Pokémon Red and Green beta

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Pokémon Red and Blue Versions were the first Pokémon games to be released in the US, on September 30, 1998. Several beta elements of the game have been discovered by ROM hackers who have examined the game's code.

Professor Oak wants to fight

Professor Oak has a full team of Pokémon programmed into the game, although the battle cannot occur during a normal game. The player must use a GameShark code to start the battle. Professor Oak has a level 66 Tauros, a level 67 Exeggutor, a level 68 Arcanine, a level 69 starter evolution, and a level 70 Gyarados. He has the same team in Pokémon Yellow Version. When he is defeated, he says: "That can't be!". This implies that the player may have been able to face him at some point, presumably after the Elite Four, seeing as how his Pokémon are high-leveled. His roster seems to vary depending on what trainer is made to walk up to the player. One account even shows him with the same line-up except he has a Venusaur instead of Blastoise.[1]

The Bug Catcher wants to fight

Before Red and Blue's U.S. release, screenshots were released of a rival battle with the text "The Blue wants to fight". In the final version, the word "the" is dropped. While this text would work with a typical trainer such as "The Lass" and "The Hiker", it would cause problems with "The Brock" and "The Misty".

Chief

There is a beta Trainer class omitted from the final version of the Generation I games. It is, however, in the game's code. A Chief is mentioned by a Team Rocket Grunt in Celadon City and can be battled through the Old Man glitch. Its sprite is identical to that of Scientists. He can be also battled by cheating with a GameShark or similar device.

Female Character

There was originally plans for a female character to be playable in Red and Green, as the old sketches suggest. Blue from Pokémon Special seems to be based on her. The character was included in the remakes of the game.

Template:Type2

The Bird-type may have been a beta version of Template:Type2. This can be seen in the final version of the game: Missingno, the infamous beta glitch, is part Bird-type.

Surfboard

There is an item in the game that enables the user to Surf without using a Pokémon. This may mean that the move Surf was not implemented as an HM or at all originally, or that the HMs did not initially exist. However, the Surfboard was more likely a beta object for testers to advance quickly through the game.

Concept art

In June 2006, a early concept art of the early Red and Green by Ken Sugimori was uploaded on Pokémon France's offical website. The concept art includes strange, early very hardly distinguished versions of various things, if at all. This seems to be various battles, the Safari Zone, Red riding on a Lapras, Blastoise, Celadon City and Silph Co. but only the first of them is similar enough to distinguish. Also, if looking closely, the Pokémon in the battles don't resemble the appearances they took on in either the Red/Green/Blue or later sprites.