A Pokemon Blue player turned on their Game Boy Color and discovered that their original game save file from over two decades ago had successfully loaded up, with all their data remarkably intact. The Pokemon Blue player shared proof on social media of their story, and other fans chimed in with stories of how their original save data had been lost over time.

The first games in the series, Pokemon Red and Blue, were released in the West in 1998 and took players to the Kanto region to pursue 151 Pokemon. While some Pokemon could be caught in the wild, obtaining other Pokemon required players at the time to use a Game Boy Link Cable to connect their games and their portable systems. This allowed trainers to trade some version-exclusive critters such as Electabuzz and Magmar to each other. Over the years, Pokemon Red and Blue have been remastered and re-released on subsequent Nintendo platforms, including Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on the Game Boy Advance.

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While Pokemon game cartridges utilize batteries for saving game data, an expired battery usually means that any data on a cartridge is lost forever. However, according to a post on r/Gaming by a Pokemon Blue player called Hantz, their original game cartridge and battery from 1998 still worked. Hantz then shared a picture of their teal Game Boy Color, showing the file select screen from Pokemon Blue. In German, the screen showed the player's name, the number of badges, Pokedex entries, and playing time from the original file. The picture indicated that Hantz named their player character Ash after the Pokemon anime protagonist. With over 36 hours of play time under their belt, 116 out of 151 Pokemon caught, and every Kanto Gym Badge obtained, Hantz's playthrough of Pokemon Blue was seemingly thorough.

Pokemon Blue Player's Original Game Save Is Still Intact After 26 Years

In response to Hantz's post, other Pokemon trainers shared stories of their adventures through the original releases. Some users commented on the battery's longevity inside Hantz's game cartridge and remarked on how long-lived some can be. Other Pokemon fans shared stories of how future games like Pokemon Gold and Silver had worse game save batteries than their predecessors, which resulted in lost save data once they expired. Hantz clarified that the Game Boy Color in their picture had non-functional Start and Select buttons, but said the system and cartridge were in otherwise good condition.

As one of the first jumping-on points in the Pokemon series, Pokemon Red and Blue remain consistent favorites of long-time fans. What memories trainers will make and share in the future remains to be seen.

Pokemon

Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.

Created by

Satoshi Tajiri