As the entire world is gripped in Pokémon fever right now thanks to all of the Pokémon 30th Anniversary celebrations, it seems the perfect time to throw some Pokémon trivia your way. For instance, did you know that Professor Oak was supposed to be the final boss in the original Pokémon Red and Blue games?
Can you imagine playing Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen through on Switch and coming up against Oak as the final boss - that would be the dream come true. The student vs the master; sounds kind of familiar, but it's tried and tested and never fails!
So why didn't it happen? Well, all signs point towards Oak being the final boss after defeating the Elite Four and becoming the champion. He essentially would have been a post-game boss, perhaps the final fight before getting Mewtwo. And the odd thing is that Game Freak never removed the battle with Oak, choosing instead to just hide it.
The battle with Oak can still be found within the game's code, and he would have been packing a serious team that would have required a lot of skill to beat. At the end of the game, your rival has Pokémon that are between Level 59 and 65. Oak's Pokémon are registered from Level 66 to 70, with a Level 69 starter Pokémon at its final evolution that has a type advantage of the starter you picked. So if you've been training a Charizard, Oak would bring the following team:
- Level 66 Tauros
- Level 67 Exxegutor
- Level 68 Arcanine
- Level 69 Blastoise
- Level 70 Gyrados
I think having Oak as the final boss would have been a great idea; one last hurrah for the aging professor, the man who has done it all and given you advice through the entire game. It would be like the ultimate right of passage to being 'the very best, like no one ever was'... except Oak.
And the great thing is that this battle can actually be played thanks to some clever glitching. Check out the video below to find out how to make it happen!
