This is very unrelated to the rest of my blog, but I felt possessed to write a guide due to the dearth of how-to on this topic. That being said, welcome Pokéfans! Today I will walk you through how to obtain ALL THREE STARTERS on Red and Blue cartridges within the first 5-10 minutes of gameplay!
Continue at your own risk. This is a process that begs much patience and precision. If you'd like to get your feet wet with a video, I used this one to lay a foundation: Getting all three starters (YouTube) Keep in mind, though, you will likely need the visual as well as my directions that follow. The video is unfortunately not thorough or clear, but at least you have something to follow with your eyes.
Got your cartridge? Console? Extra patience? Then let's go!
I used my GBA SP with a legit Blue cartridge, but I've read that you can pull this off via VC on 3DS as well as emulators on computers/other devices. ALSO be aware that this is a GLITCH, not a CHEAT - the distinction is important!
1. Turn on your console and select new game (*yes, if you have a pre-existing game, the only way to utilize this glitch is to start fresh - if you've got a well-played save file, I'd recommend doing some research on the Ditto glitch)
2. Blah blah, what's your name, blah, suddenly you're in your bedroom!
3. Walk up to the grassy area as if you're leaving Pallet Town - Prof Oak will stop you and drag you back to his lab
4. Oak offers you a choice of ONE Pokémon - if you're like me, it matters that you choose one of your top two choices. I chose Charmander.
5. Save the game!
6. Reset the console once the save is successful.
7. Now...here comes the tricky bit. Don't continue your game. First I will take a minute to explain how this next portion works: you just created a save, right? You will need to start a new game again, and here's why: the Charmander (or first Pokémon selected) contained in the first save will be traded to the new save file. We will do this very carefully. It is almost guaranteed not to work on the first or second try, so don't get discouraged.
8. Here's what you do...start a second new game (the first save isn't modified until you try to overwrite it), go through the intro, tell Oak your name, etc etc...you will probably be doing this a lot so hone in that superhuman patience! Okay, once you arrive back in your bedroom, you are going to do a sneaky, partial save right in front of your SNES system.
9. Like in the screenshot above taken from the video linked in the intro, when you go to save this second time it will register the first save and ask if it's okay to overwrite it with this second save. This Yes/No box is incredibly important. You will say yes and then immediately after the box disappears, before "now saving..." appears, you will turn off your console. Yep, I said it. The thing you don't do. Timing here is critical, which is why it will probably take at least several tries. You will memorize Oak's and your rival's dialogue, this I can promise. To recap: you click "save" and this overwrite text comes up, along with yes/no. You click yes and as soon as the box disappears you turn off your console.
There is a spectrum of responses here, and the one we want is in a very small plain at the center. On the one side, if you click yes and shut off too quickly, the previously saved file will corrupt and you are back to square one without even a "continue" option at the start menu. On the other side, if you wait too long to turn off after hitting yes, the previous file will be overwritten with this new save, also essentially putting you back at square one, without your first Pokémon selection. It took me hours to finally get Charmander and Squirtle on the same save (admittedly I tried for Bulbasaur twice and totally toasted my saves both times, and had to start all over. I wanted all three, but pulling off the precise save timing twice in a row is such a gamble. Acquiring all three is for the patient and mighty, and I am not among you). If you're watching the video, you'll notice this process messes up numerous times. It's definitely a feat.
The only way to check and see if you did right is to boot up your console. If the message "The file data is destroyed!" pops up, this indicates you shut off too quickly and should retry with that in mind. "Too quickly" or "too late" can mean milliseconds, folks. The timing is no joke.
If that message does not pop up and you are offered the options of continue and new game, don't celebrate just yet. There's one more step before we know it was done right. Press continue, and you should be back in your bedroom. Press start and try to click into Pokémon at the top of the menu. It will merely make clicking sounds if the transfer didn't work; if it did work, you will be able to open your party, with your first selected Pokémon bouncing around in the top slot. Once you arrive at the latter result, you will rejoice. It is a sweet feeling to know you hit the timing perfectly. If this isn't your result, repeat until successful.
10. Already with one Pokémon in your party, you need to repeat the steps that got you to that first Pokémon: namely, walking up into the grass and having Oak drag you back to his lab. Here you will select your second starter. Hurrah! Two out of three ain't bad. (My Charmander gained a level from defeating my rival in Oak's lab in this photo, btw, which is why he's lvl6 and not 5.)
At this point it is wholly up to you if you want to attempt getting the third and final starter. I would recommend against it unless you have an emulator in which you can toggle time to speed up and get past all the fluff. If you're like me, with a hard copy cartridge and don't have a million hours to grind through this process fifty thousand times (and don't like Bulbasaur anyway), then upon obtaining your second starter, save for good measure. Then you can resume game-play as normal, fighting your rival in Oak's lab and playing delivery boy with Oak's parcel, etc.
A note of importance: the Pokémon you "trade" over from the first save(s) will act like a traded Pokémon, meaning its EXP will be boosted and after certain levels it will not obey you if you don't have the badge to properly "tame" them. Keep this in mind when choosing the order of your starters - for instance, I chose Charmander as my traded Pokémon so I could level grind my Squirtle in order to blast Brock out of his own gym; I believe Charmander will stop respecting me after level 10 until I get the Boulder Badge.
It is astounding to me the lack of guides on this glitch. As far as I can see, there are only two videos on YouTube, neither of which are incredibly helpful, and no real written instruction. In any case, hopefully this guide is helpful to you! I am supremely excited to have Charmander and Squirtle in my team, without having to cheat :) These older cartridges are a lot of fun because of their inherent glitchiness.
Enjoy your fortified team! Now I'm off to level grind in the Viridian Forest, yay me...
Toodles.
V
