Pokemon Yellow easter egg stuns fans 22 years later

Pikachu promotion for Pokemon Yellow 1998.Game Freak / The Pokemon Company

Fans of the Nintendo RPG were wowed when a player discovered a Pokemon Yellow easter egg 22 years after its release. The electrifyingly neat Pikachu trick went viral online.

While Pokemon made its North American debut with the release of Red & Blue in 1998, the RPGs got a third title called Yellow a year later. The new iteration was themed around Pikachu, and featured the adorable ‘mon walking around outside of its Pokeball.

An easter egg from the game went viral over 22 years later after a player surprised fans who had never known about its existence. The unique trick creatively utilizes the franchise’s adorable yellow mascot, and is one of the best things you will see all week.

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Game Freak / The Pokemon Company
An easter egg from the 1998 Game Boy title has wowed fans years later.

Pokemon Yellow easter egg wows fans

While the trick has been documented online before over the years, many fans were floored to learn about it for the first time after a player posted a video of it on the r/Pokemon subreddit on December 7.

User ‘laggia‘ uploaded a video of the easter egg and explained: “In Pokemon Yellow, Pikachu can briefly light up a cave after learning Thunderbolt or Thunder!”

The clip shows the in-game Trainer entering a dark cave with their Pikachu in tow. Seconds after learning the move Thunder, a cutscene pops on screen that shows the ‘mon charging his cheeks. The entire cavern then lights up.

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Fans of the series were floored by the Pikachu trick, with many never knowing it even existed. “Almost 30 years later and I never knew,” one player wrote. Another Trainer said, “With over 30k hours playtime in the series, even I didn’t know this. I know about even the most obscure facts.”

Fans react to Pokemon Yellow Pikachu easter egg found 22 years later.

Other players pointed out that you don’t actually need to know a certain move to trigger the cutscene. In fact, if your Pikachu is angry at you it will light up the room. So if you have an annoyed ‘mon while entering a dark cave, you will be able to see!

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A Pokemon fan explains how Pikachu trick in Yellow works.

Although the trick could replace the annoying Flash HM needed to see inside the cave, the sparks of light only lasts a few seconds before the area goes back to darkness. However ,if you are willing to make steps in between each cutscene then it’s technically viable.

While the easter egg is by no means new, many dedicated fans going all the way back to 1998 never knew about it. It’s interesting to see how a trick from over 22 years ago can resurface decades later and still surprise the Pokemon community.