Everyone on Earth knows about Pokemon. They know of the cute, cuddly creatures that fight for Ash’s amusement and his quest to become a Pokemon Master. But what many people and gamers don’t know is that in 1996 things were spooky in Lavender Town, and not just the tower filled with the ghosts of dead Pokemon. In Japan, Pokemon Red/Green was released and much to the surprise of Nintendo has a few hidden notes in Lavender Town music, ones that adults couldn’t hear.
This “tone” only affected children between the ages of ten and fifteen, and what it made them do was even more terrifying that any Pokemon ever faced. Soon after the release of the game hundreds of Japanese children committed suicide by hanging themselves and jumping to their deaths. Others mutilated themselves or complained of headaches and nausea, all of these being reported just days after the game’s release in Japan.
After studying the game, they discovered that the children had begun to hurt themselves or got headaches after listening to the Lavender Town music, they area of the game is unskippable and must be completed to finish the game, so the children were bound to hear the music. They found that there was a high pitched note hidden in the music that caused the children to go insane. Seeing as all playtesters were adults, they were not affected by the sound due to the fact that our ability to hear high pitched sounds decreases as we age. However, the age demographic for this game was perfect for the sound to wreak havoc on the youngsters.
There are some rumors as to why this sound was found in the game, and why Nintendo may have covered it up. One story states that the game’s director, Satoshi Tajiri, demanded that the sound be put into the Red version of the game to annoy children who chose that color. Tajiri had a clear disdain for the color red due to some trauma in his youth and wanted to punish people who didn’t purchase the Green version.
Another rumor that propagates the legend is the fact that Nintendo changed the music for the North American release. The music now being less harsh and shrill for the discerning American gamer, and less likely to cause young Americans to go insane. It is true though that most music is changed during the localization process, but this fact did fuel the fire to the legend.
Almost two decades have passed since this legend began, and some people have debunked the rumor as a hoax. Some still believe and won’t fire up the original Pokemon games for fear of insanity or suicide. Personally, I’ve already past that point in the game and I’m perfectly fine, but do you courageous reader have the guts to listen?
