In the games of the Pokémon series, everyone surely has their personal favorites. MeinMMO author Paul Kutzner reminisces about a very special specimen in his collection.
Every trainer who played the first generation of Pokémon on the Game Boy as a child probably still remembers the old rumors surrounding the mysterious Pokémon Mew. One of the most famous theories was that it was hidden under the truck near the SS Anne.
In the 2nd generation, there were similar rumors, this time regarding the mysterious Pokémon Celebi. There was only one way to obtain the monster in our region regularly and without the help of cheats. And I was able to use that as a child.
Here you can see the trailer for the current season in Pokémon GO:
6 Dates, 6 Cities, 1 Pokémon
How could one obtain Celebi? In conjunction with the release of Pokémon Crystal, the so-called Celebi Tour took place in 2001 at 6 dates in 6 different cities in Germany. Trainers could show up with their 2nd generation games and hand them over to the employees of Nintendo.
The employees then placed the games into a device that transferred a Celebi to the game save files. This was the only official and legitimate way to obtain Celebi in Germany without resorting to cheats or bugs.
Small monster, big children’s eyes: Since my father was very attentive, he had learned about this tour in advance and asked me if it would be interesting for me. Of course, it was interesting for little Paul, so we went there together.
After I handed over my golden edition to the employees of Nintendo, it only took a few seconds until I got my game back. Naturally, I had to put my game right into the Game Boy Color and start it. And indeed: in my Pokémon box, there was a small Celebi at level 5.
It goes without saying that I was more than happy about it. Not only did I really like the Pokémon. After all, it was also the rarest Pokémon that could be collected in this generation. And I had it. Completely without cheats or any other assistance. A legitimate Celebi.
The hero among friends: In the gold and silver editions, there was the so-called cloning trick that most players probably still remember. This made it possible to duplicate Pokémon.
Since all my friends also wanted to have Celebi, I cloned the Pokémon and distributed it among my friends. That way, we could all enjoy the monster. But I knew: only my Celebi was the original one, obtained from Nintendo.
Even though my save file unfortunately didn’t survive and the Celebi is no longer in my possession today, I still fondly remember it. And I am grateful to my dad for letting me obtain the Pokémon because of him. Thank you, Dad.
I not only fondly remember Celebi from the main games of the 2nd generation. There are also memories regarding Pokémon GO from a time that remains unforgettable to this day and unfortunately will never return in this form: The best time of Pokémon GO will never come back.
