Pokemon Sword & Shield hit the ground running. While more than 6 million Pokemon trainers ventured through the Galar region, many forgot about the charming, elaborate original games. But back in the late '90s and early 2000s, young gamers were seemingly consumed by the feverishly addictive Red & Blue.

Fans spent countless hours exploring every nook and cranny of the Kanto region. They caught dozens upon dozens of Pokemon and even found a number of bizarre glitches and easter eggs.

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Many of these glitches have been lost in the pages of gaming history. But there are plenty of 90s kids who were particularly passionate about the games back then that still can show you how to land infinite items or skip the Pewter Gym. Let's take a look at some of these particularly obscure and awesome tidbits that only hardcore Red & Blue players of the 90s managed to find and retain.

Updated by Juliet Childers on November 20th, 2020: Pokemon Sword and Shield, as well as Pokemon Let's GO have been out now for some time. Nintendo has teased a new Pokemon Snap to fans' simultaneous delight and dismay. But many fans have been in the Pokemon community for almost two decades. They remember the time when Pokemon games had straight-up casinos, plenty of glitches, and totally uncatchable Mews.

14 That Weird Glitchy Pokemon

Given the relatively primitive coding system used in the early Pokemon titles, there were all sorts of peculiar glitches and strange occurrences that triggered when the game got thrown even a bit out of wack. One of the strangest has to come in the form of the "glitch" or Missing No. Pokemon. It was basically shown as a jumble of graphical jargon but it can be caught.

While the Pokedex lists 151 varieties, there are supposedly "hidden" Pokemon entries containing weird code. They can be accessed by initiating a series of actions beginning with speaking to the old man in Viridian City.

13 Fishing In Gym Statues

Oddly enough, the statue tiles featured in the Red & Blue's various gyms are apparently treated by the game's code as water tiles, meaning they can be used as such. This trippy, mind-bending action allows the player to actually fish in the larger statues found in the gyms. This saves you a bit of time and hassle in having to go out of your way when fishing; at least in the Cerulean Gym, where monsters can actually be caught!

To further add to the randomness, this can only be pulled off successfully by using either the Old Rod or Good Rod - because why not?

12 The Mysterious Ghost PC Of Celadon City

If fans thought liquid statues were strange, how about a ghostly manifestation of a computer? Gamers who perhaps spent a bit too much time scouring the area and tapping buttons stumbled upon a weird glitch in the hotel of Celadon City.

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In the top right corner of the building, fans could trigger an invisible PC, which will actually function like its normal, visible counterparts if found. This was likely caused by a game designer that removed the tile while neglecting to ditch the code underlying it.

11 Mew Wasn't Actually Obtainable

image of Mew in the mountains from Pokemon

No version of the original games actually let the player catch the mythical Pokemon Mew. There was one rumor involving a certain truck in a certain city. But that gets covered later on in this list.

There are also plenty of glitches nowadays on how to catch a Mew. But before, Pokemon Red and Blue players had to attend special Nintendo-sponsored events. Another theory suggests that Mew hung out over by Route 8. But, to the dismay of 90s kids, that theory much like the truck one proved fake.

10 The Fighting Gym In Saffron City Was The Original Gym

images of Sabrina and the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City from Pokemon

Pokemon fans know that Sabrina, leader of the Saffron City gym, has done some questionable things. But a smaller percentage know that one of those actions includes dethroning the original Pokemon gym of the city.

Red, Blue, and Yellow game players will remember the "Fighting Dojo" from the games. This was the original gym in Saffron City. But by the time of the games, it was relegated to a "dojo" where the player could just get a special Pokemon instead.

9 The Ghost-Dissolving Poké Doll

Apparently, the Poke Doll wasn't just useful for escaping an undesired battle. It was also used as a means to bypass an entire segment in Lavender Tower, as some astute 90s gamers discovered. Once players reached a certain point, a ghost monster would block them from proceeding any farther. This would normally mean that fans needed to traverse some more areas in Celadon City in order to nab the Silph Scope.

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But never fear! Players with a Poke Doll can simply bust out this trusty item and dissipate the ghostly manifestation - as, for some reason, this doll will put its soul to rest. It must have held quite a bit of sentimentality!

8 Bill Turned Himself Into A Pokemon

images of Bill Cipher from the Pokemon TV show and games

So everyone knows that Bill was the genius that invented the Pokemon Storage Capsule. But the quirky inventor had a bunch of extra-curricular hobbies, too. Players discovered this when they approached a random Pokemon hanging out in Bill's house.

Of course, the Pokemon turned out to be Bill; he had turned himself into a Pokemon. "I'm a true blue Pokemaniac!" he says to the player. But this is just a bridge too far for a simple fan of Pokemon.

7 Players Could Skip Lt. Surge If They Really Wanted To

Lt. Surge and Riachu

All fans know that the caves in the games had way too many Zubats and the occasional Diglet. But Flash helped players better navigate those pesky caves. Of course, it wasn't an entirely necessary item to get, so some players made a decision.

They decided to completely skip fighting Lt. Surge until later in the game. After all, the player didn't need Flash in the same ways that they needed Cut or Surf. But they did need all of the badges for Victory Road. Some just decided to curb stomp the arrogant war veteran instead of battle him right away.

6 A Subtle Reference To An Obscure SNES Game

Only the hardest of hardcore 90s Pokemon and Game Freak fans will likely have picked this one up. They were also most likely based in Japan at the time. One of the more subtle and obscure references in gaming has to be a cheeky nod to an early game developed by Game Freak called Mario & Wario.

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If fans visit one of the Saffron City house's second stories, they'll find a TV with a SNES. Interact with it, and the message "a game with Mario wearing a bucket on his head!" will appear. This is a reference to a Japan-only Mario title which kicks off with Wario dropping a bucket on the plumber's head.

5 The "Instant Text" Trick

This glitch can be useful to those more impatient gamers out there. Particularly hardcore Red & Blue players were no-doubt happy to stumble upon this one.

If players head to the Cerulean City Bike Shop sans a bike voucher and quickly exit out of the menu, the game gets confused and begins flashing messages at them all at once, rather than in a scrolling fashion. This may not seem like a huge difference but, over time, can really save a heap of time. Even speedrunners exploit this glitch, as it allows them to shave some minutes off the runtime.

4 Traversing Glitch City

With places like that eerie Lavender Town, Red & Blue players know Kanto is home to some strange, imaginative places to explore. Yet, most haven't discovered the absolute strangest place known as "Glitch City." This trippy jumble of graphics can be triggered by taking on a series of events that befuddle the game's coding.

Start by going in and out of the Safari Zone, saving the game inside, then bailing and surfing across the waters of Cinnabar Island. If executed correctly, the game will assume players are still in this zone, and teleport them back to the Safari entrance. Exit, and poof! Glitch Town awaits you!

3 The Oddly-Placed Truck Carries A Secret (In The Remakes)

Many gamers attentive to detail noticed a strangely-placed truck sitting near the S.S. Anne dock. This naturally coaxed a number of curious players into checking underneath and around it, and even birthed rumors that Mew was, in fact, hiding there. Alas, this turned out to be naught but a randomly placed prop to no-doubt spruce up the otherwise empty area.

Related: 25 Things Wrong With Pokémon Red And Blue Everyone Chooses To Ignore

However, in a cheeky reference and likely acknowledgment of this curiosity, the developers brought the truck back to the remakes FireRed & LeafGreen, this time including a hidden Lava Cookie near the vehicle.

2 The Unlimited Rare Candy Trick

While this exploit has become far more widespread now, there was a time when only the most dedicated and technologically savvy players caught wind of this useful glitch. This actually ties in with the "MissingNo" glitch, as the game's confusion that produces this odd Pokemon also inadvertently grants you an infinite number of items of your choice.

Naturally, many who came upon this exciting revelation opted for the coveted Rare Candies, considering how useful and, erm, "rare" they were in the game. After completing the exploit which involves the old man in Viridian City, players will want to put the item they want to be cloned in the 6th slot. After surfing along the coast of Cinnabar Island and finding MissingNo, go to the item screen, and voilà!

1 Fight Safari Pokemon Outside The Zone

The Safari Zone provided some cool Pokemon such as Tauros and Scyther, but the limitations placed made this expedition rather annoying at times. Thankfully, shrewd Red & Blue players discovered a workaround to, once again, confuse the game into working in their favor.

Exiting the Safari Zone and immediately flying to the always-magical Cinnabar Island will allow players to catch these coveted monsters. Just like our previous entry, players will need to use Surf on the border tiles that separate the land from the water. This is because the game code implemented these squares as battle tiles, and it will "remember" the instance in the Safari Zone. Even with the game's easy-to-fool programming, the extent to which 90s kids found and exploited these glitches was impressive indeed!

Next: Pokemon Green: 10 Differences It Had From Red & Blue