Pokémon Yellow Version

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Version history (Japan-only: 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3)

Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition ポケットモンスター　ピカチュウ
Pokémon Yellow Version's boxart, depicting Pikachu.
Basic info
Platform:	Game Boy (enhanced for the Super Game Boy in all releases and for the Game Boy Color outside of Japan)
Category:	RPG
Players:	2 players simultaneous
Connectivity:	Game Link Cable (Game Boy) 3DS Wireless (3DS Virtual Console)
Developer:	Game Freak
Publisher:	Nintendo
Part of:	Generation I core series
Ratings
CERO:	A (3DS VC)
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G (Game Boy) PG (3DS VC)
OFLC:	G8+
PEGI:	12
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	6+ (3DS VC)
Release dates
Japan:	September 12, 1998 (Game Boy)[1][2] February 27, 2016 (3DS VC)
North America:	October 18, 1999 (Game Boy)[3][4] February 27, 2016 (3DS VC)
Australia:	September 3, 1999 (Game Boy)[5] February 27, 2016 (3DS VC)
Europe:	June 16, 2000 (Game Boy)[6][7] February 27, 2016 (3DS VC)
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	February 27, 2016 (3DS VC)
Taiwan:	February 27, 2016 (3DS VC)
Websites
Japanese:	The Pokémon Company (Game Boy) The Pokémon Company (Virtual Console) Nintendo (Game Boy) Nintendo (Virtual Console)
English:	The Pokémon Company International (Game Boy & Virtual Console) Nintendo (Game Boy, needs Flash Player) Nintendo (Virtual Console)
Japanese boxart Boxart of Pocket Monsters: Pikachu

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Pokémon Yellow

Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition (Japanese: ポケットモンスター　ピカチュウ Pocket Monsters: Pikachu), often known as Pokémon Yellow Version, is the third Pokémon game for Game Boy released worldwide, as a solitary version of Pokémon Red and Blue Versions. In Japan, the game was the fourth Pokémon game released, as a second solitary version of Pocket Monsters Red & Green.

On November 12, 2015, a Nintendo Direct announced that Yellow will be released in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand on February 27, 2016, the Pokémon 20th Anniversary, for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

Similar to Red and Blue, Yellow arrived towards the end of the Game Boy's lifespan. It managed, though, to receive the title of second best-selling non-bundled game for its console, losing only to its predecessors.

Plot

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Unlike other games, Yellow was inspired by the anime, and thus, instead of having a choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, players are forced to start off with a Pikachu that Professor Oak caught on Route 1. With the rival beginning with an Eevee, the player journeys from Pallet Town to go through an all-new experience—with no Grass, Fire, or Water types to fall back on until each member of the Kanto starter trio is given to the player later on in Cerulean City, Route 24, and Vermilion City, respectively.

Much like before, players journey across Kanto from their hometown, Pallet Town, defeating the eight Gym Leaders (Brock and Misty do not join the player, unlike in the anime) and eventually the Elite Four.

Team Rocket battles feature yet another special, anime-based surprise, as Jessie and James show up, along with their Pokémon, Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth. Beyond these changes, the plot of Yellow is very similar to that of the Japanese Red and Green and Japanese Blue as well as of the Western Red and Blue.

Blurb

You've finally been granted your Pokémon Trainer's license, and now you're on your way to becoming the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer! The shockingly-cute Pikachu tags along behind you as you search the enormous world for monsters to train and evolve. Face off against Blastoise's torrential water cannons. Stand strong when facing Pidgeot's stormy Gust. Develop the ultimate Pokémon strategy to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time!

Changes from Red, Green, and Blue

Aesthetic changes

• The front Pokémon sprites have all been updated to resemble how they appear in their then-current Ken Sugimori artwork usually used in promotional images and strategy guides for the Japanese Red and Green, Japanese Blue, and the Western Red and Blue, as well as some of them resembling how they appear in the anime. However, the back sprites are the same as the previous games.
• Some Trainer sprites were also redone. Red and Blue now better resemble their stock artwork for Generation I, as the Pokémon sprites do. Brock wears an outfit like his anime counterpart's and Misty's bikini was changed to a shirt and shorts similar to those worn by hers, albeit without suspenders.
• Blaine has a different overworld sprite, this time clearly showing him wearing glasses.
• Kanto is slightly redesigned a second time, featuring different designs for doors, signposts, windows, and other minor elements. Indigo Plateau remains unaltered.
• Policemen were redrawn as Officer Jennys.
• Pokémon Center Nurses were redrawn as Nurse Joys, and each nurse has a Chansey standing nearby.
• Pikachu now has a unique overworld sprite and a unique icon on the party screen. Curiously, while several more Pokémon got new overworld sprites (such as Bulbasaur, Sandshrew and Oddish) , none of them were used as icons on the party screen.
• Instead of the original cry, the cry of the starter Pikachu, or any Pikachu with the same OT and Trainer ID number of the player for that matter, is changed to the cry from the anime, voiced by Ikue Ohtani, and varies depending on the context: for instance, Pikachu will say "Pika!" when going in battle, "Chaaaaa!" if it faints, or "Pikachu!" on the status screen.
• The bicycle theme does not play on Kanto Route 23 and in Victory Road.
  • This is probably a workaround for the Victory Road Bicycle music quirk, despite the glitch having been fixed, as can be seen in Seafoam Islands.
• Enhanced compatibility with the Game Boy Color is present outside of Japan, providing color palette changes as the player switches locations, whereas the Japanese version is similar to the previous core series Generation I games in that it only has Super Game Boy support.
  • The Super Game Boy palettes used for the Pokémon sprites are also lighter.

Location changes

• Obtaining the starters from the Japanese Red and Green and Japanese Blue as well as from the Western Red and Blue is possible through in-game events:
  • A girl in Cerulean City will give the player a Bulbasaur if the starter Pikachu's friendship is high.
  • A boy at the north of Route 24 gives the player a Charmander.
  • An Officer Jenny in Vermilion City will give the player a Squirtle after the Thunder Badge has been acquired.
• In Oak's lab, a trash can was added between the desk (on which the three Poké Balls sat in the previous versions) and the wall. This was done in order to prevent the player from going behind it, so that the cutscene with Blue pushing the player aside and taking the Poké Ball with Eevee for himself would play properly.
• An extra trainer (a Lass) was added in Viridian Forest.
• A Jr. Trainer♂ on Route 9 was replaced by a Youngster with a single Sandshrew, who is trying to do a 100-match winning streak, in reference to A.J. from The Path to the Pokémon League.
• The Summer Beach House was added to the Route 19. The two trainers standing on land were repositioned.
• The quiz machines in the Cinnabar Gym now must be interacted with before the trainers stationed nearby can be battled. If one of these trainers is spoken to before using a nearby machine, he will encourage the player to do so and will not initiate a battle.
• For the second time, Cerulean Cave, the game's final dungeon, has a completely different layout.
• Just like in the Japanese Pokémon Blue, changes were made to locations and availability of wild Pokémon. Some of these changes were made to allow the player to experience the game in a manner similar to the anime.
  • Ash catches a Caterpie and a Pidgeotto in Viridian Forest. This is reflected in-game as Caterpie (but not Weedle) and Pidgeotto are both available in Viridian Forest for the player to catch. This is the only instance in Generation I where a Pidgeotto can be caught at a level earlier than Pidgey would evolve into it.
  • The Pokémon that Team Rocket use (Koffing, Ekans, Meowth and their evolutions) are not available to be caught in the wild. It would be unlikely that Ash would catch these Pokémon in the anime as they are the primary antagonists.
  • Farfetch'd and Lickitung, previously available only through in-game trades, now appear as wild Pokémon.
  • Some of the wild Pokémon were relocated: for instance, Abra, who was previously available on routes leading to Bill's house, has been relocated to the four routes surrounding Saffron City.
• Gym Leaders have different teams, some based on those that appear in the anime.
  • Brock's Pokémon have had their levels decreased by 2.
  • Misty's Pokémon have not been changed.
  • Lt. Surge's only Pokémon is a level 28 Raichu.
  • Erika now has a level 30 Tangela, and level 32 Weepinbell and Gloom.
  • Koga now has three Venonat, levels 44, 46, and 48, as well as a level 50 Venomoth.
  • Sabrina now has a team composed of Abra and its evolution line, all at level 50.
  • Blaine has a level 48 Ninetales, a level 50 Rapidash, and a level 54 Arcanine.
  • Giovanni has a level 50 Dugtrio, a level 53 Persian, a level 53 Nidoqueen, a level 55 Nidoking, and a level 55 Rhydon.

Gameplay changes

• Pikachu is the only Starter Pokémon the player can have and travels with the player on-screen, outside of a Poké Ball like Ash's.
  • This Pikachu will not evolve into Raichu if the player attemps to use a Thunderstone on it.
  • This Pikachu will refuse to leave if the player attempts to release it.
  • Furthermore, no wild Pikachu or Raichu can be found, thus requiring the player to trade a Pikachu from another Generation I game or Generation II game to obtain a Raichu or a second Pikachu. (It is unlikely that Ash would catch another Pikachu or a Raichu.) A traded Pikachu will also not behave like the starter Pikachu, acting as a regular Pokémon instead, unless it matches the Original Trainer and Trainer ID number of the player.
    • Another Pikachu with the same Original Trainer and Trainer ID number as that of the player can be obtained by cheating. However, it will only behave like the starter Pikachu if the original one is released. Furthermore, if one of the new Pikachu is released, the Pikachu behaving like the starter will have a disappointment face for a limited period of time.
  • The rival starts with Eevee. He will eventually evolve it (and thus affect which are the other members of his party) depending on the player's actions early in the game:
    • If the player beats the rival at both the Oak Pokémon Research Laboratory and the early optional battle at Route 22, Eevee evolves into Jolteon.
    • If the player wins at Oak's Lab and loses or passes up the Route 22 battle, Eevee evolves into Flareon.
    • If the player loses at Oak's Lab, regardless of the outcome of the Route 22 battle, Eevee evolves into Vaporeon.
  • As stated above, in addition to Pikachu, the previous three Kanto starters can be obtained later in the game.
• In-game trades are changed to different Pokémon, and two of them were removed.
• Level-up learnsets and TM compatibility are altered slightly for certain Pokémon. Charizard, for example, can now learn Fly via HM02.
• A minimal friendship system is implemented to track how Pikachu feels about the player. This would later be revamped in Generation II, where the system is vastly improved and applies to all Pokémon.
• The ability to print out Pokédex entries using the Game Boy Printer was implemented in every regional release (although it is disabled in the Virtual Console release).
• Several glitches were disabled, and all glitch Pokémon were altered because the data which was read incorrectly to create them had changed.
• A Surfing Pikachu minigame, Pikachu's Beach, is included. In physical releases, to play this the player will have to first teach Pikachu Surf, which requires the use of Pokémon Stadium. In the Virtual Console release, the minigame can be played as long as the player has the starter Pikachu.
• If the player does not have $500, they can now enter the Safari Zone at the cost of all of their money and will get a number of Safari Balls proportional to the amount paid. If they have no money, they can enter for free but only receive a single Safari Ball.
• In previous versions, Kinesis could only appear as a random Metronome move, and was otherwise unused. In this version, it became Kadabra's signature move.
• A new mode, "Colosseum 2", was added to the Cable Club.

Storyline changes

• The chain of events leading to the player obtaining the starter is slightly different:
  • The player now takes one step further into the tall grass before Professor Oak comes along. Now himself standing in the tall grass, Oak encounters a wild Pikachu and immediately catches it before leading the player back to his laboratory.
  • Instead of giving the player and Blue the choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, Professor Oak tells player to take the single Poké Ball on his desk, containing Eevee, but Blue shoves the player out of the way and takes the Poké Ball instead. Oak then gives the player the only Pokémon he has on hand: the Pikachu he has caught before, which, after the first battle against Blue, immediately breaks free from its Poké Ball and follows the player on foot from this point onward.
• The old man in Viridian City now must be spoken to before going to Viridian Forest. He attempts to demonstrate how to catch a Pokémon, fails and leaves to get more Poké Balls. After this cutscene, he permanently vanishes from the game. This was done as a workaround for the Old man glitch.
• Two small cutscenes were inserted if Pikachu follows the player: it will run to the transformed Bill and look at it with curiosity, and then freak out when he comes out of the teleporter as a human; and then visibly fall in love with the Clefairy at the Pokémon Fan Club.
• Jessie and James appear and are involved in Team Rocket's scheme, and typically appear before the player battles Giovanni. They replace seven Team Rocket Grunts from the original Red and Blue: the one close to the exit of Mt. Moon, the two grunts guarding the entrance to Giovanni's office in the Rocket Hideout, the three grunts in the Pokémon Tower that hold Mr. Fuji hostage and the one near the entrance to the President's room at Silph Co. Curiously, they are never referred to by their individual names and share their Trainer class with any other Team Rocket Grunt, possibly due to Double Battles not being implemented until much later in Generation III.

Pokémon unobtainable in Yellow

The following Pokémon are not obtainable in Yellow. In order to obtain any of the below Pokémon, they must be traded from one of the previous Generation I games, or from the Generation II games, which has that Pokémon available, which will be indicated.

Note that "G" indicates a Pokémon that can be caught in the Japanese Green, and thus in the Western Blue as well. "B" indicates a Pokémon obtainable in the Japanese Blue.

Yellow
0013 Weedle Bug Poison RGB 0014 Kakuna Bug Poison RGB 0015 Beedrill Bug Poison RGB 0023 Ekans Poison R 0024 Arbok Poison R 0026 Raichu Electric RGB 0052 Meowth Normal GB 0053 Persian Normal GB 0109 Koffing Poison RGB 0110 Weezing Poison RGB 0124 Jynx Ice Psychic RGB 0125 Electabuzz Electric R 0126 Magmar Fire G

Changes from the Game Boy release in the Virtual Console release

The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console releases can link with other Virtual Console Generation I core series games via Nintendo 3DS wireless communication, simulating the Game Link Cable. When initiating a link, the Virtual Console menu on the touch screen replaces the Cable Club attendant's dialogue. Additionally, all of the Game Boy Printer features are disabled.

In the future, the games will be able to send Pokémon to Pokémon Bank, from where they can be sent to Pokémon Sun and Moon.

The moves Blizzard, BubbleBeam, Confusion, Dream Eater, Explosion, Guillotine, Hyper Beam, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Psychic, Reflect, Rock Slide, Selfdestruct, Spore, and Thunderbolt had their animations changed slightly to tone down the flashing.

In the Western language releases, which are emulated in Game Boy Color mode, Jynx's sprite has been replaced to match its current design. The Japanese release is emulated in Game Boy mode, which is monochromatic, so no change was made.

The requirement for the Pikachu's Beach minigame is now the starter Pikachu instead of Surfing Pikachu.

Connectivity

Players may trade Pokémon between two cartridges using a Game Boy Game Link Cable. To take full advantage of this feature, several Pokémon are exclusive to each game of the pair, making it required that a person trade with others in order to complete their Pokédex. The Game Link Cable also makes possible battles with another player, allowing one to pit their Pokémon against new challenges. The Japanese versions can trade and battle with Japanese versions of Pokémon Red, Green, Blue and Yellow; the Western versions can trade and battle with Western versions of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. It can also trade with Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal via the Time Capsule. Pokémon Yellow is completely incompatible with games from Generation III onward.

Trades between Pokémon games in different languages are possible in this generation; however, a Japanese game cannot connect with a non-Japanese game. The latter will always result in corruption if attempted. This is due to the fact that the games cannot automatically translate the Pokémon data from Japanese to a different language or vice versa, since there is not enough room on either cartridge for all of the text, namely kana and the Latin alphabet (a feature that later became possible). If a battle between a Japanese game and a non-Japanese game is attempted, the battle simply does not work, with the save files left unharmed.

Yellow is compatible with the Japan-exclusive Pokémon Stadium, Western Stadium, and Stadium 2. While link battles are not possible directly between Yellow and the Generation II games, a player may challenge a Generation II game using Stadium 2.

Colosseum 2

Yellow debuted a new link battle mode, Colosseum 2. In Colosseum 2, players can select from several battle modes:

• Pika Cup (for Pokémon between levels 15 to 20 only; their combined level limit is 50)
• Petit Cup (for Pokémon between levels 15 to 20, heights under 6'8" (2 m), and weights less than 44.1 lbs (20 kg) only)
• Poké Cup (for Pokémon between levels 50 to 55 only, and the sum of all entered Pokémon's Levels cannot exceed 155; Mew is not allowed).

These three cups would later become standard cups in Western Stadium.

In addition, in the Japanese versions, Blizzard's chance to freeze in Colosseum 2 is changed to 10% rather than the usual 30%. Blizzard's chance to freeze is always 10% in the Pokémon Stadium series and the Western releases of the Generation I games.

Virtual Console

The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console release uses 3DS wireless communication as a substitute for the Game Link Cable. The Virtual Console release disables Game Boy Printer compatibility. It also will allow Pokémon to be moved to Pokémon Bank in the future, where they can then be sent to Pokémon Sun and Moon.

Japanese and non-Japanese Generation I core series games do not recognize each other when attempting to link them via 3DS wireless communication.

Differences from the anime

The game is loosely based on the original anime series, but has several differences:

• Brock does not surrender during the Pewter Gym battle and does not accompany the player thereafter.
• Misty is first encountered in the Cerulean Gym. In the anime, she had left the Gym when Ash met her (the Gym was run by the Sensational Sisters).
• Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle are acquired from tasks. In the anime, Charmander is rescued from heavy rain, Squirtle merely follows Ash, and Bulbasaur was caught in a formal battle.
• Meowth can use Pay Day and does not speak in the game.

English title

While the game's title has become widely accepted as simply Pokémon Yellow, its officially recognized name outside of Japan is not entirely certain. On the boxart for most English versions, the expression Special Pikachu Edition replaces the series' then-current slogan Gotta Catch 'em All! below the Pokémon logo, while Yellow Version is at the bottom, near where Red and Blue had theirs. However, the expression Special Pikachu Edition is repeated on the box's opening and spine.

Contemporaneous materials refer to the game as Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition,^{[8][9][10][11]} or Pokémon Yellow for brevity. The instruction manual refers to the game as "the Yellow version of Pokémon", "Yellow" is one of the selectable preset names for the the player character, and Yellow Version can be seen on the game's title screen.

ESRB classified the game under the title Pokémon yellow.^[12] The Australian Classification Board classified the game under the title POKEMON YELLOW.^[13] The Canadian Intellectual Property Office records the copyright POKEMON YELLOW VERSION: SPECIAL PIKACHU EDITION.^[14]

Pokémon.com refers to the game as Pokémon Yellow Special Pikachu Edition in full, but Pokémon Yellow Version and Pokémon Yellow in general usage.^[15] Pokémon Yellow Special Pikachu Edition is also the title used in the Nintendo World Pokémon Series Showcase. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U refers to the game as Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition in Pikachu's trophy description.

In the Virtual Console release, the game is referred to as Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition on the Nintendo eShop and in the manual. Like many games, it is abbreviated on the Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu, being referred to as Pokémon Yellow Version.

Development

Main article: Pokémon Yellow beta

Reception

Like Red and Blue, Yellow was also well received by the press. Like its predecessors, it received a perfect 10/10 "Masterful" rating from IGN.^[16] However, it was criticized as being "just a stopgap to help us wait for the real sequels".^[17] Yellow received a slightly lower average score than Red and Blue of about 85% on GameRankings. Despite this, it was the site's top rated Game Boy game in the year of its release, 1999.^[18]

Soundtrack

Main article: Game Boy: Entire Pokémon Sounds Collection CD

The soundtrack for Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue and Pokémon Red and Blue also applies to Pokémon Yellow. However, Yellow added three tracks that are absent from the official soundtrack, which precedes the release of Yellow by ten months. These additional tracks were also composed by Junichi Masuda.

Staff

Main article: Staff of Pokémon Yellow

Flyers

Dated August 3, 1998 (source)

• 

  Front

• 

  Back

Trivia

• The game's Japanese release date of September 12, 1998 was intentionally timed to coincide with the release of a movie, being released two months after M01.^[19][20]
  • As such, it came out in Japan before the Game Boy Color, which was not released until October 21, 1998.^[21] This explains the lack of Game Boy Color support in the Japanese versions, with the game using a yellow palette by default when played on a Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, or Game Boy Player, much like the red, green, and blue palettes respectively used by Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue.
  • Pokémon Yellow was also announced and released after Game Freak postponed Pokémon Gold and Silver, which were originally set to come out in March 1998.^[22] Instead, Pokémon Pikachu came out that month.
  • The special Pikachu Yellow model of the Game Boy Printer was also exclusively released in Japan on September 12, 1998.^[23][24]
• The canonicity of the Kanto plot is often assumed to be set by Pokémon Yellow given how the particular events in the game explain Red's party as an NPC, but him having all the Kanto starter Pokémon and Pikachu does not necessarily imply a correlation with the events of Yellow; his party is rather symbolic of Generation I as a whole. Another contradiction in the game canon is that the NPCs exclusive to Yellow do not exist in the other core series games set in Kanto (for example, the old in-game trade couple in Cerulean City from Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, FireRed, and LeafGreen still lives in their house in Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, despite the girl taking care of Bulbasaur replacing them in Yellow).
• Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, which reimplemented the walking Pokémon mechanic that was introduced in Yellow, were released in Japan exactly 11 years after Yellow was released in Japan.
• The two available starter Pokémon of this game, Pikachu (player) and Eevee (rival), are the only Pokémon introduced prior to Generation V to evolve with a Thunderstone.
• Out of all the core series Generation I games, this is the only one where Lickitung and Farfetch'd can be caught in the wild; in the Japanese Red and Green and Japanese Blue as well as in the Western Red and Blue, these Pokémon are only available by means of an in-game trade.
• It is the only localized game prior to Generation III to lack the slogan below the Pokémon logo.
• This is the only core series game influenced heavily by the anime.
• Pokémon Yellow is the only core series game in which the player cannot choose their own starter Pokémon, and which is not Grass-, Fire-, or Water-type.
• Pikachu had its cry changed to that of its anime counterpart for this game. Junichi Masuda details the modification of Ikue Ohtani's voice to a sound capable of being made by the low-tech Game Boy in his Director's Column. However, Pikachu's original cry was used in some parts of the game.
• Prior to the Virtual Console release announcement, Pokémon.com listed Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow with a PEGI rating of 3.
• The boxarts for Pokémon Red, Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon Silver are the only three instances where the English Pokémon logo is shown partially covered by some element (in this case, Pikachu's ears).

In other languages

Language Title European French Pokémon Version Jaune German Pokémon Gelbe Edition Italian Pokémon Versione Gialla European Spanish Pokémon Edición Amarilla

See also

• Yellow walkthrough

External links

• Miiverse - Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Version Community

References

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.