In Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow players who manage to skip the S.S. Anne ship in Vermilion City can get a major advantage over the game’s main rival Blue. In the Gen 1 Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow editions of the RPGs, players are eventually tasked with boarding a cruise liner named the S.S. Anne. However, over the years crafty players have found a few ways to skip the sea-based location. Bypassing the iconic ship actually makes the Kanto region games easier in a very interesting way.
Originally released in 1996 as Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, the Nintendo franchise eventually made its worldwide debut with the Red and Blue edition of the Gen 1 RPGs. Due to the overwhelming popularity of the Pokémon anime, Game Freak released a third edition of the Kanto region RPGs with Pokémon Yellow in 1999. While the new version of Pokémon Red and Blue included many new features and improvements, players eventually have to make their way to the S.S. Anne Ship in Vermilion City as the story is largely unchanged.
Over the years the S.S. Anne has become an iconic location in the Pokémon franchise, as it’s been featured in Gen 1 and 3 as well as the anime. It’s also the location of the long-running Legendary Mythical Pokémon Mew myth, where it was rumored that players could catch the Psychic-type in a truck near the docked ship. While ultimately a school playground rumor, the popular hoax ended up resulting in players finding several ways to skip the S.S. Anne ship. The Vermilion City shortcut actually makes the Gen 1 RPGs easier.
Skipping The S.S. Anne Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow
In Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow trainers are able to skip the S.S. Anne by trading with another player for a Pokémon that already knows the Cut HM. In the Gen 1 games, players unlock the ability to use Cut for the first time after defeating Kanto Gym Leader Misty in Cerulean City. In order to unlock the HM the way the game intended, trainers have to board the S.S. Anne and obtain Cut by defeating the game’s rival Blue.
Receiving a traded Pokémon that already knows Cut means that trainer can skip the S.S. Anne altogether. While on the surface this may seem like a lot of extra work just to skip a small portion of the game, it actually has some interesting benefits. Players who bypass the Vermilion City ship break the game’s battle sequence with the RPG’s main antagonist Blue. As a result, the Gen 1 rival ends up having a weaker team of Pokémon later in the game and is much easier to defeat. Game Freak eventually fixed the cheat to make rival Blue weaker in the Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Kanto remakes in 2004. While it’s an oversight that most players will probably never run into unless they seek it out, it’s interesting to see how a simple shortcut in Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow can alter battles in the game’s story campaign.
