For some, losing a Pokémon save is reason enough to never open the game on their Game Boy again. But for others, the fact may not be forgotten even after 15 years — especially if it involves a “goodbye” from a unique Blastoise in the world. And, well, that last case is a sad story for player Harry Koeppel.
The sad “disappearance” of Blastoise
When he was still a kid (mid-2007), Koeppel had the “brilliant” idea of running code to the game Pokemon LeafGreenreleased in 2004. Although cheats are contestable by the community, the player managed to get his Blastoise above level 100 — something impossible in the original title.
The problem is that running these codes probably messed up the cartridge data, which resulted in the console crashing. And when he turned on his Game Boy again, Koeppel noticed that his favorite pokemon was gone and had been replaced by an egg.
Image: Reproduction/Nick Robinson
Something extremely sad for a 7 year old? Certainly, but that would certainly be overcome as the years went by. But, well, Koeppel doesn’t seem to have digested Blastoise’s disappearance and decided to ask youtuber Nick Robinson, known for solving gamers mysteries, for help.
in search of pokemon
The youtuber then decided to help recover Koeppel’s Blastoise. To do so, he bought a unique device to transmit data from a Game Boy Advance cartridge to his computer and sought out a handheld data expert known as Gary — yes, the same nickname as Ash’s rival.
The encounter and all the recovery processes were recorded in a video of almost an hour. In short, Gary explained that the cartridge’s data had been corrupted, but that there was hope to recover it and, perhaps most importantly, rescue Blastoise.
The reunion
Needless to say, the task was super complicated. Those involved had to “break their heads” in several processes and break through software/emulators that should barely be known by gamers. Fact is that after much (much) searching, they were able to recover the little monster’s data.
Image: Reproduction/Nick Robinson
The subjects then transmitted the retrieved data back to the cartridge for Koeppel to test whether the giant tortoise was in the depot. And it was. Not with the same level above 100, it’s true, but in the conditions (level 89) in which the pokémon was before defeating the League.
In the end, happy ending for everyone: Gary has accumulated even more expertise in GBA and Pokémon data, Nick Robinson has achieved over a million views with his published video and Harry Koeppel has rediscovered his Blastoise acquired in 2007.
The case will certainly go down as one of the most exciting stories in the video game universe.
Via: Nick Robinson
