Pokemon Blue Player Shocked After Pikachu Evolves Without…

A Pokemon Blue player took to Reddit to share their experience of having had a Pikachu evolve into a Raichu without the use of a Thunder Stone. Released in 1996, Pokemon Blue and Red were the very first set of Pokemon games released by Game Freak, marking the start of the now-legendary franchise.

Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow are infamous for their numerous glitches among enthusiasts, most of which are quite well-documented. While some of these Pokemon bugs and exploits became mainstream, like MissingNo, for example, a lot of them have remained out of the public eye, leading to discoveries like this one.

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In a recent post on Reddit, user Senecatwo expressed their confusion at having their Pikachu evolve into a Raichu. After a battle in Cerulean City using a Growlithe and a Pikachu, they inadvertently triggered a known exploit in the Gen 1 games that allows Pokemon that can only evolve using an evolutionary stone to do so without one. Knowledgeable commenters were quick to jump in to explain how the evolution stone glitch works. Due to the way Pokemon Red and Blue handle memory, the hex code of certain Pokemon overlaps with certain evolutionary stones. If players have a Pokemon that can evolve using that evolutionary stone in their party, and they trigger the effect of the evolutionary stone using the corresponding monster in a specific way, it’s possible to evolve without the required aid. However, due to the specificity involved, triggering this glitch by accident is very rare, hence the lack of widespread awareness.

Pokemon Fan Discovers Gen 1 Evolutionary Stone Glitch

The evolutionary stone glitch only occurs if the Pokemon that requires a stone to evolve leads the battle, gains a level, and is switched with the monster that can replicate the effects of the necessary stone. In Senecatwo’s case, they were able to evolve Pikachu thanks to Growlithe, who, coincidentally, corresponds to the Thunder Stone. They led with Pikachu, leveled up, switched to Growlithe, and then finished the battle, triggering the glitch completely by accident.

In the comments, users pointed out that this isn’t limited to Pikachu alone; all Pokemon that require stones to evolve qualify. Clefairy, Vulpix, Eevee, and quite a few others can all take advantage of this exploit to bypass the in-game restrictions. The prerequisite, of course, is that players have the corresponding Pokemon to trigger the glitch in the first place. Other than the Thunder Stone, which requires Growlithe, there are four elemental evolutionary stones in Pokemon Blue. Moon Stone is triggered by Exeggutor, Leaf Stone by Psyduck, Water Stone by Onix, and Fire Stone by Hex 20 MissingNo.

Back in the early days of Pokemon, exploits like these were what inspired childhood myths, things people used to claim had happened to a friend of a friend in the next town over, even if no one believed them. While clearly unintentional, they only added to the nostalgic charm of Gen 1 Pokemon, an enduring appeal still holds up to this day.

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