would allow you to surf with using a Pokémon who knew HM03. So, for all intents and purposes, it was a surf board. I’ll say it again. There was supposed to be a surf board in Pokémon.

Why not me?!

There were also grammatical changes in multiple instances. The most interesting of these was the change to the opening trainer battle text. Before the final version, the text would read “The (trainer class) wants to fight!” While this would work for a majority of the battles in the game, once you encountered a named trainer, such as a gym leader or an Elite Four member, it would make for an interesting message.

The proper noun was super effective!

Almost every named trainer was, as mentioned, a gym leader or an Elite Four member, excluding your rival. But, the developers intended for there to be one more trainer of this caliber. And his name was Professor Oak. The big man himself was planned to be the true final battle of the game, similar to how Red was the real final battle in Gold and Silver. He would use a team of Tauros, Exeggcutor, Arcanine, Gyarados, and the final evolution of the starter not chosen by you or your rival. Why this was dropped is unknown, because it would have been extremely epic. To add to the topic of unused trainers, there were also plans to include a female playable character (depicted in promotional art). However, this concept was dropped and was not revisited until Crystal came out in the later portion of Generation 2.

Either Oak was extremely sexist or Daisy was the only young woman in the history of Pallet Town.

The Verdict: This article is nothing but truth. Accept it.

We’re back this week at PUCL to scrutinize yet another myth in the Pokémon lore. So, just like last week, feedback is welcome. In fact, not only is it welcome, it is very much appreciated. So share your thoughts!

Last time we covered a subject involving MissingNo.; a very infamous glitch in video game history. So let’s keep the momentum rolling and take out another subject revolving around Cinnabar Island. That subject is Mew and its possible genealogical connection to Ditto. Mew itself is the origin of many strange things in the Pokémon mythos. Alas, there shall be no mention of oddly placed automobiles in this particular article.  The subject is strictly Mew and its connection to Ditto this week!

NOT NOW!

   Before we delve too deeply into the primary subject, let’s take a quick aside.

                  I often wonder what was going on with the developers when they worked on Cinnabar. Not only is it the most interesting town due to its odd edifices such as the Laboratory and Pokémon Mansion (Epic foreshadowing), but it is home to the most oddities of any town in Generation 1. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, Cinnabar has always held a special place in my heart. It was like the bastard child of Kanto, but we still loved it nonetheless.

Never go alone.

Now let’s start narrowing our focus back toward the true subject. On Cinnabar, there was this very odd building located West of the Gym. This was the Pokémon Mansion. At first glance, the Mansion seemed of little importance. Its history was not explained right off the bat and its significance was not indicated by anything really. But, it was a required area in the games for one simple reason; Blaine was a total jackass. He hid the key to his Gym at the very deepest corner of the place. So, if you wanted to advance any further, you had to explore the Mansion. Once you entered, it was a place teeming with Poison and Fire-type Pokémon as well as burglar trainers who were there to loot the place. Nothing was special here except an occasional Magmar in Blue Version. That is, however, until you really started to poke around this strange place.

Why yes, yes I am.

Once you traverse this “Mansion” for a little while, you come to the realization that it doesn’t quite live up to its name. Everything had burned down inside and there was no evidence as to why. But then you begin to come across these books that can only be described as journals. Starting on the second floor, each subsequent one has a new journal to be found.

               The journals start out rather vague. But, the more you find, the more you can make of this story. Basically these journals depict the discovery of Mew, up to the creation of Mewtwo (the final Pokémon of Gen. 1). It is not specified how long a span of time these journals cover, but the final journal (recorded on September 1^st of an undisclosed year) states: “MEWTWO is far too powerful. We have failed to curb its vicious tendencies…”  So, Mewtwo escaped the Pokémon Mansion (formerly a research center) and set it ablaze.

“On Cinnabar Island, born and raised. In a test tube is where I spent most of my days.”

In the area with the final journal, there are some other interesting things to be found. Aside from a couple of TM’s and the Gym key (once again, Blaine’s a jackass), there is a new species of Pokémon to be found here, if you are playing Yellow Version. This odd new creature is Ditto. Ditto is a very unique Pokémon; it only learns Transform (it’s signature move). And, in later generations, it can breed with ANY Pokémon capable of breeding.  So it can birth and take on the form (however briefly) of any Pokémon. This means that it shares common DNA with every Pokémon in existence. However unique Ditto may be; it shares this distinction, as well as many other similarities, with one other creature in the Pokémon universe, Mew.

Yeah, THIS spawned the best villain in Pokémon history.

So now we have finally reached the true purpose of this rambling. There is in fact a fair amount of evidence that suggests that Ditto was actually manmade. On top of that, Ditto was created as a result of trying to replicate Mew in the research center (Pokémon Mansion). Need proof? Well, let’s just take a look see. Mew and Ditto share a similar color (this includes Shiny colors). Both weigh in at exactly 8.8 pounds. In addition, they are the only Pokémon to naturally learn Transform via level up. Mew is hailed as the only Pokémon that can learn any move directly (No Sketch required). Ditto can also achieve this, though in a much more limited fashion, through the use of Transform.

Like so many of us, Ditto is a constant source of disappointment for its father.

Finally, we have the real zinger. Ditto can be found most prominently in two areas. These areas are the Pokémon Mansion, of course, and The Cerulean Cave. There is one key feature shared between these locations, Mewtwo. The Mansion is where Mewtwo and, most likely, Ditto were created. Mewtwo was of course the semi-successful experiment (its only drawback being that it was far too independent). Ditto more than likely has a similar genetic makeup to Mew, being that it can transform, but it was unable to carry over the Psychic powers. It also seems to have failed at forming any sort of working skeletal system, thus rendering it only slightly more useful than a Snack Pack Pudding Cup.

The true goal of the scientists.

It is likely that there were multiple Dittos created as a result of multiple experiments. The journals suggest that the events that occurred between the discovery of Mew and the creation of Mewtwo happened over the course of at least a year. That is certainly enough time for many Dittos to spawn as a result of failures in cloning Mew. Ditto most likely broke free when Mewtwo had his way with the place. And due to Ditto’s mad breeding skills, it easily multiplied and spread around the various nations. Ditto being abundant in the Cerulean Cave (Mewtwo’s hideout) is possibly a hint to this whole story, but more than likely, that’s just reading too much into it.

Oh, hey I love Pika… OH GOD!

Well, there you have it. Once again I will leave you with a semi-unresolved question. I personally believe that Ditto is undeniably a result of experimenting with Mew’s DNA. It really is just another one of those things that fits together too damn well to not be true. So at the very least, if Ditto can’t have a place in battling, he can at least have a cool origin.

 The Verdict: This week’s myth is neither busted nor completely proven. But, once again, it is highly likely.

Starting this week, at PUCL, we are bringing back weekly articles. I, myself, will be contributing a weekly series on Pokémon myths, legends, and downright stupid fan assumptions. So long as you PUCLonians enjoy these, they will continue. So give your feedback and ask your questions. I will be more than happy to answer to any sensible responses. Now, let’s get down to business.

And fans thought that Misty’s sprite was hot…

I could not think of a more appropriate way to begin this series than by addressing a myth that has been associated with the most infamous glitch in the history of Pokémon. This is of course, MissingNo., everyone’s favorite mangled bunch of pixels. But, MissingNo. is not the focused subject here; rather, it is the famous myth depicting its possible origin. This is what I like to refer to as The Cubone Connection.

Needless to say, he was not popular at tournaments.

MissingNo.’s title is in reference to the fact that it actually has no legitimate number in the Pokédex, since it doesn’t technically exist. Because of this, it is referred to as # 000, in other words, a missing number. But, despite its data being illegitimate, it could have a few different forms, as well as a Pokédex entry (although it was a poor entry). The most common of the forms was the famous bunch of square pixels. But it could also take the form of the fossils of Kabutops and Aerodactyl as well as the Ghost sprite.

            There were several methods of obtaining MissingNo. Most, if not all, required flying to Cinnabar Island and surfing on the East coast. Eventually you would encounter the glitch and would have an opportunity to either defeat or capture it. The MissingNo. you would encounter would often be over level 100, an otherwise impossible feat.  Capturing the glitch would often result in the game being rendered useless shortly afterward (to those that deny this to be true, I currently own a Blue cartridge that is unable to save files for the remainder of the foreseeable future). Despite it being over level 100, MissingNo. could level up. And not only could it level up, but it could also evolve. What did it evolve into, you ask? Well, it would evolve into none other than the Maternal Pokémon, Kangaskhan, and no other evolution in the history of Pokémon has spurred so much speculation since.

Seems legit.

Once the dust had settled and players had grasped the fact that this odd glitch had transformed into this rare Pokémon, they would wonder, “Why Kangaskhan?” This question went unanswered for a long period of time, until fans started answering it themselves. As it turned out, MissingNo. had originated as Pokémon data for a creature that was excluded from the final cut of Red, Blue, and Green(in Japan). So basically, it was evident that Kangaskhan was intended to have a pre-evolution. This theory received more support in the fact that other Pokémon in Generation 1, which had no pre-evolutions (Jynx, Magmar, Electabuzz, etc.), received “baby” pre-evolutions in the Generation 2 games, Gold and Silver. Most people had made up their minds by the release of Generation 2. The baby Kangaskhan, always seen in the pouch of its mother, was meant to be its own Pokémon.

But, then there was this:

Tonight, on The Maury Povich Show!

Cubone is practically identical to a baby Kangaskhan in every way. It simply wears the skull of its mother on its head. This suggests that perhaps a baby Kangaskhan becomes a Cubone when it is unable to live in its mother’s pouch or simply does not receive enough interaction from a Kangaskhan. Cubone is classified as the Lonely Pokémon after all. Based on this theory, Cubones would evolve into Marowaks which are capable of producing baby Kangaskhans, but they would become Cubones due to the lack of an actual Kangaskhan to interact with. When you think about, it really fits together rather well. Hell, even the ghost sprite that MissingNo. could take the form of turned out to be the ghost of a Marowak in Lavender Town’s Pokémon Tower.

How could you forget, Robin?

So, one might question why they excluded Baby Kangaskhan from Red and Blue if it made so much sense. Well the answer is quite simple, in fact, it’s a single word: redundancy. Unlike the baby Pokémon of Generation 2 as well as subsequent generations, baby Kangaskhan is exactly what the name suggests. There is no distinguishable physical difference between an adult and a baby Kangaskhan. Besides its size and a slight color variation in some games, it’s a carbon copy. Why include the exact same Pokémon twice? And beyond that, Breeding mechanics had yet to be introduced. So you would have had a baby and an adult version of the exact same Pokémon available (most likely) at the same time and place. It would be pointless. On top of that, it most likely would have also required a branching evolution, a concept that (besides Eevee) was not utilized whatsoever until the Day and Night Clock and Held Items were introduced in Gold and Silver.

                    Despite MissingNo. being one of the only glitches in the history of Pokémon to actually be acknowledged by Nintendo,  it is still a relatively mysterious part of the mythos. Many believe that it is one of the great things that helped launch the series into such massive popularity. Despite its derogatory effect on the original cartridge itself, the glitch and its fan made origin hold a special place in the hearts of many. Every time I think of those rectangular pixels, I’m transported back to a time when I roamed the playground with my Gameboy and exchanged gaming secrets with my friends. And I am sure that this is a nostalgic feeling felt by many.

Depicted above: Another possible pre- evolution, the KangasKid.

The Verdict: PokéMyth neither busted nor proven. However, it is very likely.