In three months, The Pokémon Company will be celebrating 25 years since the release of 1996’s Pokémon Red Version and Green Version on the original Game Boy in Japan. The Kanto region may have kickstarted the pocket monster phenomenon across the world, but now its modern mobile craze will be getting an exclusive taste of those premiere titles in the form of a special occasion bringing familiar version quirks and differences to the field.
On February 20th, Pokémon GO will be commemorating the quarter-century anniversary six days early with its newly announced Tour: Kanto event. Tour: Kanto will spotlight the first 150 Pokémon available from generation one for a single day as Trainers across the globe will only be able to catch creatures that originated from those two games along with their later added Shiny forms.
To drive home the feeling of playing separate versions, the event will divide players between two different purchasable Red and Green tickets that contain Pokémon exclusive to the version they pick. Fans of generation one likely have an idea as to who will be exclusive to which color ticket, but for the complete list of Pokémon locked to the version you can potentially choose have a look below!
Red Version
- Red Version–Exclusive Pokémon: Ekans, Oddish, Mankey, Growlithe, Scyther, and Electabuzz will be attracted to Incense.
- You’ll have an increased chance of encountering these Shiny Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgey, Ekans, Pikachu, Nidoran ♀, Oddish, Diglett, Mankey, Growlithe, Ponyta, Shellder, Drowzee, Krabby, Hitmonlee, Lickitung, Scyther, Electabuzz, Eevee, Kabuto, and Dratini.
Green Version
- Green Version–Exclusive Pokémon: Sandshrew, Vulpix, Meowth, Bellsprout, Magmar, and Pinsir will be attracted to Incense.
- You’ll have an increased chance of encountering these Shiny Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgey, Pikachu, Sandshrew, Nidoran ♂, Vulpix, Meowth, Psyduck, Bellsprout, Geodude, Exeggcute, Hitmonchan, Koffing, Tangela, Horsea, Magmar, Pinsir, Eevee, Omanyte, and Dratini.
During the Tour: Kanto event, the main goal will be to obtain all 150 Pokémon in a matter of one day while completing the day’s available Research — yes that’s right, one day. Trainers will have to work together online and locally as they trade Pokémon and conquer Raid Battles to fill their missing Pokédex entries before the clock stops. Upon completing the initial Research available, players will be given access to a second special story event that will allow completionists to discover Shiny Mew.
Players can now begin purchasing Red and Green tickets for the event on their dedicated mobile app-stores. Those who purchase tickets in advance will also gain access to tickets for the next Pokémon GO community days scheduled to take place in January and early February. Even if you don’t purchase a ticket, Niantic has reassured players that they will be able to take part in various aspects of the event through traditionally available timed-research and Raid Battles. For more information on the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto event, you can visit Niantic’s official news page on the game’s website.
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Written by Marc Kaliroff
Ever since owning a cobalt blue Game Boy Advance, Nintendo is his preferred way of gaming. Marc is a journalist, creative writer, and video producer. While his focus may be on providing news, he spends his days preparing reviews for games of the present and past.
