This is a sub-page of Pokémon Black and White.
Item Icons#
Curiously, the game contains icons for almost every item available since Generation III, including Key Items from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen through to Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. However, some item icons are completely missing due to a variety of reasons: The Generation III mail icons were replaced with the newer but unused ones from Generation IV. Furthermore, several Generation III items were replaced by similar items from Generation IV. The Poké Flute, Secret Key and Bike Voucher were replaced with the three Pokétch Coupons, the Wailmer Pail was replaced by the Sprayduck, the Pokéblock Case was replaced by the Poffin Case, the Lift Key was replaced by the Suite Key and the Magma Emblem was replaced by the Old Gateau. The Storage Key seems to be missing completely.
Nevertheless, there are never-before-seen unused HM icons for every type except Bug. In the final game, there are only Normal, Flying and Water HMs. Fighting HMs existed in previous generations.
Lastly, there are unused Wonder Launcher icons that resemble the items Max Ether, Elixir and Max Elixir.
Unseen NPC Sprites#
The "Delivery man" NPC used to deliver Pokémon obtained through Mystery Gifts turns out to have a whole spritesheet worth of movement, which is surprising seeing how he only stands still after the Pokémon has been received, only to disappear once the Pokémon Center is exited and re-entered.
All the walking animations go unused, and so does the "Facing forward" sprite. While the "Facing right" sprite isn't normally seen (this character spawning inside Pokémon Centers with his back to the flower pot in the lower left corner) it is possible to see the particular sprite if the player has a Mystery Gift waiting for them and come get it in the Pokémon League's Pokémon Center (which lacks the aforementioned flower pot, allowing the player to interact with this NPC from the left).
Unseen Kanji Font#
A small kanji font was created for the game. It is technically used during battles if the player's name has kanji, but due to lack of kanji input ability, it goes unused.
Debugging & Testing Graphics#
Text Input#
Graphics for some simple and unpolished text input menus are present in the files. These graphics and tilemaps are present in both the Japanese, North American, and European releases.
Roman Alphabet |
Hiragana |
Katakana |
Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
When put together, they look like this:
Roman Alphabet |
Hiragana |
Katakana |
Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sound Test#
There are also unused graphics for what looks like either one hell of a sound test, or a whole sound mixer:
They have a single palette and two tilemaps:
These graphics are present in the Japanese, North American, and European releases.
Camera Test#
There are graphics for an unused camera controller present.
Placeholders#
Within the ROM data is a large number of unused image maps, which correlate to other unused images.
Graphics for some kind of countdown.
A graphic map for a debugging font.
Early |
Final |
|---|---|
 |
This image appears 4 times in the ROM and is a screenshot of an early version of Route 1. The tileset is different (look how much the bush sprite covers the female NPC), there are no seasonal effects (like the flowers and the flower petals flying across the screen), and there is no fence in the upper corner.
Also note that due to some transparency issues, the sprites for the male protagonist and the female NPC have black pixels where they should be white, making the player's hat and the NPC's eyes look unusual.
These graphics and associated tilemaps were presumably used to test the Xtransceiver layout for calls.
These images, found with the generic Pokédex skin, were used as temporary placeholders until skins were made. They could have also been there to test whether DLC-enabled skins would work by switching a debugging flag.
Does exactly as stated. Found with Pokétransfer data.
A crude drawing of a Pikachu face that is saying "piga~~~" (a voiced variant of "pika~~~") with numbers underneath it.
Leftovers from Generation IV#
Several graphics and models from the previous installments still exist in the files, which isn't all that surprising seeing how Black and White were built on top of those games. Many of these were used in the numerous test prototypes leaked in 2024.
Found with the Wi-Fi Connection screen graphic information, these images date back to Pokémon Platinum. It is unknown if the animations for these screens still exist.
A tilemap containing overworld sprites from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Note that the proper palette to go with these sprites is not present; this is the best-fitting palette.
The Japanese logos for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, along with their respective title screens, were left over in the games' files.
Leftovers from the Sinnoh underground mining minigame, which is not present in B/W.
The 3D models for both Dialga and Palkia which were used in the title screen of Diamond & Pearl respectively, but end up unused in this game.