Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition

[Dragon]

Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, or Pocket Monsters: Pikachu (ポケットモンスター ピカチュウ) is the third Pokémon game for the Game Boy that released worldwide, as a sort of followed up version of the Pokémon Red and Blue games. In Japan, the game was the fourth Pokémon game released, as a second solitary version of Pocket Monsters Red & Green. Unlike other games, Pokemon Yellow was inspired by the anime. There were quite a few changes that was brought to this game, like how the player now starts off with a Pikachu, and his rival starts off with an Eevee. Trainer and Pokémon sprites were redone, Kanto got a little bit of a design change, and the game in general resembles more towards the anime.

Professor Oak is the leading Pokémon expert in Kanto, always giving lectures about Pokémon. His dream is to record and research all the Pokémon in the world, but because of his age, he can't do it. So, he asks trainers to go in his place. That's where you come in; you're given a Pokémon, a Pikachu, to travel throughout the region of Kanto. Along the way you catch Pokémon, battle different Pokémon trainers, and even participate in Pokémon Gyms in order to try to gain entrance to the Pokémon League, in order to try to become a Pokémon Champion. However, you'll have your rival to compete against, and even have to deal against the likes of Team Rocket, who seeks to control the world by controlling all the Pokémon they can obtain.

I used to play this game a lot as a kid, because of my general interest in the anime; I always wanted to go on a grand adventure with Pokémon pals! Though I used to play this game in the wrong sort of fashion; I used to just leave everything to Pikachu, while neglecting to raise my other Pokémon. Of course, things that way became very tough for me to finish the game back then. It's a good lesson from playing Pokémon in general; teamwork is far better than doing things alone. Now back to this game with having way more experience, this game is actually quite simple! There are few mechanics that are really outdated, and the last half of the game gets a sudden jump in difficulty compared to Blue and Red.

This is a narrative LP coupled with screenshots. I'm planning to give you, the reader, a sense of what it's like to play this game and to better understand the Kanto region in general. If you're looking more for insight, I'll try to also do commentary in batches of a couple of updates at a time, where I will try to go more into detail on the events that went down during this play-through.

I'll try to use as much Pokémon as I can, as well as of course, Pikachu. It's just to give you all a good idea on how well they perform in many aspects of the game.

Now, Pokemon Yellow itself isn't the best Pokemon game, but there are some moments in the game that are pretty memorable! It's worth re-experiencing the memories of this game every now and then.

I'll try to have updates when I can; hopefully each Friday, or whenever I have extra time!

I'll also compile a master list of Pokémon, cities, landmarks, characters, and music when they come, as well as any other interesting tips and segments.

--

01. [Opening]
02. [Oak's Lecture]
03. [Pallet Town]
04. [Oak's Lab]
05. [Oak's Theme]
06. [Wild Pokemon Appears!]

I figured it might be nice to post some of the official artwork that was around this era. These are some that just stood out for me; you can see them below in the spoiler:

Spoiler:

Jumbo Carddass and Carddass set, Red with the Kanto starters and Pikachu
art by Ken Sugimori in 1996

March
by Kagemaru Himeno, published in CoroCoro comic in 1997

Happy New Year!
Illustration by Kagemaru Himeno for the booklet of the 1999 album "Pokémon Song Best Collection" (みんなで選んだポケモンソング&ポケモンカード～ポケモン♪ベストコレクション)

 

[Dragon]

[Opening]

Opening animation for the game! Cute montage of Pikachu surfing, flying, and combat!

And here is our title screen! Pikachu greets you with a 'Pikachu... PIKA!'

[Oak's Lecture]

: world of Pokémon!

: creatures called Pokémon! For some people, Pokémon are pets. Other use them for fights. Myself… I study Pokémon as a profession.

You can name your character. I named myself 'LGDARM', just a name I've accosted with over the years!

: your rival since you were a baby.

You can also name your rival. His cannon name is 'BLUE', but I think you can also go with GARY since this Pokemon Yellow iiiis more based from the anime. But I went with Blue.

: about to unfold! A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits! Let's go!

[Pallet Town]

Hmm, the SNES video game known as 'OAK LECTURES' is strangely easy on 'extremely hard' mode. Oh well, time to go!

Before we do though, here is our START menu! We can check on our Pokemon status (though we don't have any yet), we can also check on our items, our status screen, customize options, and even SAVE our game.

The status screen looks mighty colorful, doesn't it!

We also have a PC here too! Wonder what's been going on today...

Ah, the same old options with our PC. We can withdraw one potion here! It will definitely come in handy.

: home someday. It said so on TV. Prof.Oak, next door, is looking for you."

Here we are in Pallet town! Its name, from the word 'palette', a range of colors used in various means. It's Japanese name, Masara Town, is named from 真っ新 massara (brand new) or 真っ白 masshiro (pure white).

In relation to the real world, Pallet Town could be based of Shimoda City in Japan.

Anywho! It's time to look around; Professor Oak's home is just next door, soooo here we go!

: is out at Grandpa's lab.

Well, he's not here. So, on our way to the lab!

"protect me!"

Looks like people use Pokemon for safety too.

T-technology is also scary... A-Anyway, enough sidetracking. Finally to the lab.

[Oak's Lab]

"Pokémon. Many Pokémon Trainers hold him in high regard."

"are now challenging you!"

"isn't around! I ran here 'cos he said he had a Pokemon for me."

Now we're out of leads... what do we do now?

Maybe the route has some answers...

[Oak's Theme]

My plan worked perfectly!

[Wild Pokemon Appears!]

Uh-oh.

Well, I expected some sort of horrible beast.

: A Pokémon can appear anytime in tall grass. You need your own Pokémon for your protection. I know!