Well, I'm going to begin this with a little history here. Just over a year ago, I was reading through some online
Creepypastas. A
Creepypasta is a sort of "ghost story" and usually revolve around video games, computer programs or lost TV episodes. I always search the Internet for these stories because I'm very into discovering new weird and wonderful things hidden in some of our favourite titles out there. For the most part, the stories I read were badly written and completely made up. However, one in particular caught my eye.
Misfortune.gb.
This was an article claiming that inside some of our classic, most cherished Game Boy games from the past, there was another game hidden somewhere in the cartridges. This was mentioned on some old blogs that dated back over eight years ago and I was intrigued. Having nothing better to do with my life except play games and write articles on games I've played, I decided to have a little search for this hidden game to see if it was legit. As it turned out, it was.
I'm going to give a step by step guide on how I discovered this so the readers of this article can give it a try too, but first, there are some important things I will mention right now.
Firstly, Misfortune.gb is said to be hidden in Pokemon Red, Link's Awakening, Atelier Marie and Spud's Adventure. I will tell you right now that I never found Misfortune.gb in any of these, and believe me I tried. A lot. I don't know if these games have it really well hidden and I missed an important sequence or something or if it was a mistake. I believe it probably is in those games somewhere, but I myself had no luck with them. My luck came with Pokemon Yellow.
Secondly, upon finding Misfortune.gb, I only went to a few rooms then quit the emulator. There are rumours that playing the game is dangerous if you lose at it and being superstitious I decided against taking that risk. So I'm sorry, I can't tell you how the game ends if you get through it because I have no idea. But hopefully this guide will help you access it so you can see for yourselves.
Finally, and this is very important, accessing Misfortune.gb from Pokemon Yellow is NOT easy. I got it to work only TWICE and have not been able to do it again since. However, the two times I did manage to do it I followed a sequence which I've written down here. It seems to have maybe a one in forty chance of actually warping you to Misfortune.gb if you follow these steps. I'm not sure why it only works sometimes, my thoughts are perhaps I'm missing a valuable detail on most playthroughs which other times I've completed allowing it to work properly. (Like I said, I have nothing better to do that play games and write articles on them, which is why I must have spent months playing over and over through Pokemon Yellow and Red looking for this). Anyway, that's all I have to say about that, and perhaps you'll have better luck with it. Please note, that what I've written down here are exactly what I did to access the game, and I'm not entirely sure which parts are important and must be done and which parts are unimportant, so I'm just giving you it all.
NOTE: This method is for POKEMON YELLOW ONLY. It will not work at all on any other Pokemon for several reasons: One, events work differently and in certain circumstances you need certain things to happen that do not in Pokemon Red. For those interested in the Pokemon Red version, I have heard it requires using the Mew Glitch and using Teleport with him at a certain time and place. That however is not relevant in Pokemon Yellow.
Okay, now with that out of the way, let's get down to the meat. Let's boot up... POKEMON YELLOW!
Okay, so the game boots and we have to name our character and our rival. After that the game beings. After a lot of dialog and moving backwards and forwards you have to deliver a parcel to Prof. OAK. You won't be able to go any further until you do because some old drunk is lying on the floor blocking the road. After delivering the parcel return and he'll be wide awake because he had some coffee. Now I know most people like to ignore this part, but here's what I did: Speak to him and let him show you how to catch a Pokemon. Each time I accessed Misfortune.gb he MISSED and the Pokemon broke free. I advise restarting each time until this happens. If he catches it, might as well restart the game. When he is done saying he has to go buy more Pokeballs, continue on.
Next important thing is to defeat BROCK. Now I know how tough that can be in this game, especially if you choose Pikachu as your main Pokemon. None the less, level up all you can and defeat Brock.
You'll now need to make your way to the cave. This cave is filled with Pokemon trainer battles you'll have to go through and you'll often get attacked by Zubats quite frequently. Beat the trainers you encounter but do NOT speak to them afterwards. When you get to a certain one (He's in front of a long wall) defeat him then DO speak to him again. He's the guy who is "down there to impress girls", as he will tell you.
Eventually you'll encounter a battle with "SUPER NERD" over the two fossils he's found. Defeat him and he'll allow you to take one of the two fossils. Pick the "HELIX FOSSIL." Both times I accessed Misfortune.gb I chose the HELIX fossil. As you go to leave with it, Jessie and James from Team Rocket will stop you and demand you give it to them. This will trigger a battle with them which you must WIN. Once you win they will leave and you can escape the cave.
Once you begin on Route 25 you will be challenged by a ton of trainers. Defeat them all but do NOT speak to them after they are defeated, except for a certain two. As you progress through these battles, a girl will stop you and say "my boyfriend is cool". Defeat her then speak to her afterwards and she'll say she wishes her boyfriend was as cool as you or something to that extent. A little further down, you'll meet her boyfriend who runs up shouting "I have a girlfriend!" (Recognise this guy? It's the kid from Misfortune!) After fighting with him, speak to him again and he'll say his girlfriend will cheer him up. Continue on defeating any other trainers on the way. REMEMBER. Do NOT talk to the trainers after defeating them except for the boyfriend and girlfriend!
Once you make it to Route 6 you need to avoid the first trainer battle (He's the one looking for bugs and having no luck). For some reason, these encounters make a difference. Continue past him without being seen until you get to the bottom where a boy and girl are speaking to each other (or at least it looks that way). Speak to the boy first. He'll tell you he's "doing this out of love", even though it's not clear what he's actually doing in the first place. Defeat him then speak to him again to hear that his "love" will be disgusted with him. Speak to and defeat the girl next, but do NOT speak to her afterwards.
The next objective is LT. Surge. When you get to his gym, defeat the trainers and search the pots for the switches. Once the path to Surge is opened up, defeat him. He'll give you some stuff and expect you to leave. Instead, check the bookshelf "full of Pokemon Books".
Check you Badges screen. By this time, one of two things will happen. Either your Badges screen will be completely normal, or it will be glitchy, having every badge numbered "0" and the pictures of the trainers replaced with a huge mess of pixels and errors. If it's completely normal, then chances are you've missed a vital event somewhere down the line and the final step won't work. If it's glitchy however as I described, then the next step should take you to Misfortune.gb.
Make your way back to Route 25 where you met the boyfriend and girlfriend. Quite a long walk, but don't use "fly" or anything because it might not work the same. Just walk back normally. Walk back over to the boy who "has a girlfriend" and try to speak to him. If all is going correctly, the screen should freeze and a bunch of pixelated errors should slowly start generating over the screen while the game makes odd beep sounds and a low buzziness sound. (It sounds sort of like a Pokemon cry but corrupted). After a minute or two the sound will stop completely and the game will freeze entirely. Give it a second or so and it will warp you to Misfortune.gb. You will appear outside the entrance to a building with a carpet in a cross shape.
IMPORTANT NOTE: My total gameplay time was 3.39 just before the final step. I'm not certain if time makes a difference to the overall result, but it's worth mentioning that this COULD be on a timebased mechanic.
With all that said, this is all I have to share at the moment. I will continue to search for Misfortune.gb in other games, and also share the results of course, along with also searching for other hidden mysteries of gaming! I hope this guide was helpful to you, and please let me know how your search goes! Did I miss out something important or does this work perfectly for you? If I've missed anything let me know and I'll check it out and add it to the guide.:) I wish you all the best, and happy hunting!
Dan.
