Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team
Also known as: Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon Aka no Kyuujotai / Ao no Kyuujotai (JP), Pokemon Bulgasaui Dungeon Parang Gujodae (KR) (Blue Rescue Team) Developer: Chunsoft Publishers: The Pokémon Company (JP), Nintendo (INT) Platforms: Game Boy Advance (Red Rescue Team), Nintendo DS Released internationally: August 8, 2024 (Red Rescue Team, Nintendo Switch Online) Released in JP: November 17, 2005 Released in US: September 18, 2006 Released in CA: September 18, 2006 Released in EU: November 10, 2006 Released in AU: September 28, 2006 Released in KR: August 30, 2007 (Blue Rescue Team) Released in TW: November 17, 2005 (Blue Rescue Team) This game has unused animations. This game has unused areas. This game has unused playable characters. This game has unused code. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused abilities. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article This game has a notes page This game has a bugs page This game has a Data Crystal page

To do: Could these games have assets leftover from Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko's Great Adventure 3 Advance, as they use a very similar game engine to that game?

Now you, too, can live out your secret desires to be a Pokémon! Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team are the first two releases of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon sub-series, released for Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS respectively.

Only Blue Rescue Team was ever released in South Korea, as Daiwon distributed the Game Boy Advance there; as a result, there are no first-party Korean games for Game Boy Advance at all.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Notes

Bugs

Debug Room Hidden area reserved for game testing.

Unused Dungeons Why bother playing at all if you can just go on autopilot?

Unused Pokémon Used, yet Unused.

Unused Graphics Uhm... I don't think I recognize that Pokémon.

Unused Animations A bunch of animation leftovers.

Unused Moves 58 unused and semi-unused moves.

Unused Audio Evolution used to be scary.

Unused Code Evolving during a fight??

Development Text Be aware of debug attacks!

Regional Differences Legend has it that the sea beyond the horizon is glittery.

Debug Menu

There is a Debug Menu that can be accessed by patching byte 0xE5B08 (Red Rescue Team) or 0xB7184 (Blue Rescue Team) to 0x10. This can be done by using the following cheat code:

Red Rescue Team (GameShark)	Blue Rescue Team
E5199391 437FC95F 5483DD13 B5A5B62A	Not applicable

For Blue Rescue Team, the ROM patch must be done manually with a file editor, since there aren't any Nintendo DS cheat devices that support this feature.

As a result, this will replace the "Delete Save Data" option; also note that after opening the main menu, the cursor will point to it by default rather than to the "Continue" option.

The first five options make the menu disappear and the game freeze, except for the music. The "Storage" option makes the game freeze without the menu disappearing. The "h-open" option will return you to the main menu.

While these functionalities seem to have been removed from the commercial builds, they are still working in the leaked Japanese debug-enabled build of Blue Rescue Team, which has been documented here.

Provisional Map

Besides the Debug Room, there is another unused area accessible via these cheat codes:

Red Rescue Team (GameShark)	Blue Rescue Team (Action Replay)
820C0AB4 0007	0210FAF0 00000007

After activating the code, walk though any warp point in the overworld to access this area.

Despite the "Makuhita Dojo" area label shown in the overworld menu, this room seems more like a house than a dojo: it has a bed, a fireplace, and many flowerpots. The Japanese label "仮マップ" on the lower part of the map means "provisional map". Also, it is possible to walk on the table, but not on the stairs present on the right.

There are two Pokémon NPCs in this room: a Noctowl and a Gulpin, respectively. When talked to, they will both give a red "Unregistered dialog script" line; this also happens in the Japanese version. If the room is accessed before saving Magnemite, these NPCs will be absent, just like the Pokémon Square NPCs.

The background music is the same as the one used for Makuhita Dojo mazes. Leaving the room (after disabling the cheat code) will send the player to in front of the Makuhita Dojo entrance.

In the debug-enabled build's Field Map list, this area is labeled "くんれんじょ　ないぶ", which can be translated as "Dojo Interior". This suggests an interior area was planned for the Makuhita Dojo building at some point.

Unused Items

To do: Find out if the Rings have any functionality coded in, or if the other items have any other code leftovers beside what already known.

These can be found in the Kangaskhan Storage after activating the respective cheat code (except for the "Nothing" item):

Red Rescue Team (GameShark)	Blue Rescue Team (Action Replay)
420389FA 0001 000000EF 0002	A213C112 000003E7 D5000000 000003E7 C0000000 000000EE D7000000 0213BF36 D2000000 00000000

Item name (EN)	Item name (JP)	Sprite	In-game description (EN)	In-game description (JP)	Function
Nothing	なし		No information available.	なし	An item placeholder used for Pokémon in friend areas.
Ring D	ゆびわＤ		Ring D	ゆびわＤ	Currently unknown.
Ring E	ゆびわＥ		Ring E	ゆびわＥ	Currently unknown.
Ring F	ゆびわＦ		Ring F	ゆびわＦ	Currently unknown.
Alert Specs	けいかいメガネ		A hold item that prevents the Pokémon from having its held item snatched away or swatted down.	もっているポケモンは　てもちのどうぐを　とられたり はたきおとされたりしないですむ	Just as the in-game description says. Note that this is pretty useless since its effect applies on the item itself, which doesn't have any other effect.
Excavate	ほりおこし		Teaches the move Excavate. It digs through the wall the user is facing.	わざ[ほりおこし]を　おぼえる　しょうめんのかべを　くずす	No Pokémon can learn it, so the only way to access its move is by hacking (see the Unused Moves sub-page).
Spin Slash	かいてんぎり		Teaches the move Spin Slash. It inflicts damage on all foes surrounding the user.	わざ[かいてんぎり]を　おぼえる　まわりの　てきポケモンに　ダメージをあたえる	Same as above.
Observer Orb	ようすみのたま		Changes the status of the target to Paused, making it incapable of action.	てきポケモンを　ようすみじょうたいにかえる ようすみじょうたいのポケモンは　こうどうできない	Just as the in-game description says.
Possess Orb	とりつきだま		A leader's hold item that enables the leader to possess a friend and survive. It only works for the team leader.	ちからつきたときに　なかまポケモンに　のりうつって いきのびる　リーダーポケモンが　もっていないと こうかがない	It makes an adjacent ally faint in place of the leader, which completely heals them.
Reviver Orb	ふっかつのたま		A hold item that revives the Pokémon if it faints. It does not work if the holder faints from an explosion.	ちからつきても　ふっかつできる　ばくはつで しょうめつしたときは　ふっかつできない　もっていないと こうかを　はっきしない	Just as the in-game description says.
Toss Orb	ものなげのたま		Enables the Pokémon to throw items.	ポケモンが　どうぐをなげることが　できるようになる	It makes the user perform the item-throw animation.
Beatup Orb	よびだま		Synthesis item	ごうせいアイテム	Same effect as the Beat Up move.
G Machine 6	Ｇマシン６		Synthesis item	ごうせいアイテム	Same function as the Link Box item.
G Machine 7	Ｇマシン７		Synthesis item	ごうせいアイテム	Same function as the Link Box item.
G Machine 8	Ｇマシン８		Synthesis item	ごうせいアイテム	Same function as the Link Box item.
Weavile Fig	マニューラぞう		Weavile event item.	マニューラぞうよう　いべんとあいてむ	This item name appears in the descriptions for missions which offer the Weavile Statue as a reward. However, the player never obtains it in their inventory, since the statue is displayed outside the base instead. This item also functions as the Link Box item.
Switch Box	きりかえばこ		A curious box that enables the user to switch the rescue team's leader. Only official team members may become the team leader.	リーダーを　こうたいすることができる　ふしぎなはこ きゅうじょたいの　せいしきなメンバーでないと リーダーには　なれない	Just as the in-game description says. However, it doesn't work until the main story is finished.
Mime Jr. Fig	マネネぞう		Mime Jr. event item.	マネネよう　いべんとあいてむ	Same as the Weavile Fig.

Unused Trap

To do: Include an animated GIF/PNG of the trap in action. Add a code for spawning the trap.

The Trip Trap does not appear in any dungeon, nor is it possible to spawn using the Trapper Orb. It is still fully functional if hacked in, and will cause the Pokémon stepping on it to drop their held item onto an adjacent tile. Its (somewhat inaccurately translated) description also goes unused:

Text (JP)	Text (EN)
このわなを　ふむと　ころんでしまって もっているどうぐを　おとしてしまう	Stepping on this trap makes the Pokémon trip and drop an item.

Explorers of Time and Darkness would fully implement this trap without any changes to its function or tile graphic, and retranslate the description in English. The trap would subsequently appear in every following game in the series, including Rescue Team DX.

Unused Dialogue

Luminous Cave Dialogue

Since no evolution in the game has a different Friend Area than their pre-evolutions, these dialogues go unused along with the code that checks for this scenario.

Text (JP)	Text (EN)
…………………………。 なんじ　しんかは　まだ　できない。 しんかするには　ともだちエリアが　ひつようだ。	... Ye cannot evolve yet. Ye need your Friend Area to evolve.
…………………………。 なんじ　しんかは　まだ　できない。 しんかさきの　ともだちエリアが　いっぱいだ。	... Ye cannot evolve yet. The Friend Area to which ye shall go has no room for ye.

?????????? Dungeon Dialogue

The following lines are used by ??????????, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon equivalent of MissingNo.

Condition	Text (JP)	Text (EN)
Usual	なにものか	Something...
60% HP or less	つらくなってきた	This is getting tough...
25% HP or less	もうだめだ…	I can’t go on...
Level Up	レベルが　あがった。うれしいな	I leveled up. I’m happy!

Revisional Differences

The initial Japanese release of Blue Rescue Team had a bug that would erase the save data from any Game Boy Advance game other than Red Rescue Team, when inserted in the DS GBA slot. This was promptly fixed by Nintendo with the distribution of a v1.1 revision of the game, also offering a replacement service until 2018 for anyone who already bought the original version of the game. All of the localized versions do not suffer from this bug.

(Source: Nintendo, IGN)

Console Differences

As both games were simultaneously released on different generations of hardware, there are a few significant differences:

• The music has been re-arranged between versions, particularly affecting the instrumentation.
• Blue Rescue Team uses the top screen for features such as the game map and Pokémon information while in a dungeon.
  • This will show the overworld map coordinates of certain dungeons that remain unseen in Red Rescue Team.
• Both games are compatible with each other through the Dual-Slot feature on the Nintendo DS. Through the Receive Team feature, Blue Rescue Team can unlock the exclusive Rescue Team Maze at the Makuhita Dojo, a short dungeon starring the team imported from Red Rescue Team as the bosses.
• Blue Rescue Team can use the exclusive Unknown Dungeon feature to connect to other copies of Blue Rescue Team and Pokémon Trozei! to receive unique items.