Pokémon Red and Blue/Unseen Graphics

This is a sub-page of Pokémon Red and Blue.

Super Game Boy Border Tiles

Pokémon Red	Pokémon Blue

Oddly enough, Red and Blue still have all the tiles for the original Japanese "Pocket Monsters!" Super Game Boy border logo. Said tiles were removed entirely in subsequent localized versions.

Game Freak Tiles

While these tiles are used in the Japanese versions during the "Game Freak" portion of the intro, they never show up in the localized versions despite still being found in the VRAM. These tiles are also used in the Japanese version of Yellow, and also end up unused in its localized versions.

Title Screen Version Tiles

The English version of Red has title screen tile data which contains the subtitle used in the Japanese-only Green version. Unsurprisingly, this is never used at any point during normal gameplay, and the English Blue as well as all other localized versions lacks the "GREEN" subtitle tiles entirely.

Unused Font Characters

The font set which contains the unique "V" and "S" characters used in Link Battles actually contains a good chunk of the alphabet, which obviously never gets used.

Unused Reaction

Three kinds of "reactions" used by some characters in the overworld exist. The first is an exclamation mark seen when a trainer spots you, the second one is a smiling face for when the player gambles in the Game Corner, and the third, unused kind, simply consists of a question mark. It was likely supposed to show up in interactions which led to someone being puzzled or confused. Namely, this sprite was later used in Yellow, which expanded the reaction system, and assigned the question mark emote to a small event where Pikachu is intrigued by Bill's transporter mishap.

Fishing Hook Sprite

Found among the overworld spriteset for the fishing rod is this unused sprite resembling a lure. It still exists in the data of Generation II games, just as unused as before.

Unused Overworld Sprites

Daisy

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

The rival's sister, Daisy, only moves up and down, leaving her side walking sprites to go unused. Interestingly, this spriteset was originally used as a placeholder for the Link Cable nurses in the Spaceworld 1999 demo of Gold and Silver, thus making her side walking sprites used, even if just for a short while.

Middle-Aged Woman

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

The middle-aged woman NPC only moves up and down, leaving her side walking sprites to go unused. These sprites were later used in Pokémon Gold and Silver, as this spriteset was assigned to the newly introduced Pokéfan class.

Middle-Aged Man

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

The middle-aged man NPC only moves left and right, leaving his front and back walking sprites to go unused. These sprites were later used in Gold and Silver, as this spriteset was assigned to the newly introduced Pokéfan class.

Giovanni

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

Giovanni has sprites for him walking up, as well as left and right, though they are never used in the final game. In his few appearances in-game, Giovanni disappears with a black screen transition once he is defeated. If he were to ever have been seen running away then the aforementioned unused sprites would logically be used during his escape from the Silph Co. building.

Mr. Fuji

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

Mr. Fuji has a full set of walking sprites, though he never walks at any point during the game. While in Generation II this character does not have a unique appearance, instead looking like every other old man, in Crystal this spriteset was ultimately assigned to the Dragon Shrine elders. Not only that, but one even moves during a cutscene, leaving all but the walk north animation going unused in that game.

Koga

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

Not only does Koga have a unique overworld sprite, he also has a full set of walking sprites which goes completely unused, since he never walks at any point during the game. The internal names for the overworld sprites reveal that this spriteset was intended for the Blackbelt trainer class, which for some reason was assigned the "burly man" set in the final games. Blackbelts were later re-assigned this spriteset in Gold and Silver, finally putting it to good use.

Elite Four

Unused Frames	Animated Sprites

All members of the Elite Four have a full set of walking sprites, which go completely unused since these characters all stand in one spot and never walk. Lance's walking sprites were later used in Gold and Silver during the raid on Mahogany Town's secret Rocket Hideout.

Unused Tiles

Tileset 01

The tileset shared between the player and Copycat's house features two unused tiles which, when assembled, make up a white rectangle. An earlier iteration of the blockset for the player's house reveals that this rectangle was once used for the top of the closet/bookshelves. These tiles do not appear in any block.

Tileset	Unused Tiles

Tileset 02

The tileset used for most of the NPC houses (a modified version of tileset 01) unsurprisingly has a few tiles from the latter which aren't used here, namely the PC, both types of stairs, and the aforementioned white rectangle. The PC is the only one which appears in a block, this one a leftover from blockset 01.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Tileset 04

Found within the tileset for Vermilion City's harbor are a few unused tiles, namely a Red and Green sign, a bollard, and a water tile with a black line on its right side. The latter tile is odd as it appears to have been intended to be used on the ship, but it doesn’t fit anywhere on it, likely meaning that it was intended for an earlier ship design. The bollards and sign are actually present in the game's metatiles, and a mock-up using them can be seen below.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Original	Mockup

Tileset 06

The tileset used for Route 23 was built on top of tileset 00, leaving a handful of tiles to go unused: the house tiles used for the upper floors as well as two instances of the checkered roof tile, which is normally only found in the Red and Green version of tileset 00. A slightly edited version of the rock formations set also exists there, perhaps originally intended to represent the cave leading to Victory Road, which in the final games appears oddly man-made, even featuring a door instead of the standard cave entrance. Only the rock formations exist in the blockset.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Tileset 07

The tileset used for Professor Oak's lab and the Gyms/Elite 4 rooms contains a few unused tiles: a wall portion, a piece of a desk, and a pier tile normally found in tileset 00. An early iteration of the Gym blockset made use of these tiles, revealing that these three are leftover from a much earlier version of this tileset. These tiles do not appear in any block.

Tileset	Unused Tiles

This tileset is also interesting in that it features an unused alternate flower tile which resembles the one seen in the Red and Green iteration of tileset 00, albeit without a black outline. In-game, this tile always gets overwritten by the used animated flower, leaving it unused. As it turns out, this sprite is actually a leftover from the development of Pokémon Red and Green, as it can be seen in a pre-release screenshot for these games.

Original	Mockup

Tileset 08

The tileset shared between the Pokémon Centers and the Marts features an odd unused couch tile which doesn't fit anywhere. An early iteration of this tileset reveals that this tile was once part of an ensemble which, when assembled, would make up left-facing couches. This tile does not appear in any block.

Tileset	Unused Tiles

Tileset 09

The tileset shared between the Pewter City Museum and the gate houses features an unused variant of the gate houses' window frame. These tiles do not appear in any block.

Tileset	Unused Tiles

Tileset 0A

The tileset shared between Viridian Forest and the Safari Zone contains an unused variant of the rubble graphic that's sitting on water, as well ascending and descending ladder tiles that never get used in either area. These were actually once used in an early iteration of Cerulean Cave, back when it still used tileset 0A. Also present is the Pokémon Center sign, which, while also not used anywhere, is actually present in the game's metatiles, alongside the rocks and ladders.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Original	Mockup

Tileset 0B

The tileset mainly used for both the Silph Co. building and the Cinnabar Mansion features a handful of unused tiles, such as sideways entrance mats, carpeted floor (possibly grass), a floor hole, and a floor switch that was ultimately replaced with the Rhydon statues. The last two tiles make up a destroyed wall, which would be appropriate for an old crumbling building. Most of these tiles are used in blocks, and the ones making up a body of water are interesting as early encounter data for Cinnabar Mansion lists the base floor as having encounter rates.

Also worth noting is that the aforementioned wall tiles are only used in one block, which incorrectly uses the lower half of the burglarized house's broken wall as part of its base. As such, the mock-up presented below will be more of an artistic interpretation of how this block may have been intended to look.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Original	Mockup

Tileset 0C

The tileset used for the Pokémon Tower was built on top of tileset 0B, leaving a load of tiles to going unused. Worth noting are an unfinished version of the vertical closed door, the edge of a floor hole, and a dark tiled floor. The metatiles reveal that the darker tiled floor would have been used as a shadow, something which can be seen in an earlier iteration of the Pokémon Tower.

A rather intriguing light source block can also be found in the metatiles, this one likely related to the lighthouse which was planned early in development.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Original	Mockup

Tileset 0D

The cave tileset contains a few miscellaneous unused tiles, like a small decorative rock, an unrefined hole tile, or a variant of the ground tile. As for noteworthy sprites, we do have tiles that make up what appears to be an icy version of the rock formation tiles, and which may have been intended for the Seafoam Islands (only to later be cut, perhaps due to taking up too much space in the blockset). Also found here is a decorative a boulder which bears some resemblance to the ones that can be pushed via Strength. While the latter is an object (and as such not a part of the tileset), it's possible it may have once been a dynamic tile, much like the cuttable trees. These tiles do not appear in any block.

Tileset	Unused Tiles

Original	Mockup

Tileset 0E

The tileset used for the Celadon Department Store features two unused tiles: a left table leg and a dark checkered tile. These tiles do not appear in any block.

Tileset	Unused Tiles

Tileset 10

The tileset shared between the Bike Shop and the Cable Club contains tiles for a PC with a stool in front of it, as well as two halves of a sign that don't seem to match up very well when put together. While the sign is nowhere to be found in the game's metatiles, the PC is actually present, though its opposite side uses the standard checkered tiles instead of the white floor one would expect. It's therefore possible that the floor pattern was only added in later, or that the Trade Center and Colosseum were once on the same map. A mock-up depicting the second theory can be seen below.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Original	Mockup

Tileset 11

The tileset for the Pokémon Lab features two tiles which, when assembled, make up a fence made out of poles. Present in a few blocks, some arranging it in front of a wall.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Tileset 12

The tileset for the Underground Path features a few unused tiles, such as a checkered tile, corner wall tiles, and the extremities of lighting wall fixtures. All but the checkered tile were actually used in a scrapped underground path that would have connected Route 5 and 7.

Tileset	Unused Tiles	Related Block

Original	Mockup

Unused Blocks

Tileset 00

Red and Green	Red and Blue

• Bollards on water (04, 16 and 17).
• Sandy ledges (46 and 4A).
• Bollards on grass (53).
• Water edges bottleneck (66). Originally used in an earlier iteration of Pallet Town.

Tileset 01

Original	Mockup

• Naked wall (03). Only the wall with a window (05) ever gets used.
• Standalone SNES (06). Perhaps there once was a block for the TV, and one for the console. In the final games both are on the same block (ID 0D).
• Standalone chair (0E). May have been used in Red's bedroom by the table, to act as a desk chair.

Tileset 02

• Back wall (03). Only the wall with a window (05) ever gets used.
• Wall with window duplicate (08) (used is 05).
• PC with table (10 and 11). Leftovers from Blockset 01, same ID. Might have possibly been used in your rival's house.

Tileset 03

• Naked wall (05). Intended for the Celadon Condominiums. The back wall for the rooms are never bare.
• Full grey block (09).
• Wall with a table (2E). Doesn't fit anywhere, and lacks the other end for it.
• Raised floor variations (30, 34 and 35).
• Wall counter (31, 39, 3A) (31 has a duplicate at ID 38).
• Naked wall (32). May have been used in the back staircase in the Celadon Condominiums.
• Raised floor with two bottom shelves (37). Doesn't fit anywhere.
• Roof condo connector variation (3C). Lacks part of the border (used is 21).

Tileset 04

• Full floor duplicate (00) (used is 0C).
• Floor with bollards (02).
• Floor with a sign (14).

Tileset 05

• Bottom wall duplicate (1B) (used is 26).
• Wall formations (1C, 1F, 29, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2F and 30).

Tileset 06

• Rock formations (03, 05 to 07, 09, 0B to 0D, 2D to 30, and 39). An earlier iteration of Route 23 originally made use of some of these blocks.
• Sign on sandy ground (08). Ditto.
• Sandy ground (0E). Ditto.
• Tree formations (0F, 19, 20, 23, 24, 33 and 34) (23 and 24 have duplicates at 31 and 32). Ditto for some of these.
• Water border corners (10 and 11). Again, ditto.
• Rhydon statues on dirt floor (25 and 26). Only the statues on tiled floor (42 and 43) are used.

Tileset 07

• Right side wall duplicate (4F) (used is 4C).
• Left side wall (71). Only the right side equivalent (53) is used.

Tileset 08

Original	Mockup

• Full floor duplicate (03) (used is 0F).
• Counter with shadow (06) (used is 07). Intended for Pokémon Center, in front of the second healing machine.
• Floor with shadow (11) (used is 19). Intended for the Pokémon Marts. Almost identical to block ID 19, aside from having one less shadow tile, making it align with the counter.
• PC with counter no pad (1C) (used is 23). Intended for the Celadon Hotel, which once featured a PC.

Tileset 09

• Bottom left counter duplicate (12) (used is 47).
• Bottom right counter (13).
• Top left counter duplicate (1A) (used is 61).
• Corner counter (20, 22, and 24).
• Floor with two chairs (4E).
• Top middle counter duplicate (25) (used is 51).
• Right corner counter (55).
• Back wall with two doors (5D). Intended for the Viridian Forest gate houses, though only the one door variant (73) gets used.

Tileset 10

• Full ground duplicate (00) (used is 1B).
• Stumps with tall grass (08 to 0F).
• Bushes with tall grass (10 to 13).
• Cabin with Poké sign (1A) (used is 1C). Intended for the Safari Zone, whose rest houses once served as Pokémon Centers.
• Half ground half stump duplicates (1E and 17) (used is 35 and 39).
• Tall grass and flowers duplicate (2F) (used is 01).
• Curve bottom water tall grass (30 to 32).
• Ground with stumps (34, 36, 38 and 3A).
• Rock formation with sign (4E and 61) (used is 3E and 43).
• Water border formations (5F, 60, 68 to 6B, 6E and 73).
• Boulder (62).
• Ladder set (64 to 67). Originally used in an earlier iteration of Cerulean Cave.
• Boulder formations (63, 6C, 6D, 6F to 72). Ditto.
• Rock water formations (74 to 7B). Ditto.

Tileset 11

• Rug blocks (04, 05 and 08).
• Sliding floor blocks (14 and 4D).
• Stair blocks (21 and 32).
• Table with floor (25).
• Wall with machines (28).
• Carpet blocks (30 and 4C).
• Incorrect destroyed wall (4B).
• Rhydon statue machine base (5E). Doesn't really fit anywhere.
• Wall block (72).
• Water borders (75 and 76).
• Floor switch (78).

Tileset 12

• Left corner void block duplicate (14) (used is 04).
• Shadow tiles (0F, 18 to 1A). Originally used in an earlier iteration of the Pokémon Tower.
• Stair blocks (1B, 21 and 32). Ditto.
• Shadow counter (22 to 24). Ditto.
• Corner block (1F).
• Back wall blocks (26 to 2B, 2E and 2F). Ditto, again.
• Light source (2C).
• Doors (2D and 3B). Ditto.
• Bottom block duplicates (37 and 38) (used is 1D).
• Shadow block (34).
• Void blocks (3C to 3E).
• Walls with shadow (40 to 44 and 46 to 4A).
• Left side Rhydon statue (45). Only the right side statue (4B) is used.
• Double beds (43).
• Blocks and graves formations (59, 5C, 62 to 64).
• Blocks and graves formations shadow (6B).

Tileset 13

• Slab blocks (34 to 36, 3A, 3B and 43).
• Corner wall (46).
• Rocks and floor (50).
• Rock formations (55, 56, 59, 5A, 5C, 5D, 64, 73, 7B and 7E).
• Bottom left hole (68)
• Ground with rocks (6E). Used in Cerulean Cave B1F, though only in the Red and Green and Yellow layouts.

• Rock floor with boulder (12). Interesting in that it is only used in Cerulean Cave B1F's Red and Blue layout.

Tileset 14

Original	Mockup

• Full floor duplicate (13) (used is 0B).
• Top shelf display (22) (used is 0E). Intended for the top of the shelves either on Celadon Mart 1F or 3F.
• Bottom shelves on checkered floor (23) Intended for Celadon Mart roof. Lacks a corresponding top block.
• Elevator on checkered floor (35). Intended for Celadon Mart Roof.
• Full grey block. Intended for Celadon Mart Roof.
• Naked elevator wall (45). Intended for the Rocket Hideout elevator.
• Elevator wall gap (4E). Intended for the Rocket Hideout elevator, makes up some sort of corridor turn.

Tileset 15

• Floor with stool (08). Was originally used in a scrapped variation of the S.S.Anne cabins.
• Corner bed with door (3C) (used is 38). Ditto.

Tileset 16

• PCs on tiled floor (0C and 0D).
• Half floor half void (0F). May have possibly been used at the bottom of the rooms if they were to be one block taller.
• Floor pattern. Doesn't fit with any piece of floor markings.

Tileset 17

• Grey corner blocks (1A to 1C). Appears to be some sort of table. Doesn't fit anywhere.
• Poles (1F and 23). Doesn't really fit anywhere.
• Blank blocks (21, 22, 2A, and 2B). Likely simple padding.
• Walls with poles (24 to 27). Appears to have been intended for the Fuchsia City Safari meeting room, but once again doesn't really fit.
• Desktop duplicate (28) (used is 08).
• Cage display leftover (2C to 33). Was originally used in an early iteration of the Safari Zone Pokémon displays.

Tileset 18

• Light fixtures (06 and 07). Was originally used in an early iteration of the Underground Path.
• Corner walls (0A and 0B). Ditto.
• Corner shadow (08 and 10).

Unseen Areas

Route 2

Pre-Viridian Forest	Post-Viridian Forest

Route 2 has some unseen map details past the fenced areas near the entrance and exit gates to Viridian Forest. These two areas feature an unreachable cuttable tree and two patches of tall grass respectively, both fully functional. While it's not unusual to have some areas partially mapped-out before a loading zone gate, what's peculiar here is that the entry gate has map details for the area in front of the exit gate, and the exit gate map details for the area before the entry gate, as if Viridian Forest didn't exist and the player was intended to enter and exit only one gate.

Moreover, the normally unseen area behind the exit gate has slightly different mapping when compared to the area before the entry gate, with the flower patch instead being a tall-grass patch. It's unknown whether this is a remnant of a slightly earlier design for this specific bit of Route 2, or if it was just accidentally replaced when the area around the exit gate was being mapped in.

Underground Path

The Underground Path connecting Route 5 to Route 6 has an unseen, seemingly out-of-place bit of map right at the bottom of the map. An earlier iteration of this map reveals that it once had a staircase in the middle, which instead of being blanked saw its entire block line being removed. Despite this, the map's height was not adjusted after this change, leading to the oversight.

(Source: pokered disassembly)

Vermilion City Harbor

Despite normally being completely unseen by players, the Vermilion City Harbor is entirely mapped out, with there even being crates and a truck never seen anywhere else in the game. As it turns out, it is possible to use Surf on the water surrounding the docks, though Surf is unavailable in that part of the game, so the area can't be explored under normal circumstances.

That said, it is possible to explore the harbor by using a number of tricks:

Method 1:

• Position yourself one block above and one block to the left of the ship's ticket salesman.
• Walk one tile to the right and press Start immediately after you come to a stop.
• Save and restart your game. When you reload, you should now be facing right.
• Use Surf and you will surf onto the ticket salesman. Press Down to bypass him.

Method 2:

• Acquire a Pokémon who knows Cut via a trade. Now you can skip getting the HM on the S.S. Anne, which normally causes the ship to leave.
• Progress through the game and return to the harbor once you can use Surf.

Method 3:

• Acquire Cut on the S.S. Anne, then lose to a Pokémon battle on the ship. This will send you back to a Pokémon Center and prevent the ship from leaving.
• Progress through the game and return to the harbor once you can use Surf.

Despite popular playground rumors, the fabled truck parked in the harbor is only used for decorative purposes, and as such doesn't have anything hidden under it, save for a Lava Cookie in FireRed and LeafGreen.

Indigo Plateau

This area features quite a lot of detailing on the League building and the walls in front of it, that is never seen during normal gameplay. Given how two of the statues have inaccessible text assigned to them, it's possible that this area was originally intended to be more open, only to be streamlined for the final game. The Indigo Plateau also features different border block data than Route 23, with the former using 0E (sandy ground), and the latter 0F (tree cluster). However, it's impossible to see the former anyway, given how restrictive the map is with player movement.

Lance's Room

The map of Lance's room features a small unused room in the upper-right-most corner. This map is actually the exact same as the one where the final rival/champion battle takes place, although this one is set on its own map and the one here lacks warp tiles entirely. It appears that the developers originally intended for this map to be present as a room in the much larger map for Lance's room.

It's then rather puzzling as to why the "Champion Room" was set as its own map, especially given how the passenger cabins in the S.S. Anne actually use this trick, all being set on the same map as an optimization technique.

(Source: Reasearch - Rangi and FrenchOrange.)