Thanks to schoolyard myths, MyMMO editor-in-chief Leya still has to firmly press the B button on her Switch today when she wants to catch a Pokémon.
As a child of the 90s, I just about experienced a time when the Internet was a rarity in every household. We exchanged information about games on the schoolyard or with the neighborhood kids.
Pokémon Red/Blue on the Game Boy sparked a real boom among us children in 1999. Pokémon was suddenly the hottest trend, and we all only talked about the games and the anime. Some of us immediately took on the role of pocket monsters and called out words like “Pikachu” and “Bulbasaur” while playing during recess. This led to many adults shaking their heads and accusing my generation of getting dumber.
Because back then, you couldn’t verify everything on the Internet with a quick Google search, many rumors and legends spread that we picked up and firmly believed.
If you press the B button firmly, the catch rate increases!
One rumor that spread on the schoolyard claimed that you could increase a Pokémon’s catch rate simply by pressing the B button hard enough as soon as you threw the ball at the Pokémon. A variation of this was to press B as quickly as possible in succession during the catching attempt. However, I knew that rapid pressing had to be nonsense, and the pros used the hold method for the B button. Logical.
Of course, the chance of catching a Pokémon consists of programmed factors: how strong the used Pokéball is, what level the Pokémon has, or how worn out it already is from battle.
That was more than 25 years ago. I still play every new Pokémon game and haven’t lost my love for pocket monsters.
The B button still has to be pressed…
Today I realize that pressing the B button doesn’t actually do anything.
But not doing it feels wrong, and I can’t help myself. Back then, it was the bulky gray Game Boy, today it’s the delicate Nintendo Switch. As soon as I throw the Pokéball, my thumb automatically moves to the B button, and I hold it down. The button stays pressed until the ball stops shaking and the Pokémon is finally secured inside.
I don’t know why I still do this. Maybe the child in me takes over, the one who eagerly listened to the tips and tricks from the schoolyard and believed the innocent rumors.
Pokémon is more to me than just a game – it’s a piece of childhood that I still carry with me today. And as long as there are new Pokémon to catch, I’ll keep pressing the B button.
