It was the best of times, it was the worst of—oh, sorry. Wrong story.

There is a universal experience that every kid that has played Pokémon shares. I argue it’s a rite of passage for every aspiring Pokémon League Champion. Between all the wonder and mystique of playing Pokémon for the first time, every new Pokémon trainer is bound to make silly mistakes. One of my first Pokémon blunders was assuming that the phrase, “It appeared to be caught,” meant that the wild Pokémon that broke free of my Poké Ball, belonged to another trainer, and that I couldn’t catch it and it to my party. This wouldn’t be my first, let alone most tragic lapse in judgment playing Pokémon, but let’s save that story for another time. For now, this is a tale of two tickets, AKA, how I got one of the most elusive Mystery Gift items in Pokémon more than twenty years ago.

Mystery Gift — What is it?

To commemorate special events, Pokémon offers limited-time gifts to players through an in-game feature called Mystery Gift. In modern games, these distributions are often downloaded over the internet but are also available through serial codes or other methods. These gifts can take the form of special Pokémon or items for players. While a modern staple today, Mystery Gift went through numerous changes between games.

Debuting in Pokémon Gold and Silver for Game Boy all the way back in 2000, players could send and receive Mystery Gifts using the Game Boy Color’s infrared port. Unlike modern games, however, players had to first unlock the feature.

By talking to the little girl at the Goldenrod Department Store and saving the game, Mystery Gift would become available from the main menu.

Gold, Silver, and the enhanced Pokémon Crystal Version for Game Boy Color, could also connect and receive gifts from Pokémon Stadium 2 for Nintendo 64, and even the obscure Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS, a virtual pet like Tamagotchi and pedometer.

Mystery Gift gave out items and decorations for the player’s room, some of which were exclusive to Pokémon Stadium 2’s Mystery Gift feature. In fact, some of these decorations were a little too elusive. As early as September 2023, fans discovered that the rarest decorations were outright unobtainable without exploits due to a coding error with Pokémon Stadium 2. To think that a game that came out in 2001 would still have new discoveries more than twenty years later is surprising, to say the least.

By the early 2000s however, Pokémon’s time in the spotlight was fading. Sure, mainstream news outlets and even pastors demonized Pokémon during its heyday, the reality was that fans were growing older. Those who outgrew the Pokémon fad found comfort in more mature games of the time. Younger fans at the time like me, however, were eagerly waiting for the newest games to come out.

The Advanced Generation

The 3rd generation of Pokémon, or Gen 3 for short, eventually made its debut in 2003 with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire on Game Boy Advance (GBA), the Game Boy’s successor. Unlike future games, Ruby and Sapphire instead use the Mystery Events feature to add new content via the e-Reader, a card-scanning accessory for the GBA. The next Gen 3 games would see the return of Mystery Gift however.

Starting with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen in 2004 and the enhanced version of Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon Emerald in 2005, Mystery Gift made its return and with a new use case. Unlike Generation 2’s (Gold/Silver/Crystal) item lottery, Generation 3’s Mystery Gift distributed key items to players to access secret areas in their games and receive special event-only Pokémon. Of course, players had to unlock it first. But the method to do so was a little different than before.

See, Generation 3’s Mystery Gift was locked behind an innocuous, optional questionnaire located in every Poké Mart, the in-game shops where the player can purchase Poké Balls to catch Pokémon, as well as other items for their Pokémon journey. Filling out the questionnaire causes the shop clerk to thank the player for their feedback and nothing else. But if the player happens to input a special four-word combination instead, the clerk will remark that the player must know about Mystery Gift. Once the game is saved, the Mystery Gift option appears on the main menu.

But what was this secret phrase and where was one supposed to find it?

The Magic Words

That phrase was “LINK TOGETHER WITH ALL,” revealed by Pokémon.com in its guide from around Fall 2004. This guide is also how I learned that there was a secret Pokémon in FireRed and LeafGreen called Deoxys. And unlike the playground rumors about made-up Pokémon, this one was real.

A newly discovered space virus mutated into Deoxys after being struck by a laser beam. Its appearance and powers changed between FireRed and LeafGreen, it was Psychic-type just like Mewtwo, and who didn’t love Mewtwo? But Deoxys looked so much cooler! Some one thousand plus Pokémon later, Deoxys still remains one of my favorite Pokémon. So, to learn that this strange, albeit cool alien Pokémon was a thing, I was so excited.

A secret Pokémon that I had never heard of was in the game and I could catch it right now? I was freaking out. I rushed to grab my trusty Cobalt Blue Game Boy Advance SP that my parents got me for Christmas and popped in FireRed and the Wireless Adapter.

Because the Game Boy Advance lacked the Game Boy Color’s infrared port, the Generation 3 version of Mystery Gift instead worked with the Wireless Adapter accessory for Game Boy Advance. The Wireless Adapter came bundled with every first print copy of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and allowed wireless battling, trading, and more for the first time in the series. I got mine from my copy of FireRed so I didn’t need to buy another one. I just had to follow the online guide’s steps and soon the AuroraTicket, the in-game item needed to travel to Birth Island to encounter Deoxys, would be in my hands. Easy, right?

Well, not quite. After skimming the guide, I somehow came to the conclusion that I would get the AuroraTicket from Mystery Gift by just plugging in the Wireless Adapter into my Game Boy Advance SP.

Yeah, not one of my brightest moments. In my younger self’s defense, the guide didn’t explain how to use Mystery Gift, so let’s go over that first.

Mystery Gift has two options available: Wonder Cards and Wonder News. The Wonder Cards option, or Wonder Gift as the Pokémon.com guide called it, is the option that allows players to receive Mystery Gifts. From here, Wonder Cards can be received via Wireless Communication or a Friend.

Selecting the Wireless Communication option starts the search for a nearby wireless signal distributing the AuroraTicket. Once a link is established, the signal then sends the necessary data for the AuroraTicket to players’ games and a new Wonder Card is created. Only one Wonder Card can be stored at at time, so new cards will overwrite the existing one. The card can then be viewed any time in Mystery Gift. Wonder Cards can also have unique text, but in the case of the Wonder Card for the AuroraTicket, the text just tells players where to receive the ticket in-game.

Just as it said on the online guide, however, the AuroraTicket could not be traded or sent to other players’ games. Because of this, Mystery Gift’s Friend option went unused in all versions of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen while the Wonder News option was briefly used in Japan to promote the Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys movie in theaters.

My younger self didn’t know any of this back then and was wondering where the heck my AuroraTicket was.

“Did I press the wrong option?” I thought. I tried both Wireless Communication and the Friend options. Once, twice, and still nothing. My game kept searching for what seemed forever until I finally gave up and canceled the search.

A part of me was convinced that if I just kept trying, maybe the Pokémon gods of yore like the fabled Pikablu, would heed my prayers and put Deoxys into my game.

That didn’t work either.

I was fed up. This was my chance to get Deoxys and the stupid game wouldn’t hand it over. Finally, I took a moment to re-read every single step of the guide and finally found the problem.

Finding Out How to Get Deoxys in 2004

As I would find out, the only way to receive the AuroraTicket was from “an authorized Aurora Ticket station” at Pokémon Rocks America. Pokémon Rocks America was a nationwide pop-up Pokémon convention that ran in 2003 and 2004 at certain major cities in the United States. It featured karaoke contests, trading card game tournaments, prizes, and other fun activities for Pokémon fans of all ages. What I didn’t know at the time, however, was that 2004 was the only year when the AuroraTicket was available for download in the United States.

Furthermore, Pokémon rocked America at only three major cities in October of 2004:

For those who have never visited the United States, it’s easy to underestimate its sheer size. These three major cities are very far apart from each other.

To put it in to perspective, each city is at a minimum, a thousand miles apart from one another, or about 1,600 kilometers. Seattle and Atlanta are the farthest apart at about 2,600 mi, or about 4,200 km, meaning that unless you lived near one of these cities or were willing to travel, this “nationwide” event was not very accessible to the rest of the population. Despite Pokémon Fan claiming retail stores would distribute the AuroraTicket, the only one that did was the former Pokémon Center store in New York from October 23-24 and October 30-31, 2004.

If you were like me at the time and were nowhere near any of these cities, then you were just out of luck. The Pokémon parties at these cities were already over by the time I found out. Was my day ruined and my disappointment immeasurable?

Yes, yes, it was.

The opportunity to get the AuroraTicket and Deoxys was long gone; I missed out because I was at the wrong place and time. Although there were no future distributions through Mystery Gift, the AuroraTicket would finally become available on February 27, 2026, almost twenty-two years later. The surprise re-releases of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch in February automatically added the ticket to players’ bags after beating the game.

But back then my Pokémon world was crashing down. The coolest Pokémon I had ever seen was out there in some other kids’ Pokémon games and I missed the chance to get it. There was even a chance that there wouldn’t be a next time. But as so often is the case, fate is a fickle mistress. Some things aren’t meant to be, and we accept that as part of the human experience. Opportunities open and close every waking moment but ruminating on the hypothetical paths we could’ve taken just begets misery.

On the other hand, as the famous philosopher Jagger once said, “If you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.”

Dawn of a New Day

Flash forward to some time in Summer 2005, and I got on Pokémon.com. There was a new post on the site, and not just any ordinary post. It was an article about Pokémon Rocks America! It was coming back in 2005! And to build excitement for the event, Pokémon.com announced it would release weekly mini-games that revealed details about the five new locations for the 2005 tour. According to this forum post from the PokéCommunity forums, the three games would reveal the dates, states, and location details and schedule.

The five confirmed stops were:

I was ecstatic! There were more cities this time and I actually lived pretty close to one of the locations! There was finally an event near me and I had to go. Whatever it took, I had to go this time. With a little coaxing, my parents agreed to take me to Pokémon Rocks America 2005! Thankfully, all the tour dates fell on a Saturday so there was no school and my parents were free for the weekend.

Growing up, my childhood best friend and I often played Pokémon together. We met in school in second grade and we bonded over Pokémon. I remember convincing him to get the the opposite version of my game so we could help each other get Pokémon that the other normally couldn’t get, a tradition we kept going with each new pair of games. Naturally, I asked him to come along with me and my parents to the event and he said yes!

Saturday morning finally came and I was so excited to get up for the big day. It was Pokémon Rocks America day with my mom and dad, my best friend, and tons of Pokémon goodies to be had. It was going to be the best day of my life I thought. Unfortunately, my friend called me over the phone the morning of our big day. He couldn’t go because he got sick and wasn’t feeling well. I was bummed.

I wanted my best friend to go with me and now it looked like my perfect day was anything but. I told him I understood and that I hoped he would get better soon and hung up. After showering and getting dressed, I took my trusty GBA SP, Wireless Adapter, and Pokémon Emerald and got into the car with my parents. I tried not to let the sudden change in plans get me down as I imagined what Pokémon Rocks America was going to be like.

The drive to the event was more than an hour’s drive away. I was too absorbed playing Pokémon and didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings until we got close to the venue. One of the things I do remember when we arrived was seeing the really long line of people waiting to go inside. Sure enough, there were other kids my age with their Game Boys and parents in tow. That was probably my first time seeing so many people into Pokémon all gathered in one place, and it felt awesome. I vaguely remember there being inflatables near the entrance, but I can’t be sure.

It took a while to get in but when I did get in though, oh my Arceus, it was magical.

The first thing I saw was a stage with a giant screen all the way in the back. People were duking it out on the newest game, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for the Nintendo GameCube, using their Pokémon from the GBA games. The MC of the show was this lady cosplaying as May, the playable girl character from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire! There was loud music, a Pikachu-colored Volkswagen Beetle, a pop-up Pokémon Center booth selling merchandise, and most importantly, the Union Room, AKA, the download zone.

A Tale of Two Tickets

There was no AuroraTicket on this Pokémon tour. Instead, Pokémon Rocks America let me, and my fellow Pokémon trainers download the other ticket in this tale—the MysticTicket.

Like its counterpart, the MysticTicket was a key item for Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald that let players sail to a secret area of the game called Navel Rock. At the top of the island was the Legendary Rainbow Pokémon, Ho-Oh, the mascot of Pokémon Gold. Several ladders below in a dank, watery cavern lay the Legendary Diving Pokémon Lugia, Pokémon Silver’s mascot.

Fans of the anime needed no introduction to these two Legendary Pokémon.

Ho-Oh debuted in the very first episode of the show. Ash Ketchum’s Pokédex, a handheld Pokémon encyclopedia, had no information about the unnamed Pokémon, teasing viewers that there were even more Pokémon to be discovered on Ash’s journey to be a Pokémon Master.

Lugia on the other hand was the star of Pokémon the Movie 2000. It awoke to stop the three legendary bird Pokémon, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres from fighting. Other Lugia would later appear in the anime as well, most notably the parent and child Lugia from the anime’s fifth season, Pokémon: Master Quest.

In a way, it seemed fitting to bring back these two Generation 2 Pokémon. After all, Gen 2 introduced Mystery Gift. But there was one more reason to bring back Ho-Oh and Lugia for Gen 3.

Bringing Back Old Favorites

When Generation 3 launched in 2003 with Ruby and Sapphire, not everything was brought over. Interviews with key Pokémon staff revealed that Ruby and Sapphire were planned to reboot the series. Copying the groundwork laid by Pokémon Red and Blue on Game Boy, Ruby and Sapphire would be a different interpretation of those games using only new Pokémon. Plans for a complete reboot fell halfway through Ruby and Sapphire’s development, however, some remnants made their way into the final versions.

Major changes to the Generation 3 games’ code meant that Generation 1 and 2 games on Game Boy could not link with Gen 3 games on Game Boy Advance. This drastic change prevented Pokémon caught in older games to be brought over to Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, solidifying Ruby and Sapphire and Generation 3, as the new starting point for Pokémon games going forward. Fans were outraged. The series’ longtime slogan, “Gotta catch ‘em all,” was no longer a worthy challenge but an impossible feat. In fact, “Gotta catch ‘em all” stopped appearing on any game’s box art starting with Ruby and Sapphire. Despite their controversy, Ruby and Sapphire became the best-selling Pokémon games on Game Boy Advance. Even so, something needed to be done to bring back the Pokémon absent from Ruby and Sapphire.

To close the divide between Generations 1, 2, and 3, Pokémon developer Game Freak remade Pokémon Red and Blue (Red and Green in Japan) into Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen for Game Boy Advance the following year. These updated games reintroduced the missing Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire and added the ability to battle and trade with those games. One notable change to FireRed and LeafGreen was the Sevii Islands, a brand-new area available after beating the game that brought back a handful of Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. Although they still couldn’t link with Gen 1 and 2 games, FireRed and LeafGreen accomplished what they needed to do and brought back familiar, fan-favorite Pokémon into the advanced generation.

Side-series games like 2003’s Pokémon Colosseum for Nintendo GameCube added a few more of the missing Pokémon and even rewarded players with a Ho-Oh after purifying all Shadow Pokémon and conquering a 100-trainer gauntlet. In short, the MysticTicket made older, unobtainable Pokémon obtainable again. And 2005 was the only year this event item was available.

Downloading the MysticTicket and More

I made my way to the Union Room and secured my very own MysticTicket! In the moment, I probably felt like the coolest kid in town. But there was still more to do until the fun was over. Next to the MysticTicket line, there was another queue to play a demo of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

A sequel to Pokémon Colosseum, the game has players catch and purify corrupted Pokémon called Shadow Pokémon from Cipher, the evil, criminal organization from Colosseum.

The demo started at this pyramid-shaped facility from the midpoint of the game and featured a few Pokémon battles to catch Shadow Pokémon. For completing the demo, however, players like me received a special card that could be redeemed for a Metang at the Union Room.

This Pokémon was unique for two reasons: it knew the move Refresh, a self-healing move it cannot normally learn; and it had a special in-game ribbon that only Shadow Pokémon from the GameCube games could normally obtain. I wasn’t expecting other event Pokémon besides Ho-Oh and Lugia to be given out at Pokémon Rocks America, but I happily took my new Metang with me.

For players who owned the Pokémon Dash racing game on the new Nintendo DS, there was a special Munchlax-shaped course available to download as well. I didn’t have either so there was nothing else for me to do.

With Metang and ticket in tow, I went exploring the rest of the venue.

Tasting Defeat

I used to suck at Pokémon battles. I still do, but I used to.

And if there was ever a moment when I knew I sucked at battling, it was the tournaments at Pokémon Rocks America. There were two tournaments running at the same time: one for Level 50 and one for Level 100 Pokémon, the highest level possible. Tournament winners entered a raffle and if chosen, would battle on the big screen on stage on in 3D battles.

My first and only battle went about as well as it could have. I lost to a slightly older kid who swept my evolved starter Pokémon, Swampert, and whatever other Pokémon I brought with me with his super strong Mewtwo. The only reason I remember this was because I complained to one of the event staff that the other kid cheated because he used a Mewtwo on his team, not knowing that I could have also used a Legendary Pokémon on my team if I just read the rules. When I was informed of the rules, I accepted the loss and gave up playing because I was scared of losing again. In retrospect, I should’ve given it another go! Those tournaments apparently ran every 30 minutes so everyone that lost could try again later. Oh well.

I played a few games and did other activities and got a few prizes for participating. I got Pokémon Yahtzee and a Pokémon Memory game that I had for a few years after the event before my dad got rid of them because I rarely played them. There was an inflatable soccer ball from a collaboration with US Youth Soccer and while I do not remember having this card, there was a promotional Lugia trading card given out at the event.

Besides those things, I remember getting a Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness plastic bag with some brochures and other leaflets inside and not much else.

Saying Goodbye

I don’t know if I ever thanked them that day, but I wanted to give a shout out to my poor parents for dragging them to this Pokémon extravaganza. They were the real MVPs of the day. Their Pokémon knowledge was limited to knowing what a Pikachu was, but they went out of their way to make that day magical for me. So thank you for the fun memories.

They are not dead or anything by the way! They are just not fluent English speakers or very tech savvy. But I digress.

After a long day walking around the venue, it was almost closing time. The event only lasted from 10am to 4pm and it was probably around 3 o’clock by then. My parents probably had enough Pokémon for one day. As we were making our way to the exit, there was an event staffer taking commemorative pictures of attendees with their families. Me and my mom and dad took a picture before making our way to the pop-up booth for some shopping. I probably wasted all my luck convincing my parents to bring me to Pokémon Rocks America for a day, but I still managed to get them to buy me a 12” Pikachu doll for $20. It wasn’t an exclusive to the event compared to other merch items I found online like the T-shirts for example, but I was still really happy to take home a memento.

I remembered eyeing the Pokémon Mini on the shelf as well, but the Pikachu was all my parents could get me. As we exited the building, I was surprised there were still families in line waiting to get in on the action before it was all over. Me and my parents got in the car and started the hour long trip back home. As we got out of the parking lot, I peered back once last time at what was Pokémon Rocks America. I whispered one last goodbye and got to work catching Ho-Oh and Lugia on my Game Boy Advance SP. And with that, Pokémon Rocks America 2005 came to a close.

Memories Lost to Time

It was nice to reminisce what little I remember about Pokémon Rocks America 2005. Like most kids who don’t take care of their belongings, I lost a lot of stuff back then unfortunately. I no longer have most of my Pokémon Rocks America 2005 merch, my original Game Boy Advance SP, or that copy of Pokémon Emerald with Metang and the MysticTicket, but that’s a story for another time.

I cut the tags for the same reason I cut the tags on new shirts but it is official and I can proudly say I got my Pikachu doll at Pokémon Rocks America 2005. I don’t have any photos from the event to share unfortunately and any images floating online are scarce. One of the reasons official photos can’t seem to be found has to do with how Pokémon.com looked like back in 2005.

Back in the 2000s, websites often had interactive sections made using Adobe Flash. Flash websites could be viewed on internet browsers with Adobe Flash Player, which would load the flash files into animations with audio, interactive menus, games and more for visitors. Over time, however, Flash websites were phased out in favor of HTML5, due to security reasons and for being outdated. Pokémon.com was one of many Flash websites back then, and while the site is still active, its 2005 version is not. Flash was officially discontinued in 2020, but modern computers can still run it using workarounds.

Thankfully, some of these old websites had their webpages, animations, games, and more, archived and shared by users who frequented those sites. One such place is the Internet Archive, a digital library that preserves media, including snapshots of older websites. When viewed with Ruffle, a browser-based Flash emulator plugin, these sites, games, and animations can still be experienced today. That is, assuming that all Flash files were archived.

Unfortunately, it seems the Internet Archive’s snapshots of Pokémon.com from 2005 did not archive all files. When exploring early snapshots, the site is stuck loading at 100%. Without those files, there is no way to view the site or any official photos from Pokémon Rocks America 2005. And so what few photos from Pokémon Rocks America are out there were probably taken by attendees with their own cameras.

Why does this matter?

Well, a week after the event I attended, Pokémon.com posted an article about it. It was a quick rundown of notable highlights but included in that article were some pictures the event staff took of the attendees. And staring back at me, was the photo of me and my parents from Pokémon Rocks America 2005. I was freaking out. I made it to the front page of Pokémon.com! I was internet famous!

Okay, that last line is NOT true, but it certainly felt like it back then! And I wish I could prove it but it, as well as other attendee photos, may truly be lost to time.

Closing Remarks

And that was the story of how one misunderstanding led to having one of the most fun Pokémon days of my life. After getting my MysticTicket, I finally learned how Generation 3 Mystery Gifts worked. I didn’t need to hope for a miracle; I needed to be at the right place at the right time. And while getting the AuroraTicket and Deoxys was a bust, the stars aligned for me to get my MysticTicket.

As for Deoxys, I got my own sometime later with an Action Replay, a cheating device. But cheating made the games way too easy and boring as well as cause other problems, so I weaned myself off them. As I got older, I favored doing things legitimately, something I still try to do today. In fact, thanks to the Switch versions of FireRed and LeafGreen I finally got my own legitimate Birth Island Deoxys with a special touch.

After getting Deoxys, I realized that FireRed and LeafGreen’s re-release was the catalyst for writing this article. Watching my nephew play LeafGreen for the first time, I reminisced about my time at Pokémon Rocks America 2005 and wanted to share my experience. I learned so much more about this topic than I did going in and remembered details that others already shared online years ago, so thank you for jogging my memory.

Anyway, if you haven’t played FireRed and LeafGreen yet, please do so. They are on Nintendo Switch for only $20 and you get to experience arguably the definitive version of the originals.

If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the first post on the site. I promise the yapping won’t always be this overly long and detailed, especially with how long this article took to write. If there is demand for longer write-ups though, I’ll consider it though!

Well, until next time.