Lugia y Ho-Oh are two of the Legendary Pokémon most popular and beloved of the saga and started a trend in the franchise after their debut in Pokemon Gold y Pokemon Plata: the fact that a Legendary was the “mascot” of a game and appeared on its cover. It happens that in the initial versions of these two games, There was no trace of Lugia for a simple reason: still did not existbut rather It was created for a film released later to show the early prototypes of these two new releases. Their immense popularity among fans of the film ‘Pokémon the Movie 2000′ This is what encouraged Game Freak to add Lugia to these two video games and was also the visible face of the Silver edition.
Lugia did not exist in the original versions of Pokémon Gold and Silver and was added later after its stellar appearance in a movie.
Pokémon Gold and Silver were first playable at Nintendo Space World in 1997.a thematic fair of the company held between November 21 and 23 of that year. At this in-person event there were two playable prototypes of these two new installments of the saga, which were very different from the final versions, including a huge map that represented the whole of Japan. It happens that In these two demos there was no trace of Lugia; In the title screen of both installments only Ho-Oh could be seen.
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“Press Start” screens from the Pokémon Gold and Silver prototypes unveiled at Nintendo Space World in 1997
In other words: Apparently, the initial plans for these titles were for Ho-Oh to be the only mascot for both installments, and their only Legendary Pokémon..
Lugia was created specifically for the movie ‘Pokémon the Movie 2000’released in Japan in July 1999. The creature was designed by Takeshi Shudō, he showrunner from the popular anime from the series. The plot revolved around the fight between the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres and how a trainer named Lawrence intended to capture the three in order to awaken Lugia from its slumber and also get his hands on it.
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‘Pokémon the Movie 2000’ (1999) poster
Lugia’s popularity was such that the Pokémon was incorporated into the final versions of Pokémon Gold and Silver.launched in November 1999. Lugia became the official mascot of the Silver Edition while Ho-Oh was relegated only to the Gold edition.
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Lugia was added to the Gold and Silver editions after the huge success of its debut in the film ‘Pokémon the Movie 2000’
In other words: Lugia first appeared in the anime —or, specifically, in an anime movie— and was introduced into video games later.
A similar case was that of Ho-Ohwhich appeared at the end of the first episode of the first season of the animated series as a teaser of the Second Generation video games.
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Ho-Oh first appeared at the end of the first episode of the first season of ‘Pokémon’, originally broadcast in 1997, two years before the release of Pokémon Gold and Silver.
How could you get Lugia in Pokémon Gold and Silver?
As a curiosity, It was possible to capture both Lugia and Ho-Oh without problems in both the Gold and Silver editions.hence Neither of them were exclusive Despite what the people themselves might imply artworks of each of the games.
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Official artwork of the Pokémon Lugia and Ho-Oh
What did change between these two editions was the order in which they could be obtained. legally and without the use of tricks or external tools. In order to capture Ho-Oh, we needed to have in our possession the key object Rainbow Wingwhile to capture Lugia, possession of the Silver Wing.
- In Wheat Field City (Johto), the director of the Radio Tower gave us the Silver Wing or the Rainbow Wing when we spoke to him after defeating Team Rocket. This was part of the main plot of the game, before completing the Pokémon League for the first time.
- In Silver City (Kanto), an old man would give you either the Silver Wing or the Rainbow Wing when you spoke to him. Being a post-game area, this item was typically the second of the two to be obtained.
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Pokédex descriptions for Ho-Oh in Pokémon Gold and Lugia in Pokémon Silver
In Pokémon Gold you got the Rainbow Wing first, while in Pokémon Silver, you got the Silver Wing.. Or put another way: each of these two titles had as their main difference in terms of the capture order of their two Legendaries the fact that It was usual to first meet the mascot on the cover of each edition in particular.
