[NOTE: SPOILERS regarding post-game content for Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and that includes the remakes)
The 2nd generation Pokemon games – Gold, Silver, and Crystal – were brilliant. The games refined, added, and improved upon what made Pokemon Red and Blue (or Green, if you played the Japanese version) so good. More moves, more Pokemon, new types, Pokemon breeding, better sprites, holding items, the Pokegear, in-game clocks that changed day into night and vice versa, specialized Pokeballs, berries, the list goes on and on.
One of the coolest ever features to come out of the 2nd
generation of games was the ability to travel to a different region – in this
case, a previous region, Kanto. It’s awesome that you’re not only given the
opportunity to travel to a new land, but one where you can fight more gym
leaders and prove yourself to be the champion of both regions! It was a
stunning idea; one that, unfortunately, hasn’t continued on in later
generations, (aside from HeartGold and
SoulSilver, which are just remakes of
Gold and Silver, albeit great remakes).
To return to Kanto in particular was a great move by the
developers. It affected two different kinds of gamers – the players who had
played Pokemon Red and Blue (or the remakes FireRed and LeafGreen), and those that did not.
The players who had never played Red
and Blue before were allowed to
travel to an entirely new region filled with new places to visit and new
trainers to battle, which is really impressive. For the players who had played
the previous generation of Pokemon games,
by going to Kanto, they received a fantastic nostalgia trip through memory
lane, as they went against past trainers that they previously fought and saw
familiar locations and people. They could also see what’s changed in the time
since they visited Kanto through Red and
Blue. It was a win-win situation for
both kinds, really.
The best part of this re-visitation was the chance to battle
the ultimate trainer – Red, previous Champion of Kanto, and your avatar back in Red and Blue, and its
remakes.
You’ve probably noticed by now that this moment is more important to those who had played Red and
Blue (or FireRed and, in my case, LeafGreen)
than those who hadn’t. I mean, those who never got to be Red in the original
games won’t get the full impact of fighting him, but it will still be a great,
fun challenge. But to the veterans, it just meant so much more.
It blew my mind when I realized I was fighting Red back in
the day, and I still think it’s such a cool idea that we got to. In the
original games and the remakes, we were Red.
We experienced everything as him and with him. We had caught and raised
Pokemon together. We had overcome many challenges together. We fought a multitude
of skilled trainers – the gym leaders, the Elite 4, even the Champ, together. And together with Red, we became Champions ourselves. We developed a bond with him because
he was both our guide and our partner. He helped us become involved and
immersed in the world of Pokemon, and we were with him from the beginning to
the end of the journey.
And so, fighting him was an incredible experience. From a different perspective, through the eyes of another up-and-coming Pokemon trainer, we got to
see what Red became after we left – an amazing opponent, and a fantastic trainer. The very best, like no one ever was. And we got to battle him. In a way, we were also fighting ourselves. And we got the chance to prove
that we were better than ever before.
And that's a magic moment.
