Pokémon Red and Blue came out during a time where the internet was in its earliest stages. It was a time when playground rumors were like the watering hole of information for video games. Naturally, this would lead to some false facts and myths about your favorite games. In this regard, Pokémon is one of the most prominent franchises. There are plenty of stories about secrets and hidden locations in the game. This phenomenon isn’t limited to generation 1, but that’s where most of the rumors and myths come from.

A lot of these “facts” would come from people spreading information over the playground. There are also some really old websites that have special codes or instructions. Some of these would seem outrageous now, but at the time it was a different story. In modern times, we would hack a game and reveal all of its secrets within days of release. That wasn’t the case back then. When it came to Japanese games, a basic translation could take a long time. The language barrier also led to some misconceptions about the games. Something which would never happen today.

In this list, we’ve compiled 25 false facts from the first generation of Pokémon games. Most of these are from the time of the English release. There isn’t as much information about some of the myths that were created in Japan. However, there is a big one about Pokemon’s country of origin. The list is in no particular order, so all of them are equally great (and equally false.)

25 Poké Gods And Mist Stones

via: aminoapps.com

The Poké Gods are said to be the most powerful Pokémon from the games. They are special creatures which can only be obtained after completing some very specific tasks. Usually, they are just evolutions of other Pokémon, like Mewtwo.

The most common way of getting a Poké God was by using a Mist Stone. These are similar to the elemental stones (Fire Stone, Water Stone etc.) They also work the same way as you use them for evolution. Except, they don’t actually exist.

24 What’s Under The Truck?

via: youtube.com

There’s a peculiar truck near the S.S. Anne, a giant passenger ship you board before the third gym. This truck created so many rumors and myths. People had plenty of stories about how to move the truck and what lurks underneath.

The most iconic belief was that you could find a Mew underneath the truck. Now, there actually is a glitch that can allow you to battle Mew. However, it has nothing to do with the truck. This vehicle is just there and serves no purpose whatsoever.

23 Lavender Town Syndrome

via: youtube.com

Lavender Town Syndrome is one of the most popular and well-known CreepyPastas. A CreepyPasta is basically a scary story told in the form of an urban legend. There’s an entire website full of the stuff which you can check out.

This specific one stated that the music in Lavender Town would create suicidal tendencies among children, also causing such a thing to happen. This only happened in the Japanese exclusive version, Pokémon Green. It’s also not true as it would’ve ended the entire franchise.

22 Fourth Stage Evolutions

via: pokemon.wikia.com

This is similar to the idea of Poke Gods, but instead about fourth stage evolutions for some of the Pokémon. In particular, it was Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise who received them. They were called Charcolt, Sapusaur, and Rainer respectively. How lovely.

What’s interesting is that now we have real fourth stage evolutions, in the form of Mega Evolutions. And all three Kanto starters have one. The fourth stage evolution rumor has come full circle with an official version of the myth.

21 Missingno Misconceptions

via: pokemon-glitch.wikia.com

The famous Missingno glitch is one of the most well-known features of the generation 1 games. It’s a strange glitch which you can use to multiply items (even Master Balls) or spawn in high-level Pokémon. That’s what it is used for.

But that hasn’t stopped fake uses for the glitch from popping up. First of all, catching Missingno or doing the glitch will not delete your save file. It may cause other issues, but if done right, there’s no danger to the file. Also, this glitch won’t activate Poké Gods or anything nonsensical like that either.

20 Pikachu’s Special Evolution

via: pokemon.wikia.com

This entire myth came about because of a lack of translation from Japanese material. Some early images of the second generation had surfaced, mainly Marill. However, fans in the west had no idea what it was.

This created the legend of Pikablu.

Marill was known as Pikablu and thought to be an evolution at the time. It was plausible since it looked similar enough and Pikachu only had one evolution. As it turned out, Maril was its own thing and had an evolution line of its own.

19 Holding Down Buttons

via: youtube.com

There was a belief that persisted for many generations of Pokémon (at least the first three.) If you held down certain button combinations after throwing a Pokéball, it would increase your chances of capture. The most common one was holding down on the d-pad and the “B” button.

There were other methods too, like mashing the “A” or “B” button constantly. Sadly, none of these has any effect on captures. The catch rate is RNG and can only be changed by using different types of Pokéballs. There’s no secret code for insta-captures.

18 Finding Starters In The Wild

via: comicbook.com

It was believed that you could get all three started by running into them in the wild. As cool as that would’ve been, it was not possible. The only way to get all three was through trade. However, Pokémon Yellow would allow for the player to get all three starters.

One of the reasons for this myth to arise could be the animated series. In that show, Ash finds all three starters in the wild and manages to catch them as well. This could’ve spread some misconception among the younger fan base who didn’t have the internet to dispel any false facts or rumors.

17 Bill’s Garden

via: hxchector.com

The elusive Bill’s Garden. This is an inaccessible area beyond Bill’s house that is full of mystery and wonder. Or so we though when we first saw the place. The truth is, there’s nothing there. It’s just a little decoration on the part of the developers.

As for what we thought was there, that would vary depending on who you talked to. Some would say that’s where Mew is. Others would claim that this is the only place where you can get a Mist Stone. A more likely answer would’ve been that Bill’s secret collection is there. Whatever it is, we’ll never know.

16 Yoshi Is In The Game

via: redbull.com

This was an April Fools jokes by Nintendo Power. They claimed that you can evolve a Dragonite into a Yoshi by following some very specific instructions. First, you have to catch a Dratini and trade it to another game.

You then evolve it into a Dragonite and trade it back to the original game.

Take Yoshi to where Mewtwo was and then use a Firestone on it. That’s how you get a Yoshi. Oh, by the way, you need a complete Pokédex for it to work. Otherwise, your Dragonite will just fly away and never come back. Which is, of course, a lie.

15 Gary’s Raticate

via: pokemon.wikia.com

Talk about turning something simple into a dramatic incident. Apparently, you beat your rival’s Raticate so hard, that it was in a critical condition. Also, there were no Pokémon Centres on the S.S. Anne (where you fought) so the Raticate passed away.

A few problems. There was a person who could heal Pokémon in the ship. Also, trainers always carry potions and Revives. Finally, the boat wasn’t moving. Gary (or Blue) could’ve just left the ship and gone to the Vermillion City Pokémon Centre. In conclusion, no deceased Raticate.

14 The Legend Of Mewthree

via: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

Mewthree was said to be the evolution of Mewtwo. This tied back to some of the stuff about Pokégods and Mist Stones. As you might expect, it was completely false without any basis. Just an urban legend that ended up getting more attention than it deserved.

The Mewthree talk came back when we got early images of Mega Mewtwo. At the time, we didn’t know about Mega Evolution, so Mewthree was the most likely possibility. Turns out Game Freak wasn’t concerned about making our dreams come true. It’s 2019 and Mewthree is still a fake.

13 Kanto’s War History

via: youtube.com

A fan theory that’s never been officially confirmed, it’s said that Kanto is recovering from a massive war. The evidence is that there are few young men in the region. It’s mostly women, old men and children. Also, Lt. Surge says that electric Pokémon saved him during the war.

It’s possible there was some sort of war, but there isn’t anything concrete to suggest it. Apparently, Unova was actually at war at some point. It’s possible Lt. Surge is from that region and is referring to that experience. Nothing suggests that there was a massive war in Kanto.

12 Clefable’s Shadow

via: pokemon.wikia.com

Clefable and Gengar have similar appearances and other traits. They are also polar opposites in that they are Normal and Ghost types respectively. Two types that are immune to each other, creating an infinite stalemate. That’s pretty cool.

But it’s never been confirmed that they are related in any way.

Clefable is said to come from the moon. Also, Gengar evolves from Gastly, which is a ball of poison. It’s possible these Pokémon are the result of pollution. Looking at their potential origins, it wouldn’t make much sense for them to be related.

11 Splashing To Victory

via: theverge.com

Another one that can take on multiple forms. There was a myth that Magikarp’s Splash is actually a powerful move. You just have to unlock its hidden potential first. Or keep using it until Magikarp does something different.

The version I heard stated that Splash has a small chance of having 120 base power (which is equivalent to a Hydro Pump) and even cause confusion. However, the chance of this happening is rare, that you will probably never see it. How convenient.

10 A Creepy Cartridge

via: usgamer.com

Similar to the Lavender Town Syndrome, this is another story that is actually a CreepyPasta. There is supposedly a “cursed” cartridge of the original generation one games called Pokémon Black. It’s a messed up version of the game that has a very strong horror theme to it.

You can actually find “real” copies of the game. People took the story and hacked a clean copy of Pokémon Red. It’s an interesting urban legend, to say the least. Clearly, the Pokémon games aren’t dark enough for some people, resulting in the creation of the Lavender Town Syndrome and cursed cartridges.

9 New Areas

via: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

Plenty of rumours surfaced claiming that you can visit new areas in the original games. There’s Bill’s Garden as we mentioned before. But that’s still a visible place in the game, you just can’t reach. I’m talking about secret areas that you can’t normally access and require some hidden requirement.

One such place was the Charizard Valley. This was a location in the animated show where a Charizard tamer would train said Pokemon. There were many of them training, including the one Ash had. Too bad such a place didn’t exist at all in the video games. Other locations had to do with Mist Fountains and other Poké God stuff.

8 Complicated Instructions

via: gamingph.com

A common theme about old facts was that you had to go through a series of specific tasks to unlock something new. There are still some websites you can find which list them, but here one that I found funny.

First, you need a clean game that you never used Gameshark on. Now, beat every trainer and catch all Pokemon within 40 hours. Once you beat the Elite Four, Prof. Oak will let you explore the Hall of Fame. Here, you can find a secret entrance to a new city with powerful creatures like Pikablu, Mewthree and Flareth.

7 Mr Psychic’s Secret

via: pokemon.wikia.com

One instruction states that if you bring the three Legendary Birds and three Geodudes to Mr. Psychic, he will spill the beans about Poké Gods. He would also give you an access code which made all the other codes work.

I couldn’t find anything about the origin of this belief.

It’s unknown how players made a link between Mr. Psychic and Poké Gods. However, this NPC is totally useless. He does give you a TM for Psychic, a powerful attack.

6 Fused Pokemon

via: aminoapps.com

The idea of fused Pokémon was fueled by the animated show (which is becoming a running theme here.) One episode showed a fusion between Blastoise and Venusaur. Then you had people believing Pokémon fusion was possible in the video games.

Of course, there isn’t anything like it at all. The closest thing we got to fusion was Kyurem. It could combine with either Reshiram or Zekrom to become stronger. Although that’s more like augmentation than real fusion. So, we’re still waiting for some Pokémon fusion, Game Freak.