Unused Pokémon Data

This is a sub-page of Pokémon Ranger.

To do: Describe unused battle behaviors.

Unused Graphics#

A handful of unused files can be found in the pokemon folder. Among these are graphics and animations for two completely scrapped Pokémon and three instances of Gyarados.

gyarados#

This file features a lot of separate frames for all of Gyarados' body parts. Steelix is the only other Pokémon with this trait as its body parts are dynamically assembled during gameplay to account for its complex movement. The existence of these unused frames suggest that Gyarados was meant to use complex movement as well before it was scrapped for unknown reasons. The picture above is a mockup showing what the several body parts would look like when assembled. A duplicate of this file exists under gyarados_c.dat.

gyarados_t#

A very strange file containing graphics for Gyarados' tail... nothing else. There is one idle and one attacking animation. What's even more strange is the lack of frames for different orientations. The purpose of these animations are unknown and difficult to make out.

pupurin#

Curiously, the game contains a full set of animations for Igglybuff, a Gen 2 Pokémon that would finally appear in Guardian Signs where most of these sprites end up being used. It also features an unused Shiny palette like most Pokémon in the game.

unknown_ex#

Unown does not appear in the game at all, yet there is a file containing some animations for its exclamation mark shape. However, the file menu/pokemon_filename.dat (used to assign the Pokédex sprites) references all other shapes as well. Like every other Pokémon, it has a proper Shiny palette as well. Unown never appeared in any Ranger game at all.

Unused Animations#

Jigglypuff#

Jigglypuff's battle behavior is configured in a way that prevents it from attacking which causes it to passively bounce around instead. However, it has data for attacking using Sing, which leaves its animations for attacking unseen.

Psyduck#

Psyduck always floats on water and is never seen on land. Despite this, a few frames show it standing on land, however, such as the animations used for the Browser. There are frames that show it from the back as well, which go unused.

Lapras#

The player never has a chance to capture Lapras as they automatically befriend one at Fall City Harbor during the story. Lapras has all the proper animations for moving in all directions and attacking during capture sequences, albeit in water.

It also has proper battle behavior defined which makes it attack with Ice Beam. In the final game, only one frame of Lapras is shown.

Lombre#

Like its pre-evolution Lotad, Lombre has animations for hiding in water and jumping out again. This and an unused target object suggests that Lombre originally required target cleaning in order to be obtained. This was presumably removed as the area that contains Lombre already requires several targets to be cleared.

Unused Variations#

To do: Is there any way to enable this in game?

In some scenarios, alternate variations of Pokémon are used in the game. For instance, the Charizard battled in Jungle Relic behaves differently from the Charizard on Sekra Range. However, some Pokémon have unused variations that are not used anywhere in the game at all.

Psyduck ($21)#

Psyduck appears in the Marine Challenge for which a different variant is used. Unlike the used variant, this Psyduck does not mock the player and never escapes from battles. Furthermore, it requires only 6 loops instead of 32. Due to the way it moves on the map, it is possible this variant may have appeared on land. Curiously, this variant is used as the base for Psyduck's Browser entry.

Raikou ($8A)#

Raikou is encountered only at Fiore Temple, however, the existence of this variant implies that Raikou was originally meant to be encountered at least one more time. It does not appear to attack during the battle.

Plusle ($C0) & Minun ($C2)#

Plusle and Minun are the player's companions in this game. They are battled only at the beginning of the game where they will panically run around the battle screen. However, the unused variations of Plusle and Minun actually attack using electric shocks and they can be released from the party. It appears that these were intended for wild encounters outside the story events.

Wailord ($C7)#

This entry attempts to load graphics from a non-existent file called whaloh.dat. Whaloh is Wailord's Japanese name. Unfortunately, this entry has no data linked to it other than the file path, meaning that all information about its stats and behavior are lost. It technically appears in Shadows of Almia where Wailord is automatically added to the Browser after rescuing and befriending it, as the game states that it is too big to capture properly.

Unused Assist and Field Moves#

While every Pokémon (except Lapras) can be caught in the game, a lot of Pokémon will never assist the player. This is because those are either found in Capture Challenges or are battled in story events. Pokémon that have field moves may have been obtainable outside Capture Challenges in earlier versions of the game.

Unused Capture Challenge Rewards#

Pokémon that are not available during Capture Challenges usually reward zero points when captured. However, the developers included unique rewards for a handful of Pokémon that do not appear in any of the two trials in the game.

Unused Browser Cycle Lists#

When displaying Deoxys' Browser page, the game cycles through its forms. This is done using a list of files for each form which is found in menu/pokemon_filename.dat. Such lists also exist for Unown and Castform, two Pokémon with alternate forms that do not appear in the game at all. These lists are labeled pokemon_unknown_filename and pokemon_powarun_filename, respectively. A complete list of these references can be found on the notes page.

Oddities#

Unused Psychic Times#

Most assist moves in the game can only be used for a specific amount of time. Psychic always lasts for 5 seconds as the game ignores the Pokémon's assist time setting. However, every Psychic-type Pokémon has proper time settings defined which are never loaded by the game. Abra, Drowzee, Mr. Mime, Ralts, Spoink, Solrock and Beldum have that parameter set to 10, Hypno, Jynx, Wobbuffet, Kirlia and Metang have it set to 20, Starmie and Espeon have it set to 30, Mew, Gardevoir and Metagross have it set to 60 and Deoxys has it set to 90.

Removed Field Moves#

Every Pokémon that does not have a field move usually has its field move and level set to None 0. However, Jigglypuff curiously has the level set to 1 and Plusle and Minun both have their levels set to 3. In some early screenshots, Jigglypuff curiously had the Flash field move before it was given exclusively to Staryu.