Pokémon Red Version is the first game I could call my own.
I grew up sharing the Nintendo 64, but my deep purple Game Boy Color was all mine. I spent hours playing Red Version and loving every minute of it. So imagine my excitement when I opened Pokémon Gold Version on my 10th birthday.
I loved the upgrades and the full color scheme. I fell in love with Johto and Gold quickly became my favorite Pokémon game.
As I made my trek to the Elite Four and that guy stopped me as soon as I surfed east of New Bark Town, I was shocked to learn I was in Kanto. Furthermore, I couldn’t believe I could go back and visit the various cities.
And yet, that wasn’t the wildest part. It was that Red, the protagonist from the Gen 1 games, was hanging out in Mt. Silver waiting to battle.
The GBC graphics left the entirety of that battle to my imagination. I think that is why this moment is so iconic for those who played Gold and Silver as kids.
Sure, it was cool to return to Kanto and fight the original protagonist. What made that moment so special is throughout that battle, we imagined what it would be like.
That was the beauty of the 8-bit graphics, you had to imagine what was happening because it wasn’t playing out that way on the screen.
Red didn’t speak, true to his silent protagonist roots, and you had to venture through a tough dungeon to get there. Even before you reach him, it feels like you have been through something and to not have this teenager say anything to you added to that.
As for the battle itself, there’s not much special about it. All of his Pokémon are over Level 70 with his Pikachu capping out at Level 81.
It definitely was a tough battle, but once you win, Red treats you the same as when you first arrived: with reverent silence.
Again, this was the power of this era of gaming. I didn’t need over-the-top graphics to signify what I had done. It all happened in my head and that was good enough.
What makes that so great is that battle will play out differently for everyone, especially those who let their imaginations take over. We didn’t need the bells and whistles because silently, we had done something great.
The context of the battle was a large reason for that, which only worked because of what it brought out in the gamer.
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. It doesn’t matter if its three years prior or 30. What matters is if we look back fondly, then anything can have a big emotional impact.
That’s what happened here. It’s probably one of my earliest interactions with nostalgia. It drove this iconic battle with Red and made it much bigger than it actually was.
For me, it was special and not something easy to replicate.
What about you? How did you experience the battle with Red at the end of Pokémon Gold and Silver? did your imagination and nostalgia carry this battle or was it not memorable for you? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.
Featured Image: The Pokémon Company (via Erik Twice)
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