How to get all three starters in Pokemon Gold and Silver for Virtual Console

Ready for Pokemon Gold and Silver’s Virtual Console release? We are too! Here’s a handy trick to get all three starters without trading.

I love Pokemon Gold and Silver, and I love that it’s joining Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow on the Virtual Console…even if I’m bummed that Pokemon Crystal won’t be joining them. One of the glorious things about these Virtual Console re-releases is that all their awful, silly bugs have remained intact, despite the fact that the developers and general public have known about them for years. In RBY, this was Missingno. In Gold and Silver, this is crazy stuff like the Coin Case glitch and the PC reset glitch that allows you to get multiple starters.

Johnstone on YouTube has a very simple tutorial explaining how you can use this glitch to obtain all three starter Pokemon easily in Pokemon Gold or Silver. It requires about 30 minutes or so to do in its entirety, but it very easy to accomplish and will not hurt your game. Essentially, it involves saving before you enter the lab, picking your Pokemon, playing until you have access to your PC, depositing the starter, then resetting during a save to send you back to the beginning, leaving the starter in the box so it’s there when you return. It sounds confusing, but Johnstone breaks it down well:

Keep in mind, too, that all of these Pokemon can be transferred via Pokemon Bank to your copies of Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon, so even if you don’t want to play through the whole game with all three, this can help you fill out your Pokedex or even be a second starter Pokemon for you when Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon launch on November 17th.

Next: How to get Celebi in Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon

Pokemon Gold and Silver release for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console this Friday, September 22nd.