Pokémon Red & Blue had a tumultuous development due to the scope of what Game Freak was trying to accomplish on a Game Boy cartridge. Pokémon Gold & Silver had an even harder development, as the series became an international sensation overnight and the games had become the most anticipated Nintendo titles of the time, so all eyes were focused on its production.
Pokémon Gold & Silver went through numerous revisions throughout its development, which led to its release being delayed. When the games were finally released, they proved to be the sequel to Pokémon Red & Blue that everyone had been asking for, even if it was clear that parts of the game seemed conspicuously bare.
Fans have sifted through the files of Pokémon Gold & Silver and discovered all kinds of intriguing secrets that were never meant to be seen by the player.
The number of cut pieces of content from Pokémon Gold & Silver ballooned in 2018, when a demo of the games from the Space World '97 event leaked online. This came from an earlier build of the games that was very different than the finished title.
We are here today to look at how Pokémon Gold & Silver could have been very different - from the existence of Ash Ketchum within the Pokémon world, to Kanto shrinking down to the size of a city.
Here are Twenty Amazing Things Deleted From Pokémon Gold And Silver (That Would Have Changed Everything)
20 The Pokémon Anime Almost Existed Within The The Game World
It was tempting for players of Pokémon Red & Blue to name their character Ash and their rival Gary. This was because they wanted to live their own version of Ash's Pokémon journey, where he was actually good at being a trainer and where they could put the overconfident Gary Oak in his place.
The beta version of Pokémon Gold & Silver was going to make the Pokémon anime canon within the world of the games, as the player was going to be able to watch "Primeape Goes Bananas" on their TV, with Ash (or Satoshi as he is known in Japan) being referenced by name.
19 The Safari Zone Almost Returned
The Safari Zone was the bane of the player in Pokémon Red & Blue, due to the fact that it contained some of the best Pokémon for competitive battling (like Chansey and Tauros) but they were incredibly rare and you had to rely on the infuriating method of capturing Pokémon that only existed in the Safari Zone.
It seems that a Safari Zone was planned to return in Pokémon Gold & Silver, as there are several incomplete maps for one hidden within the files of the game. These maps are unfinished, suggesting that they were cut at an early point in development.
The Safari Zone would make an appearance in Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver.
18 The Honey Mechanic From Diamond & Pearl Was Going To Debut
Pokémon Diamond & Pearl introduced the Honey mechanic to the series. There were several trees in Sinnoh that you could smear with Honey, which you could then return to at a later date in order to catch unique Pokémon that had been attracted by the scent.
The Honey mechanic was planned to appear in Pokémon Gold & Silver, as there is unused text within the files of the game that explains how you can smear it on trees in order to attract wild Pokémon. It was referred to as Sweet Honey during the early stages of development.
17 The Creepy Lost Girl Side Quest
The Pokémon franchise has always been a popular source for creepypastas, with Lavender Town being one of the most infamous inspirations for scary stories.
Pokémon X & Y added a creepy scene where a girl would float around the room and disappear, which was seemingly added as a nod to all of the creepy stories that Pokémon had inspired over the years.
There is another creepy story hidden within the files of Pokémon Gold & Silver. There is cut text from an NPC in Ecruteak City, where a person claims that their daughter had gone missing and that they may have gone to the Burned Tower, where people are known to disappear. This little girl does not appear anywhere in Pokémon Gold & Silver, so she really did disappear.
16 The Lake Of Rage Almost Had A Gym
The Lake of Rage is one of the few places where you are guaranteed to find a shiny Pokémon in the series, as you have to battle a red Gyarados to continue the story. This means that a shiny Magikarp is all but worthless, as shiny Gyarados are easy to find.
There is an unused map for the Lake of Rage in the files of Pokémon Gold & Silver which contains an unused Gym. The Gym has no corresponding data, so we don't know anything else about it.
It's possible that one of the unused Gym Leaders from the Space World '97 demo was meant to appear here, but it's impossible to say for sure.
15 The Lost Memory Card & Poker Games
The Pokémon franchise used to be similar to the Dragon Quest series in that the games would include minigames based around gambling. These gambling games were phased out over time, due to the changes in European legislation which would have increased the rating of the Pokémon games if they had kept the slot machines.
Pokémon Gold & Silver was planned to have several different minigames. There is a card match memory game that is present within the files of the games which goes unused.
The Space World '97 demo of Pokémon Gold & Silver also contains a Poker minigame, a selection of slide puzzles, and a Picross minigame that contained pictures of different Pokémon.
14 The Gym Leaders Were Almost Different
It seems that the Gym Leaders in the Space World '97 demo were still being developed when Pokémon Gold & Silver was being shown off at events, as they appear in an incomplete state within the demo.
Falkner looks similar to how he appears in the final version of the game, except that he has an unknown bird Pokémon on his arm. Whitney lacks a character sprite. Bugsy is much less androgynous and is wearing a white suit. An earlier version of Morty, called Enoki appears within the demo, while Jasmine has a totally different hairstyle.
There are also Gym Leaders named Okera and Gama, but they don't have any sprites. Red (known as Blue within the files for some reason) may also have appeared as a Gym Leader, as his character sprite can be found in one of the Gyms.
13 Misty Was Part Of The Elite Four
The Elite Four that appears in Pokémon Gold & Silver is composed of mostly new members, with only Bruno remaining in the group. Lance had become the Champion, while Lorelei and Agatha were nowhere to be seen.
In the Space World '97 demo of Pokémon Gold & Silver, the Elite Four is mostly the same as it is in Pokémon Red & Blue. The main exception is the fact that Agatha has been replaced with Misty.
There is no information regarding the teams used by the Elite Four in the Space World '97 demo, so we don't know how strong she was going to be.
12 The Region Was Going To Be The Whole Of Japan
Pokémon Gold & Silver was originally intended to be the final game in the series, but the international success of the franchise meant that Game Freak changed their plans and decided to scale back on the finality of the game's story.
The Space World '97 demo revealed just how final the game was intended to be, as the world map was intended to be the whole of Japan, rather than just Johto and Kanto.
The intention was for each of the cities to represent one of the major regions in Japan, with the player's journey being far more epic than the one taken on by the protagonist of Pokémon Red & Blue.
11 Giovanni Was Going To Return
The goal of Team Rocket in Pokémon Gold & Silver is to send a message out to Giovanni and convince him to return, as he had been missing since the events of Pokémon Red & Blue.
The early promotional material for Pokémon Gold & Silver had promised that Giovanni would return and this was finally proven in the Space World '97 demo. Giovanni's sprite can be found in the Radio Tower, suggesting that Team Rocket was successful in contacting him.
Giovanni would return as part of an event involving Celebi in Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver.
10 You Were Going To Be Able To Name Your Mother
The Pokémon video game series is filled with single mothers who have no problem sending their kids on a dangerous journey around the country. The only time you ever have a father in the Pokémon video games is in Ruby & Sapphire and their remakes, with Norman being the only dad who stuck around.
The connection between the player and their fictional mother was going to be even closer in Gold & Silver, as there is a dummied out feature that allows you to name her. This feature can also be found in the Space World '97 demo.
9 There Was Almost An Ice Bathing Suit Held Item
Pokémon Gold & Silver introduced the ability for your Pokémon to hold items in battle, which added an extra layer of strategy to the game. It was now possible for Pokémon to heal from status effects by munching on a berry or to boost their stats using a piece of equipment.
The Space World '97 demo for Pokémon Gold & Silver contained an unused held item called the Ice Bikini, which weakens the effect of Ice-type moves against the Pokémon holding... or rather, wearing the swimsuit.
8 The Bike Was Originally A Skateboard
The early promotional material for Pokémon Gold & Silver promised that a skateboard was going to replace the bicycle as a means of quickly traversing the overworld map. The fans were disappointed when the games were released and the skateboard was nowhere to be seen.
The missing skateboard was the subject of speculation for years. It wasn't until the leak of the Space World '97 demo that actual character sprites of the protagonist of Pokémon Gold & Silver riding on a skateboard actually appeared. It's still unknown why it was cut, as all of the graphics for the skateboard were completed.
7 A Ton Of Pokémon Designs Went Unused
The Space World '97 demo of Pokémon Gold & Silver was full of unused Pokémon designs that have captured the hearts of the fans. Cyndaquil and Totodile are nowhere to be seen in the demo. The Fire-type starter is a bear-like creature named Honoguma, while the Water-type starter seems to be based on the Loch Ness Monster and is called Kurusu.
There are a ton of unused baby Pokémon and new evolutions for established Pokémon in the Space World '97 demo, as well as new forms for established Pokémon. There are a couple of unused Pokémon designs that were likely scrapped due to being problematic, such as Remoraid and Octillery being based around on firearms, and two cut Pokémon that are based on a voodoo doll and a vampire. The final Pokémon in the Pokédex is an early version of Leafeon, who did not officially appear until Pokémon Diamond & Pearl.
6 Celebi & Lugia Almost Didn't Make It In
Ho-Oh was planned to appear in the Pokémon series for a long time, as Ash sees it in the first episode of the Pokémon anime.
Ho-Oh appears in the Space World '97 demo, along with early versions of the Legendary Beasts. These are the only Legendary Pokémon to appear in the leaked demo, as Celebi and Lugia are nowhere to be seen.
The mascot for the demo that appears on the main menu is Ho-Oh in both versions of the game. This raises the question of what would appear in the cover art of the early versions of Pokémon Gold & Silver?
5 There Are Unused Egg Moves
It's possible for Pokémon to pass moves down to their children as part of the breeding mechanic. These are known as Egg Moves and they are the only way for certain Pokémon to acquire specific moves.
There are several unused Egg Moves within the files of Pokémon Gold & Silver that the player cannot pass down.
Staryu is genderless, yet it has Aurora Beam, Barrier, and Supersonic listed as its Egg Moves. Smoochum was unable to learn Lovely Kiss as female Pokémon couldn't pass down Egg Moves in Pokémon Gold & Silver, and Bulbasaur, Oddish, and Snorlax have Charm as an Egg Move, even though no one can pass it down to them.
4 Agatha Would Have Officially Retired
Agatha is one of the members of the Elite Four in Pokémon Red & Blue. She is a Ghost-type specialist who was once a rival of Professor Oak.
We still don't know what happened to Agatha after the events of Pokémon Red & Blue, which has led some fans to suspect the worst.
Agatha was planned to return in Pokémon Gold & Silver, as she can be found in the Space World '97 demo. She has retired from being a Pokémon trainer and now lives in a house in the town of Blue Forest.
3 Imposter Professor Oak Was Going To Appear
The Pokémon Trading Card Game featured a card called Imposter Professor Oak, which forced your opponent to shuffle their hand back into their deck and draw seven new cards.
We would see other people pretending to be Professor Oak in the Pokémon anime, such as James from Team Rocket, while an Imposter Professor Oak appeared in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
It seems that Imposter Professor Oak was planned to appear in Pokémon Gold & Silver, as he has a full sheet of sprites in the Space World '97 demo. His purpose is unknown, though he was likely going to be involved with Team Rocket and their plan to find Giovanni.
2 A New Version Of The Silph Scope Was Going To Appear
The Silph Scope was an important item in Pokémon Red & Blue, as it allowed the player to determine the identity of the ghosts within the Pokémon Tower.
An upgraded version of the Silph Scope was going to appear in Pokémon Gold & Silver, as there is text related to it in the Japanese version of the games.
It seems that the Silph Scope 2 was going to be used to encounter Sudowoodo, as it would allow the player to correctly identify it as a Pokémon, rather than as a tree.
The Silph Scope 2 was scrapped in favor of squirting Sudowoodo with water in the final version of the game.
1 Kanto Was Almost The Size Of A City
We mentioned earlier that Pokémon Gold & Silver was originally going to take place across the whole of Japan, instead of in a single region. You may be wondering what this means for Kanto.
It turns out that Kanto was going to be shrunk down to the size of a single city, with elements of Pallet Town and Celadon City being combined. The fans complained about how bare Kanto was in Pokémon Gold & Silver, as there isn't much to do compared to Johto. Little did they know that Kanto was vastly improved from what it could have been.