Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu and Eevee versions are here! They’re the newest entries in the absurdly long line of mainline Pokémon games. This time around there are tons of new features all in one familiar place.
These two titles were targeted towards a more casual audience who really love the original generation of Pocket Monsters.
I'm talking about Red, Blue, and Green if you're in Japan. Pokémon Let's Go takes place once again in the Kanto Region and follows much of the same plot as the originals from the '90s. But, there's been similarities and changes in equal share. Nintendo capitalized on this opportunity to retroactively change parts the canon in the games. I'm talking changes to the lore, changes the core mechanics, and they even made your rival, ugh...nice. These games are meant to be played in conjunction with the mobile title, Pokémon Go. It's Nintendo's attempt to bring the Go audience back to the mainline series. That's why there’s the simplified catching mechanic, it’s the primary gameplay in Pokémon Go. In Pokémon Let's Go, wild Pokémon now display on the overworld, your Pokémon follow behind you, and it has new high-resolution graphics. But, there's plenty that's new that people don't quite know about. Little secrets, easter eggs, and sections dedicated to the purest Pokémon fans that dig just a little bit deeper. So, with that in mind, here's Pokémon: 25 Hidden Details Everyone Missed In Let’s Go Pikachu.
24 The Entire Master Trainer System
Now the first entry isn't exactly a "hidden" detail, but it's an aspect of the game many players have unfortunately missed out on. Master Trainers are a brand new concept to the Pokémon franchise and a welcome addition in my eyes.
Essentially they're post-game content in which you battle to make your specific Pokémon the best of them all.
So you want to have the strongest Charizard? Measure yours up against the Charizard Master Trainer. Plus, a lot of them have subtle references in their names. For example, the Master trainers of Zubat and Golbat are named West and Keaton...you know, like Batman.
23 Mew Truck Makes Its Return
It's almost impossible to release a game free of bugs. There are just too many variables to completely polish the game. And when devs recognize a harmless bug, sometimes they like to have fun with it. That's what became of the infamous "Mew truck" back in the original games.
Mew was never actually in the game, but people loved to pretend that he was.
Now, the Pokemon Company couldn't help themselves and included the truck once again. Unfortunately, Mew was an exclusive that came with the Pokeball Joy-Con, so you won't find it here. Just a lame old Revive.
22 Prof Fuji's Got A Nice Headshot
Cinnabar Island was a treasure trove of secrets and mystery back when the Pokémon franchise was brand new. It was in ruins from a volcanic eruption, housed the lab that birthed Mewtwo, and was the location for the infamous Missingno glitch.
Well, this lab makes a return in Pokémon Let's Go where things are a bit less creepy and a lot more clear.
One thing that's easy to spot is the portrait of one Mr. Fuji hanging on the wall. Fuji is the one taken by Team Rocket in Lavender town and had a huge hand in the Mewtwo cloning project when he was younger.
21 Blue Never Had A Pokedex
A couple of the easter eggs in this game are new additions to the Pokémon lore. Namely one including Blue/Gary Oak. Being the grandson of the professor, you'd think Blue would've spent his childhood with a Pokedex in hand, researching.
But that doesn't turn out to be the case.
In a piece of dialogue relatively early on, Blue mentions that the Pokedex we have is Oak's first working model. That up until now, Blue carried a paper map around and marked on it where the Pokémon were. Blue apparently plays it old-school.
20 Everyone's Favorite Samson Oak Is Back
Another neat little easter egg is that after you've become the Pokémon Champion, see what lies on Professor Oak's computer. Head back to the lab and hop onto it to read some of his personal emails.
I know this is a complete invasion of privacy, but we are talking about a universe where people just walk into each other's houses unprompted.
Anyway, you'll see the email is to one Samson Oak, who is, of course, the tanned and tubular version of the professor we see on our adventure in the Alola region. Glad to see that Alola was established 10+ years before we go there canonically.
19 Bike Shop Out Of Business
So there's a recent trend with Pokémon that I quite enjoy. Riding Pokémon as a means of transportation is now the norm. It was a bit of a build-up though.
You could only ride Gogoats in X & Y, then only a couple in Sun and Moon, but now finally you can ride most Pokémon in Let's Go.
But, what does that mean for the bike system? Well, that means it's gone! When you can ride your sentient superpowered animals around, why would you need a bike? That said, the bike shop is still in Pokémon Let's Go. But rather than remaining a store for bikes, it's the home of a very eccentric bike collector. Clever adaptation.
18 Calendars Have Styling Sprite Work
Now there are a lot, and I mean a lot of references to the original Red and Blue in this remake. And why wouldn't there be? It's the perfect vehicle to reference the age-old classics. One of the better references, in my opinion, are the calendars spread throughout the game. Most of them have a different sprite showcased on them.
These sprites are the original sprites for different Pokémon back in Red and Blue.
It's a great way to include some of the older assets, without complete messing with the style of the remake. But oh man, are those old sprites ugly.
17 Sabrina's Psychic, What A Surprise
The Pokémon Company went above and beyond with the extra dialogue in Pokémon Let's Go. Many of the Trainers and Gym Leaders are able to be rematched, with new dialogue.
Sabrina, the Psychic-type leader is one of them.
The character is known for being psychic herself, even teleporting in the kids' cartoon. So, when you challenge her to a rematch, she gets a brief glimpse of the future. This glimpse is about 3 years ahead, where she describes the player character in Pokémon Gold and Silver. It's a great little homage and a nice confirmation of the timeline.
16 Pokémon War Debunked
This detail is actually as much of an omission as it is the inclusion of something new.
Since the early '90s, fans have been ranting and raving about how there was a “secret Pokémon war”.
When you originally fought Lieutenant Surge in Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow he'd say this. "I tell you kid, electric Pokémon saved me during the war! They zapped my enemies into paralysis!" This line implies that there was at one point a world war, that Pokémon played a part in. Now, 20 years later, Nintendo has chickened out and replaced this line with Surge simply comparing the act of battling to war. Cowards.
15 Really Old Movie References
The starting section in Pokémon tends to include a pop-culture reference or two.
Usually, it's that the TV upstairs has the latest Nintendo game console hooked up to it.
Nice job plugging your hardware in one of your own games Nintendo. But this time, they made quite the odd choice. It's not 100% clear if this difference between that Eevee and Pikachu version, or if it's by gender, but there's a movie reference on the TV. On one side the text on the screen references the classic Wizard of Oz. And on the other, it's referencing Stand By Me. Maybe a 90's reference for a 90's remake?
14 Professor Oak Not Senile, Thank Goodness
The infamous line, the one that has been the butt of an absurd amount of jokes and cartoons over the years. Oak forgetting his own grandson's name.
It's one of the first lines of dialogue in the original games and because of the lack of voice acting and slightly stilted tone, it was hard to tell if Prof Oak was serious when he asked this.
Now, The Pokémon Company has cleared the air by including a scene where Oak and Blue joke around about the telltale line. Instead of it being a sign of Oak's dementia, it's now a corny joke between family.
13 Giovanni Got Hitched
Oooh, Giovanni got married! Or at least, that's how it looks in Pokémon Let's Go.
Giovanni is the most iconic of the villains, as he's the founder of the devious Team Rocket.
Now, it's good that Giovanni's been retconned as a married man because his son is one of the main characters in Gold and Silver. With the appearance of his son, Silver, people have always wondered who the mom could be. And now since The Pokémon Company has made it a point to show he's married, it's looking all the more likely that Ariana, another Rocket executive, could be the wife, as she looks strikingly similar to Silver.
12 Professor Oak Leaves His Sketchbook Around
Now I won't blame you for missing this one, it's an easter egg that's both incredibly subtle, and easy to miss.
At the beginning of the game, when Professor Oak is giving you the standard "Pokémon are your buddies" shlock, take a look at the bookcase.
On the top of the shelves sitting on a white and blue box of folders, is a brown sketchbook. This book has a very telling design and upon further inspection, we can see what it is. This is Professor Oak's very own Pokémon drawing sketchbook, seen in the 4th Pokémon movie, Pokémon 4Ever.
11 Agatha Won't Stop Whining About Oak
So, just like most of the other games, you can challenge the Elite Four again after beating them the first time. Unlike some of the other games, however, the Elite Four will have some new dialogue the second time around.
One such example is Agatha, the Ghost-type Elite Four member.
She talks about her rivalry with Professor Oak, and how he's become so soft in his old age. Fans have always speculated there was something between the elderly pair. Most hoped it was something more...romantic, but a lifelong rivalry is almost as good.
10 Team Rainbow Rocket Poster Pun
Celadon City's Game Corner has a ton of references to many different Pokémon properties. But one of the best is a reference to a relatively new antagonist faction.
In the back of the Game Corner, where the Team Rocket Grunt would be standing guard, there's a poster.
If you take a closer look at this poster you'll notice a couple of things. One, there's a rocket, and two there's a rainbow. Now, the newest group of baddies in Ultra Sun & Moon were called the Rainbow Rockets, right? Pretty cute reference to them, especially when the poster hides a switch to the Rocket hideout.
9 Silph Co Has Some Great Landscape Shots
As the Pokémon franchise trucks on in years, the newer games reference to older ones more and more. That holds especially true for a new game that's a remake of an old game, yet somehow has items and mechanics from games in the future. Confusing I know but I'm talking about Pokémon Let's Go.
In the Silph Co headquarters in this, you'll come across a variety of different pictures hung up on the walls.
Most if not all of these are images of specific locations in other Pokémon games, like the Bell Tower from G & S, or...Stongehenge?
8 Celadon Slots Reference All The Spin-Off Games
The Celadon Game Corner has always seemed a bit odd to me. The Pokémon Company has, over time, taken out the more adult content in Pokémon games. But the gambling aspect has always remained. Maybe it's because Pachinko is so ingrained in Japanese culture? Who knows for sure.
But the slots in Celadon all keep with the Pokémon theme. When you interact with them, they give a brief description of what the slot game entails
Turns out these descriptions are subtle references to all the oddball Pokémon Spin-Offs. Check them out and see if you can guess the game.
7 Green Is In Post Game Hunting Mewtwo
Now in America, we unfortunately only got two versions of the first generation Pokémon game, Red and Blue. But there was another version only in Japan, Green version. This was extra lame because Venusaur has always been my favorite.
But in any case, the player character in Green is a girl who is customarily obsessed with legendary Pokémon.
She's a very unique character in her own right that American audiences never really knew about. Lately, they've been adding her into games such as Sun and Moon, and she even plays a big part in the Pokémon Let's Go post game in the hunt for Mewtwo.
6 Blue Takes Over Viridian Gym, Again
You'll only see this is in the post-game, but for the third time in the franchise Blue takes over the Viridian Gym after Giovanni leaves.
It seems that The Pokémon Company really want to push that Blue is destined to run his own gym.
Considering you battle him at the said gym in the later half of Gold and Silver, it's nice to see him starting it up with new HD graphics. He even jokes about how badly it needs redecorating when you visit him. I always love this little bit of lore for Blue, it shows the protagonists have individual goals.
5 Sorlax Auditions For My Neighbor Totoro
People love Snorlax. You love Snorlax, I love Snorlax, and The Pokémon Company for sure loves Snorlax. I mean what's not to love, the adorable guy represents what we all would like to be doing most of the time...sleeping. But apparently, he's so beloved that he got his very own riding animation.
Instead of hopping onto his shoulders or riding on his back, You'll instead grab onto his trademark tummy.
It's a straight-up adorable interaction and is most likely a reference to one of the most famous animated films of all time, My Neighbor Totoro. In this movie, the two protag kids ride on Totoro in the exact same fashion.