>>37626408>>37626420>>37626428>>37628329I'm going to shed some light in the Steven78 &luckyshop26's Pokemon "prototypes", it may help knowing some facts to paint a better picture of if these guys are really worthy leads or not.
About a month ago I purchased one of these "prototypes" from luckyshop26 on eBay, a German Silver for $1800, which was his only other listing besides that English Red. Pic for proof I'm not a shitter. I wasn't totally sure what to expect when I purchased it, other than it was likely mostly retail, or even 100% identical to retail.
What I learned after messing with it is that it is actually a demo. You are able to play up to the point you return to Elm after the rival steals his pokemon. At this point in retail you are then able to go to Violet City, but in this demo There is an NPC guard at the Violet City gate that pushes you away, basically saying "Unfortunately this is not possible", no two ways around it. Walk through walls shows the entire retail game is intact, similar to the DP kiosk demo or ORAS demo.
The only other differences WTW revealed were a few more guards at the Ruins of Alph and Sprout Tower, which led me to believe the demo was originally intended to end AFTER accessing the city, but they cut it back last minute. A few other oddities exist such as your starter not being able to evolve, no town names displayed on map (but displayed when you enter a city), and no badge/gym leader screen on trainer card. This is all standard signs of pre-release demos. It was probably sent to a magazine reviewer in Germany, a common practice with prototype carts during this era.
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