Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Trivia & Secrets

1. Physical vs. Special Moves

• In the first generation, whether a move was Physical or Special depended on its type, not the move itself.

• Special Attack Types: Fire (ほのお), Water (みず), Electric (でんき), Grass (くさ), Ice (こおり), Psychic (エスパー), Dragon (ドラゴン)

• Physical Attack Types: Normal (ノーマル), Fighting (かくとう), Poison (どく), Ground (じめん), Flying (ひこう), Bug (むし), Rock (いわ)

2. HMs and Move Deletion

• In Red/Blue/Yellow, HMs (ひでんマシン) cannot be forgotten.

• Starting from Gold/Silver/Crystal, there is a Move Deleter’s house in Blackthorn City (フスベシティ).

3. Item Oddities

• Card Key: Needed in Silph Co. (see story guide).

• Exp. All (がくしゅうそうち): Obtained in Fuchsia City (セキチクシティ) from Oak’s aide on the 2F gate, if you have caught 50+ Pokémon.

• Poké Flute (ポケモンのふえ): From Mr. Fuji, allows you to awaken Snorlax.

4. Battle Mechanics & Glitches

• Enemy PP is infinite. CPU Trainers never run out of moves — Lorelei’s Lapras can use Blizzard forever.

• Counter (カウンター) quirks:

  • Only works against Normal and Fighting-type physical moves.

  • Strange glitch: if used faster than the opponent, it may fail; but sometimes it activates the next turn even before the foe moves.

  • Against Hyper Beam, it can reflect damage two turns in a row!

  • If the foe is confused and hits itself, Counter may still deal damage back.

• Substitute (みがわり) does not protect against Self-Destruct or Explosion. The substitute vanishes but the user survives.

• Night Shade (ナイトヘッド) works against Normal and Psychic types, even though “Lick” (したでなめる) does not.

5. Type & Status Trivia

• Ice-type Pokémon cannot be frozen.

• Poison-types cannot be poisoned, Fire-types cannot be burned.

• Major status conditions (Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, etc.) do not stack.

• “Haze (くろいきり)” resets all stat changes and cures all status (except Faint).

6. Map & Environment Secrets

• Cut (いあいぎり) can also clear tall grass.

• Surf (なみのり) oddity: In some maps (Safari Zone, Cerulean Cave), you can Surf in strange spots but cannot land, creating shortcuts (not possible in Yellow).

• Fly (そらをとぶ) glitch: The last destination is Saffron City (ヤマブキシティ), not Indigo Plateau.

• Saffron Gym warp puzzle → fastest route: bottom-left → top-left → bottom-left → down.

7. Fun NPC & World Quirks

• The protagonist normally never speaks, except during interactions with the Copycat Girl (ものまねむすめ).

• The Magikarp Salesman near Mt. Moon sells you a useless Magikarp for 500円 — and if your party and PC boxes are full, you just lose the money!

• Hidden Item Glitch: In Celadon Rocket Hideout B3F, the Itemfinder reacts near a staircase even though no item exists.

8. Capture & Item Oddities

• Master Ball (マスターボール) cannot capture another Trainer’s Pokémon.

• Pokémon Tower’s Ghost Marowak (ガラガラ) and unidentified Ghosts cannot be caught, even with a Master Ball.

• A fainted Pokémon can be revived if you use a Rare Candy (ふしぎなアメ) on it (as long as it’s below Lv. 100).

• If you release all Surf/Fly Pokémon on Cinnabar Island, and have less than 199円 + no Poké Balls, you’re permanently stuck unless you trade.

9. “Game Lock” Scenarios ⚠️

• Saving in certain areas without Cut, Fly, or Teleport can trap you permanently (e.g., near Bill’s house).

• If you evolve your starter before getting the Pokédex, the drunk man in Viridian never lets you pass — story progression halts.

• Talking to the catching tutorial man in Viridian with a full PC box causes the game to freeze.

• Link battles with Wrap/Bind + Toxic sometimes desynchronize and freeze the match.

10. Miscellaneous Curiosities

• Critical hits (急所) ignore all stat changes.

• “Bide (がまん)” is actually the only guaranteed-hit move in Gen 1 — despite “Swift (スピードスター)” being labeled as one, it can miss.

• In Cerulean Cave (ななしの洞窟), the strongest Pokémon Mewtwo awaits.

• Some Pokémon names cannot be reverted once changed (e.g., Nidoran♂/♀, Arcanine, Alakazam).

11. Ghost vs. Normal Oddities

• “Confuse Ray (あやしいひかり)” works against Normal-types, even though Ghost moves normally don’t.

• “Seismic Toss (ちきゅうなげ)” deals damage to Ghost-types, bypassing their usual immunity.

12. The Ghost Type’s Struggles

• In Gen 1, Ghost-type attacks were bugged:

  • “Lick (したでなめる)” does no damage to Psychic-types, even though they should be weak to Ghost.

  • This made Ghost-types like Gengar far weaker than intended.

13. PP Anomalies

• CPU Trainers have infinite PP.

  • Example: Lorelei’s Lapras can use Blizzard 20+ times without running out.

• Wild Pokémon you catch always have full PP, even if they used moves in battle. (Fixed in later gens.)

14. The Uncatchable Ghosts

• In Pokémon Tower, the Lv.30 Marowak ghost cannot be caught, not even with a Master Ball.

• Any “Ghost (ゆうれい)” encountered without the Silph Scope is also uncatchable.

15. The Viridian Gym Puzzle

• Giovanni’s gym reopens as the final challenge.

• Unlike Surge’s trash-can puzzle, there are no tricks here—just Ground-type specialists waiting.

16. HMs with Field Uses

• Cut (いあいぎり) removes tall grass, preventing encounters (until you leave and re-enter the map).

• Fly (そらをとぶ) bug: last listed location is Saffron City (ヤマブキシティ) instead of Indigo Plateau.

17. Trainer Lockouts

• Once an event ends, certain Trainers can never be battled again.

  • Examples: S.S. Anne trainers after departure, Silph Co. grunts, Gym trainers.

• If you want extra money or experience, fight them before finishing the event.

18. Reviving with Rare Candy

• A fainted Pokémon can be revived by giving it a Rare Candy (ふしぎなアメ) — as long as it’s not Lv.100.

• This quirk allows for emergency revives without items like Revive or Max Revive.

19. The Cinnabar Island Trap

• If you release all Pokémon that know Surf and Fly, save on Cinnabar Island, and have <199円 + no Poké Balls… you’re permanently stuck.

• The only way out is to trade via link cable.

20. Odd Status Interactions

• Toxic + Wrap/Bind in link battles can cause game desynchronization (1P/2P mismatch).

• Substitute does not block status effects in Gen 1 (it does in later generations).

• Paralysis + Speed drops are more extreme due to early-gen calculation bugs.

21. Critical Hits (急所) Mechanics

• Crit damage ignores stat changes.

• Example: If you used Swords Dance, then land a crit, the Attack boost is not applied.

• High-Speed Pokémon (like Persian, Jolteon) crit very often due to how Speed was tied to crit rate.

22. Counter (カウンター) Oddities Continued

• Counter fails against Flying, Ground, and Rock-type physical moves.

• It can “store” damage under weird conditions:

  • If faster than the foe, Counter may fail on Turn 1 but work on Turn 2 even without taking damage.

  • Against Hyper Beam, it may reflect two turns in a row due to recoil interaction.

23. Game-Ending Mistakes ⚠️

• If you evolve your starter before getting the Pokédex, the Viridian drunk man never lets you pass → progression blocked.

• Saving near Bill’s house without Cut/Teleport/Fly = soft lock.

• Talking to the Viridian catching tutorial man with full PC boxes = game freeze.

24. NPC Quirks

• The Copycat Girl (ものまねむすめ) event is the only time the protagonist “speaks.”

• The Magikarp Salesman near Mt. Moon scams you for 500円. If your box and party are full, you just lose the money!

25. Rare Type Immunity Interactions

• Dragon Rage (りゅうのいかり) always deals 40 HP damage — ignores type immunities.

• SonicBoom (ソニックブーム) always deals 20 HP.

• These fixed-damage moves bypass many quirks of type matchups.