The Bizarre Yoshi Rumor That Pokemon Gen 1 Players Believed
Pokemon fans are some of the most loyal and committed video game enthusiasts. The first generation of Pokemon is arguably the most iconic among fans. The introduction of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow in the late 1990s marked the start of an era — the era of Pokemon. All of a sudden, Pokemon video games, Pokemon apparel, and Pokemon trading cards were everywhere — and rumors and hoaxes about the games ran wild.
In April of 1992, Expert Gamer, a video game magazine, released an article detailing a very specific method to obtaining a character that was not a part of the Pokemon universe. The article allegedly detailed a method to obtain Yoshi, the loveable green dinosaur from Super Mario Bros.
Yoshi is obviously from a different gaming universe. It came as a surprise to many when they were informed about the possibility of owning another iconic Nintendo character in a first-generation Pokemon game. But how would you (allegedly) go about obtaining a Yoshi?
It was just a prank
Expert Gamer wasn't the only magazine to feature such an article. As an April Fools' Day prank, Nintendo Power released a similar article detailing similar information. Fans around the world must have been heartbroken when they realized it was impossible to obtain Yoshi in their Pokemon Red.
Both articles stated that two players would have needed to complete the game and catch all 150 Pokemon. The players would then go through a series of trades — trading a Dratini, and then later, an evolved Dragonite. Then the player would be required to head to the basement level of the "Unknown Dungeon" and surf near Mewtwo. The player would then be required to use a Fire Stone on Dragonite. Eventually, it was said that the screen would glitch and Dragonite would evolve into Yoshi with an ID No. of 999.
It is truly unfortunate for any players that may have gone through all of that trouble, especially during a time when the internet was so young. However, the folks who came up with the prank probably had a good laugh about it.