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Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition (Japanese: ポケットモンスターピカチュウ Pocket Monsters: Pikachu), often known as Pokémon Yellow Version, and also as Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, is the third Pokémon game for Game Boy released worldwide, as a solitary version of Pokémon Red and Blue Versions. In Japan, the game was the fourth Pokémon game released, as a second solitary version of, intended to buy Game Freak time to work on the then-upcoming Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions.

Similar to Red and Blue, Yellow arrived towards the end of the Game Boy's lifespan. It managed, though, to receive the title of second best-selling non-bundled game for its console, losing only to its predecessors.

Plot
Unlike other games, Yellow was inspired by the, and thus, instead of having a choice between , , and , undefineds are forced to start off with a that Professor Oak caught on. With the beginning with an, the player journeys from Pallet Town to go through an all-new experience&mdash;with no Grass, Fire, or Water types to fall back on until each member of the Kanto starter trio is given to the player later on in Cerulean City, , and Vermilion City, respectively.

Much like before, players journey across Kanto from their hometown, Pallet Town, defeating the eight Gym Leaders (Brock and Misty do not join the player, unlike in the anime) and eventually the Elite Four.

Team Rocket battles feature yet another special, anime-based surprise, as Jessie and James show up, along with their Pokémon,, , and. Beyond these changes, the plot of Yellow is very similar to that of the Japanese and  as well as of the.

Blurb
You've finally been granted your Pokémon Trainer's license, and now you're on your way to becoming the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer! The shockingly-cute tags along behind you undefined as you search the enormous world for monsters to train and evolve. Face off against 's torrential water cannons. Stand strong when facing 's stormy. Develop the ultimate Pokémon strategy to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time!

Aesthetic changes

 * The front Pokémon sprites have all been updated to resemble how they appear in their then-current Ken Sugimori artwork usually used in promotional images and strategy guides for the Japanese, , and the , as well as some of them resembling how they appear in the . The back sprites are the same as the previous games.
 * Some sprites were also redone.  and  now better resemble their stock artwork for Generation I, as the Pokémon sprites do. Brock wears an outfit like his 's and Misty's bikini was changed to a shirt and shorts similar to those worn by, albeit without suspenders.
 * Kanto is slightly redesigned a second time, featuring different designs for doors, signposts, windows, and other minor elements. The biggest overhaul was performed on Cerulean Cave, the game's final dungeon, where the layout was once more changed.

Location changes
Obtaining the starters from the Japanese and  as well as from the  is possible through in-game events:
 * A girl in Cerulean City will give the undefined a if the starter 's friendship is high.
 * A boy at the north of gives the player a.
 * An Officer Jenny in Vermilion City will give the player a after the  has been acquired.

Gameplay changes

 * is the only Starter Pokémon the undefined can have and travels with the player on-screen, outside of a Poké Ball like . The starts with, and the previous three Kanto starters can be obtained later in the game.
 * Furthermore, no other wild Pikachu can be found, thus requiring the player to trade a Pikachu from another Generation I game or Generation II game to obtain another one. A traded Pikachu will also not behave like the starter Pikachu, acting as a regular Pokémon instead (even to the point of being able to evolve with a ), unless it matches the Original Trainer and Trainer ID number of the player.
 * Another Pikachu with the same Original Trainer and Trainer ID number as that of the player can be obtained by cheating. However, it will only behave like the starter Pikachu if the original one is released. Furthermore, if one of the new Pikachu is released, the Pikachu behaving like the starter will have a disappointment face for a limited period of time.
 * The cry of the starter Pikachu, or any Pikachu with the same OT and Trainer ID number of the player for that matter, is changed to "Pika!" when going in battle, "Chaaaaa!" if it faints, or "Pikachu!" on the status screen, instead of the original cry.
 * The rival will eventually evolve his Eevee (and thus affect which are the other members of his party) depending on the player's actions early in the game:
 * If the player beats the rival at both the Oak Pokémon Research Laboratory and the early optional battle at, Eevee evolves into.
 * If the player loses one of these two battles or passes up the Route 22 battle, Eevee evolves into.
 * If the player loses at Oak's Lab, and loses or passes up the Route 22 battle, Eevee evolves into.
 * In-game trades are changed to different Pokémon.
 * Level-up learnsets and TM compatibility are altered slightly for certain Pokémon., for example, can now learn via HM02.
 * A minimal friendship system is implemented to track how Pikachu feels about the player and Pikachu will refuse to evolve. This would later be revamped in Generation II, where the system is vastly improved and applies to all Pokémon.
 * Gym Leaders have different teams, some based on those that appear in the.
 * Brock's Pokémon have had their levels decreased by 2.
 * Misty's Pokémon didn't change.
 * Lt. Surge team is changed so that he now has a level 28 Raichu.
 * Erika now has a level 30 Tangela, and level 32 Weepinbell and Gloom.
 * Koga now has three Venonat, levels 44, 46, and 48. He also has a level 50 Venomoth.
 * Sabrina now has a team composed up of Abra evolution line at level 50.
 * Blaine has a level 48 Ninetales, a level 50 Rapidash, and a level 54 Arcanine.
 * Giovanni has a level 50 Dugtrio, a level 53 Persian, a level 53 Nidoqueen, a level 55 Nidoking, and a level 55 Rhydon.
 * Enhanced compatibility with the is present outside of Japan, providing color palette changes as the player switches locations, whereas the Japanese version is similar to the previous core series Generation I games in where it only has Super Game Boy support. The ability to print out Pokédex entries using the Game Boy Printer was also implemented in every regional release.
 * The Super Game Boy palettes used for the sprites are also lighter.
 * Several glitches were disabled, and all glitch Pokémon were altered because the data which was read incorrectly to create them had changed.
 * A ing Pikachu minigame, Pikachu's Beach, is included. However, to play this the player will have to first teach, which requires the use of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.
 * The location and availability of some Wild Pokémon allows the player to experience the game in a manner similar to the anime.
 * In the anime, catches a  and a  in Viridian Forest. This is reflected in-game as Caterpie (but not ) and Pidgeotto are both available in Viridian Forest for the player to catch. This is the only instance in Generation I where a Pidgeotto can be caught at a level earlier than  would evolve into it.
 * The Pokémon that Team Rocket use (,, and their evolutions) are not available to be caught in the wild. It would be unlikely that Ash would catch these Pokémon in the anime as they are the primary antagonists.
 * Wild Pikachu and are not available, as Pikachu is the player's starter Pokémon (furthermore, it is unlikely that Ash would catch another Pikachu or a Raichu).

Storyline changes

 * Jessie and James appear and are involved in Team Rocket's scheme, and typically appear before the undefined battles Giovanni. They also replace the three Team Rocket members in the Pokémon Tower that hold Mr. Fuji hostage as well as two s: one close to the exit of Mt. Moon and the other one near the entrance to the President's room at Silph Co. Curiously, they are never referred to by their individual names and share their Trainer class with any other Team Rocket Grunt, possibly due to Double Battles not being implemented until much later in Generation III.

Pokémon unobtainable in Yellow
The following Pokémon are not obtainable in Yellow. In order to obtain any of the below Pokémon, they must be traded from one of the previous Generation I games, or from the Generation II games, which has that Pokémon available, which will be indicated.

Note that "" indicates a Pokémon that can be caught in the, and thus in the as well. "" indicates a Pokémon obtainable in the.

Connectivity
As well as reprising the ability to allow players to trade Pokémon between two cartridges via a link cable, Yellow also debuted a new link battle mode, Colosseum 2. While battling another player's Pokémon team had been possible since the release of the Japanese two years before Yellow's release, Yellow introduced several regulations in Colosseum 2 mode. Battle modes introduced include the Pika Cup (for Pokémon between Levels 15 to 20 only; their combined level limit is 50), Petit Cup (for Pokémon between Levels 15 to 20, heights under 6'8" (2m), and weights less than 44.1 lbs (20 kg) only) and Poké Cup (for Pokémon between Levels 50 to 55 only, and the sum of all entered Pokémon's Levels cannot exceed 155. is not allowed). These three cups would later become standard cups in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Comparison to the anime
The game is loosely based on the original anime series, but has several differences:
 * Brock does not surrender during the Pewter Gym battle and does not accompany the undefined thereafter.
 * Misty is first encountered in the Cerulean Gym. In the, she had left the Gym when met her.
 * ,, and are acquired from tasks. In the anime, Charmander is rescued from heavy rain, Squirtle merely follows Ash, and Bulbasaur was caught.
 * can use and does not speak in the game.
 * Bulbasaur and Squirtle are able to evolve in the game.

English title
While the game's title has become widely accepted as simply Pokémon Yellow, its officially recognized name outside of Japan is not entirely certain. On the boxart for most English versions, the expression Special Pikachu Edition replaces the series' then-current slogan Gotta Catch 'em All! below the Pokémon logo, while Yellow Version is at the bottom, near where Red and Blue had theirs. However, the expression Special Pikachu Edition is repeated on the box's opening and spine.

Despite this, the instruction manual refers to the game as "the Yellow version of Pokémon", the has the option of being called Yellow, following the trends of the other versions, and Yellow Version can be seen on the game's title screen. Pokémon.com refers to the game as Pokémon Yellow Special Pikachu Edition in full, but Pokémon Yellow Version and Pokémon Yellow in general usage.

Reception
Like, Yellow was also well received by the press. Like its predecessors, it received a perfect 10/10 "Masterful" rating from IGN. However, it was criticized as being "just a stopgap to help us wait for the ". Yellow received a slightly lower average score than Red and Blue of about 85% on GameRankings. Despite this, it was the site's top rated Game Boy game in the year of its release, 1999.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for and  also applies to Pokémon Yellow. However, Yellow added three tracks that are absent from the official soundtrack, which precedes the release of Yellow by ten months. These additional tracks were composed by Gō Ichinose, while the tracks already present from the previous three games were all composed by Junichi Masuda.

Trivia

 * The opening of Yellow features the fewest number of Pokémon out of all Generation I core series games, fittingly showing only.
 * , which reimplemented the Walking Pokémon mechanic that was introduced in Yellow, were released in Japan exactly 11 years after it was released in Japan.
 * This is the only Generation I game in Japanese where a message describing the current progress of a save in course appears, unlike the international versions, where such behavior is present in all games of the generation.
 * Yellow is the first game to allow the undefined to walk into the grass without any Pokémon, though Professor Oak intervenes after taking two steps into the grass; the second being.
 * The two available starter Pokémon of this game,  and , are the only Pokémon introduced prior to Generation V to evolve with a.
 * Out of all the core series Generation I games, this is the only one where and  can be caught in the wild; in the Japanese  and  as well as in the, these Pokémon are only available by means of an in-game trade.
 * It is the only localized game prior to Generation III to lack the slogan below the Pokémon logo.
 * Yellow is the only core series Generation I game to feature a different localized title in all non-Japanese releases rather than using the translation of its Japanese title.

Starter-related trivia

 * Yellow is the only core series game in which the player cannot choose their own starter Pokémon.
 * It is also the only game in which all three of the region's starters can be obtained without having to trade.
 * Pikachu and are the only core series starter Pokémon not to be Grass-, Fire-, or.
 * Pikachu had its cry changed to that of its anime counterpart for this game. Junichi Masuda details the modification of Ikue Ohtani's voice to a sound capable of being made by the low-tech Game Boy in his Director's Column. In some parts of the game, though, Pikachu's original cry was used.
 * Pikachu is the only core series starter Pokémon which cannot be evolved in the game in which it is a starter Pokémon, despite being able to evolve when traded to a different game.
 * Pikachu is the only core series starter Pokémon that does not have a 7:1 male to female gender ratio.
 * Pikachu is the only core series starter Pokémon that is not in its base evolutionary form. However, this wasn't true during the generation it was a starter in, as, its pre-evolved form, wasn't revealed until Generation II.
 * Eevee is the only core series starter Pokémon to not be part of a three-stage evolutionary family.
 * Eevee is the only core series starter Pokémon to have a branched evolution.
 * Eevee is the only core series starter Pokémon that cannot be picked by the player.
 * Eevee is the only core series starter Pokémon not to be the main starter Pokémon of a main character in Pokémon Adventures.