While they might be variables for mathematical functions, X&Y are also Pokemon games that were released on the 3Ds, and it has quite a legacy behind them! Pokemon X and Y, released on October 12th, 2013 (hey, its 10th anniversary is coming up!) It received rave reviews for being the first in the series to have the Fairy Type Pokemon and Mega Evolution!
Taking place in the Kalos region, modeled after real-life France, the player is once again a teen about to take their first steps in the Pokemon world. And like the others, it is up to you to defeat Team Flare, who is flamboyant and all too happy to steal your money. Notable for one other feature that might be missed in this day and age.
Pokemon X&Y is the first game in the mainline series to include a full 3D rendering of the entire game map. In other words, gone are the 2D eras, where the player had a top-down view of pixel art. Instead, we can see the Pokemon World in a way that wasn’t possible before! Sure, it’s commonplace today, but back then, it was a whole other story.
But, this article isn’t about the game, well, it is. But it is more about what slipped between the knicks and crannies of the game development cycle. What glitches, interesting facts, and easter eggs were included or forgotten in the the 6th generation of Pokemon?
Let’s find out here! These are four interesting facts that everyone forgets about Pokemon X&Y!
4. Ghost Girl
In Luminose City, there exists a fighting gym you can walk past. It seems like an everyday gym, the kind that you wouldn’t think twice about seeing on the street. But what if there was something different about this gym? What if it housed a certain legend?
Or, rather, a certain fable?
There are three floors, and at the back of the gym, there’s an elevator that can take you to each floor. Seems simple enough, right? The lights are on, the music is playing as normal, nothing too out of the ordinary, at least on the first floor. Go to the second, and something…wrong happens.
The lights flicker, the music stops, and a woman floats near you.
Not stand, not wait, floats.
The camera zooms in on you, or perhaps her, and she mutters a single line: “No, you’re not the one…” Then she floats down, off the screen, and disappears.
Who is she? I have no idea, no one does. What adds to the creepiness factor of this encounter is just how strange it is. If this took place at a haunted house a cemetery, or even a forlorn cave, it would make sense. Not a random office floor in an early-game city. The ghost girl uses the same model as the hex maniac, making every player wonder just who, or what, she is. Or more to the point, who or what she was looking for? A lover? A pokemon? A hidden cheat code that will grant unlimited money? The questions are endless, but there don’t appear to be any answers.
There might be some sort of explanation in Pokemon Omega Red and Alpha Sapphire, but even that is inconclusive.
3. Rollerstakes are here!
Moving away from haunted office buildings and onto more mundane matters. Did you know that there are several faster methods to get around? Of course you do, every Pokemon game has some mode of transportation that is faster than walking. Be it biking, using Surf on a Pokemon, and so on. But, in Pokemon X and Y, there is a new invention, one that has never been seen before.
That is the ability to rollerstake! And no, it is not at the disco. What makes this entry is, ironically, not the transportation method itself. As one might imagine, Rollerstakes is somewhat dull, but what makes this peculiar is the fact that Rollerskates were supposed to be in the franchise ever since Pokemon Gold and Silver.
For reference, they came out in 1999, and Pokemon X and Y came out in 2013. That’s a fourteen-year wait.
2. Sleeping Snorlax.
To veterans of Pokemon Red and Blue, every one of them encountered a foe that they couldn’t beat, an obstacle they couldn’t traverse (that wasn’t waist-high fences). A foe so daunting, so frustrating, that it was etched into the hearts and minds of anyone who walked down Route 11.
And that was a sleeping Snorlax.
And guess what? In Pokemon X and Y, the sleeping Snorlax can be found on Route 7, much to the horror of any longtime fan. The only way to wake this guy up is with a Pokeflute, till then, he’s stuck. What makes this funny is the fact the game itself will acknowledge the problem and call back with a cheeky: “Here we go again.”
1. The Missingno returns!
So, what if I told you that some glitches never die? That some persist throughout a game’s history? What if they jumped from one game to the next? Would you believe me? Well, believe this: the Missingno returns in Pokemon X&Y.
Originally appearing in Pokemon Red and Blue, the very first Pokemon games, this glitch took many players by surprise. When the player would trigger a random encounter with no wild Pokemon data, the game would pull substitute data from other sources, such as the player’s name, various textures, and so on. This would result in a Pokemon created from scratch. A mishmash of data, code, and text that created a bizarre creature that defied explanation. The most famous one was the L-shaped block that looked like it came from Tetris. Though there are quite a number of other creations from such a strange collection of data.
But, how does this affect Pokemon X&Y? Well, let me tell you how!
In Lumonise City (a popular place it seems), standing near the front door of Boutique Couture and moving the camera around lets the player see a strange, L-shaped block.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Pokemon X Cover Art.