Following the success of Blue, Red & Yellow the second generation of Pokémon games cemented the franchises spot as a pop culture powerhouse. Gold, Silver & Crystal brought many changes to the series, and added it a ton of fan favourite features alongside a bunch of new, and interesting Pokémon to choose from. It was these games that would kick-start the franchise's journey towards becoming a multi-billion dollar one. With strong reviews from critics and fans alike, it was a huge hit – building off the success of its predecessors. While the games did come out almost twenty years ago, there’s still a bunch of stuf to find out about them.

Like many games, interesting bits of info have popped up over the years, and many document these things online. Be it some glitches in the code, hidden areas or things that were excluded at one point in development – there’s plenty of interesting info out there. What we’ve done is compiled 25 of the most interesting facts about these legendary games for you all to enjoy. So kickback, relax and let us take you back to the good old days with these 25 shocking facts you didn’t know about Pokémon Gold, Silver & Crystal.

25 Moon Balls Don’t Live Up to The Name

Moon Balls, a niche kind of Poké Ball that most of us probably haven’t used all that much unless (unless you’re a huge fan of certain Pokémon that is). By now, you should all know what Moon Balls are primarily used for. They’re only really useful in specific cases, and were first introduced in Gen II. But the developers made a bit of a mistake with the game’s programming and Moon balls in Gen II games actually don’t function like they should. Instead of increasing the catch rate (x4) of a Pokémon that evolves with a Moon Stone, they actually increase the catch rate of Pokémon that evolve with burn heal – which is impossible. So, thanks to a bug in the code these things weren’t used as they should’ve been.

24 Strange Wall Graffiti

This is a weird easter egg that can only be found in Crystal. It isn’t the most awe-inspiring easter egg in the franchise, but it’s just weird enough for players to have taken notice of. To find this one you’ll need to go to Celadon City and climb your way up Celadon Mansion. After reaching the top floor, go to the rightmost staircase. Searching that side will cause a dialogue box to pop up saying, “There’s graffiti on the wall…[Player] added a moustache!” What it means is a mystery, as is why it was put there. But it’s an interesting tidbit of info nonetheless.

23 Firebreather [REDACTED] Loses His Color

Aside from the fact that napping an NPC trainer Firebreather Dick was one of the more amusing things the English localization team could’ve done, there’s something else that makes this fire-type user so interesting. NPC trainers aren’t all that compelling in Pokémon games. You have a brief encounter, fight, get the money and exp, and bounce on to the next one – and so on and so forth. But there’s something about Dick that makes him noteworthy. Once he is defeated his sprite turns to black and white. This creepy glitch stays active until the player leaves and then re-enters the area. It’s a minuscule occurrence, but just noticeable enough that you can’t have really missed it.

22 Swap it Up

Sticking to color related glitches, here’s something that’s actually in your control. This glitch is a little more interesting and actually allows for the player’s color scheme to be changed. There aren’t that many possibilities, but it’s still fun to try out. It takes a few steps to actually pull off, so here’s the deal; first start the game as either a girl or boy, then start a new game as the opposite gender, afterward save the game but shut off the game as it tells you it’s saving. When you restart your character should be the wrong color. There are some drawbacks with doing this though. If you choose not to do this with a fresh game you’re going to wipe out your PC – so be careful. On the plus side, this glitch also unlocks a mystery gift.

21 Take This Dratini

Though the point of these games is to catch, train and battle your Pokémon, GameFreak does give you a freebie every now and then. Take this example from Crystal; in the Dragons Den, you can actually get yourself a free Dratini. There are a set of questions to answer before hand of course, but in the end, it’s worth it for that Dragon-type. The questions are asked by three Monks. You get the Dratini which already knows Twister. But if you get every question right the game goes and rewards you for your vigilance. Aside from knowing Twister, your new Dratini will also know Extremespeed. That’s a great combination of moves for your Pokémon to have.

20 The Mysterious Bird-type

Some of you might know that within the code of the original games, there was info that shed light on a mysterious Bird-type that never saw the light of day. You could assume that most of the Flying and some Normal-types were to be fit in here in the early stage of development. Well regardless, it never came to fruition. But it actually carried over into Gen II. That’s because the engine used for Gold & Silver was an upgraded one of the one used in Gen I. So the mystery of the Bird-type actually stuck around in the code, once again making it an unused commodity. This time though, it really seems that its inclusion in the code was an accident.

19 Super Game Boy Border

Pokémon Crystal is actually incompatible with the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Super Game Boy and Super Game Boy 2. But there’s an unused Super Game Boy border that’s programmed into the game. This is done by either setting a flag in the game's RAM to enable the Super Game Boy features, or by using a cheating device like the Game Genie. The border is actually a leftover from the Japanese version of Pokémon Gold and you can even see that it says Pocket Monsters instead. If you should try and play the game on a model of Game Boy that came out prior to the Color, you’ll get the message "This Game Pak is designed only for use on the Game Boy Color," with Crystal spelled out in Unknown.

18 Sweet Honey

We’ve seen a good amount of examples of features that would make their way in future Pokémon games. This is yet another one of those examples. Of course, this was found by looking into the game's code. In the code, there are countless references to an unused item in the game called Sweet Honey. Though it did not appear in the franchise till much after, fans should be familiar with this item. Honey makes its appearance in Gen IV. So while it was ultimately not included until years later, this says that the Honey mechanic was actually planned to have been used pretty early on.

17 Cruisin' For A Bruisin'

Getting around fast in Pokémon games is something of a priority for players. No one wants to just walk around the various regions, slowly making their way through. That’s why running shoes are a thing – and the exact same can be said of the bicycle. Not only does it get you around faster but it also makes certain areas available to you. It seems though that this form of transportation was supposed to have some competition introduced in Gen II. Apparently, a skateboard was supposed to be included in the games, which would’ve served a similar role to the bicycle – though it might’ve had its own perks. It was cut for unknown reasons which again, probably had to do with space constraints.

16 Welcome To Silent Hills

We all know that our adventures in Gen II start off in New bark Town (Wakaba Town in the Japanese version). But back in development, the town had a very different name most of you will recognize. The town was initially called Silent Hills. Yes, the very same name that strikes fear into the hearts of many gamers. This is all very easy to explain really. Silent Hill actually came out while the Gen II games were still in development. So rather than have you start out in a town that shares its name with a horror game, GameFreak thought it best to change the name altogether in order to avoid any terrifying miscues.

15 That’s A Weird Lookin’ (Shiny) Charizard You Got There

Charizard remains one of the most popular Pokémon in the world despite how long it’s been around. Though many Fire-type starters have come, none have been able to thoroughly challenge Charizard’s popularity. Aside from Pikachu it’s one of the most popular Gen I Pokémon in the world. That’s especially true when talking about its shiny counterpart. Most of us can recognize the sleek, black look of a shiny Charizard, but did you know that this wasn’t always the case? Gen II’s Shiny Charizard’s were actually purple. A weird color given what we’re used to today. The purple body with blue wings was changed to the black with red wings we all know and love in Gen III.

14 Pokémon Communication Center

When it comes to Pokémon games, you don’t tend to miss out on all that much due to localizations. But there are still instances where this kind of thing happens. Take for example this difference between the Japanese and English versions of Crystal. In the Japanese version of the game, the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City was replaced with a Pokémon Communication Center. This Communication Center allowed players to connect to the internet with a cell phone – which is pretty impressive for the time. But for some reason this system was removed from international versions of the game, making it a rarity only Japanese gamers and those who own imported copies know about.

13 Missing Safari Zone

The Safari Zone is a pretty cool place to get some hard to find Pokémon for your party. While there was one in Gen I, the same can’t be said for Gen II. Johto was missing a Safari Zone of its own and fans took notice. While this didn’t really hurt players who wanted to catch exotic Pokémon, it would’ve been a fun way to do so. But a safari Zone was actually planned for the games though it never made it into the final product. You can still access it though via a glitch or a cheating device. The whole area is complete but there aren’t any Pokémon in the grass – making it kind of a ghost town. You can, however, find some by fishing.

12 A Different Set Of Starters

Here’s a pretty cool tidbit of info for you all that involves one of the first decisions you make in the game. We’re all familiar with the Gen II starters, but when the second generation was initially revealed, they looked much different than they do now – in fact they were different Pokémon entirely. The starters were Happa (grass), Kurusu (water), and Honōguma (fire) – with Happa looking a lot like Chikorita’s final design. Kurusu looks a lot like Seel while Honōguma looks like some DeviantArt Pikachu variant. They might’ve not made it to the games, but they’re an interesting footnote in Pokémon history. It’s cool to see these kinds of concept designs in relation to Gold & Silver when you consider just how big those games were for the franchise.

11 Olivine City Mystery House

It turns out that Olivine City has a hidden house that’s only accessible by using cheat codes, if you can believe that. This “Mystery House”, contains two NPC’s. The first is a Rhydon and the other is its presumable owner, a female NPC. The Rhydon’s sprite glitches and changes into a Clefairy during walking animations. When you talk to the woman she says, “when my Pokémon got sick, the Pharmacist in Ecruteak made some medicine for me." Interestingly, she says that the pharmacy Ecruteak City, when in the final version of the game it is actually located in Cianwood City. This means that the house could’ve been added and subsequently removed fairly early in the game’s development.

10 Bellosom’s New Look

Introduced in Gen II, Bellosom is one of Oddish’s final forms. The Grass/Poison-type evolves from Gloom with the use of a Sun Stone and is one of the cutesier Pokémon introduced in the franchises second generation. Its distinct green color scheme is one of the most eye-catching aspects of its character. However, in early original artwork, Bellosom’s color scheme resembled that of its predecessors almost entirely. Though it isn’t known why the change was made, Bellosom was turned green – making it much more distinguishable from others in its evolutionary line. Though some say this was done to avoid another racial controversy – its dress is based off of a traditional Polynesian one – there’s nothing to say that this is, in fact, the reason why.

9 Cinnabar Island Lab

Cinnabar Island is very different in Gen II when compared to how it was in the original games. The main thing here being the gym relocation, but there are other, smaller details that don’t stick out nearly as much. One of the most glaring differences aside from the gym’s relocation is the absence of the Pokémon Laboratory. Well if you look into the complete data for Gold & Silver, you can find the map for the Lab. What this probably means is that the developers planned to include it in the game at some point but decided not sometime during development. The decision to destroy most of Cinnabar Island probably threw those plans out the window.

8 The Music

Another entry about the music, this time focusing more on how it was made than anything else. We’re discussing this of course, due to how irregular the creation process seems to have been – at least by today’s standards. When you hear the music for Gen II you might picture a lot of keyboards being used. But that isn’t the case. Most of the music for Gen II was created with an Amiga computer, converted to MIDI and then reconverted to the games music format. This isn’t the case for all the songs though. The eerie music used for the Unknown radio music was created in standard GSC format.

7 The Bicycle Theme

The Pokémon games have some of the most iconic tunes out there. The games’ BGM is incredibly catchy, and people still enjoy it to this day. But as great as the music is now, there’s something nostalgic about the music found in the older games. It might just be nostalgic for older payers, but those old tunes really embody those old journeys throughout the wonderful world of Pokémon. Though each sounds distinct and unique, here’s something for you to chew on. The Bicycle theme in Gold & Silver is nothing more than the theme for Goldenrod City sped up really fast. Not That that changes all that much though. It’s still insanely catchy.

6 Fist Of The North Star Reference

Many older games sneak in references to various other forms of popular culture. It’s something we’ve seen many times in the past and something we continue to see today. But given the kind of reference we’re talking about here, and the age of the average Pokémon player at the time, this next entry might’ve flown over some people’s heads. The French localization of Crystal does something peculiar to some of the trainers. The names of the Wise Trio in the game are changed to Ken, Shuu, and Raoh – a Fist of the North Star reference. It’s not clear if players got the reference to the legendary manga and anime series back in the day, but it’s something fans can appreciate now.