Some months ago, one of my friends bought an imitation/replica Poké Ball (similar to the ones I detailed years and years ago) for certain purposes. However, the ball looked somewhat different; it was slightly metallic in appearance and had two telltale letters that become its namesake. Lo and behold, my friend had obtained the GS Ball, which by its name suggests a connection to the main second-generation games, Gold and Silver. It's a fascinating aspect, yet it's also an intricate one, especially given its further relation to the anime where it is (was) also featured.
The short (and simple) description of that aspect is that it is intertwined with Celebi and its appearance. The long description is also the more intricate one. Regardless, the actual game involved is Crystal as the "third game" to the Gold and Silver games. A distribution had (was) to have occurred for the game for the player Trainer to pick up the item, which is to be given to Kurt in Azalea Town. A sequence of events then occurs, which demands the ball to be taken to the Ilex Forest shrine, triggering an encounter with Celebi and allowing its capture. It's the distribution that makes things intricate, although some of the intricacy has been cut out with the game's Virtual Console version.
Viewers of the Pokémon anime will also no doubt recognize the ball, as it was present on a good chunk of the anime in its early days. It started out in the Orange Islands as Ash was tasked with its retrieval, which took some time due to his competitive excursion. When it was finally retrieved, it went through a quarter of the Johto saga, ending up in... exactly the same place as with the game above, the hands of Kurt in Azalea Town. The difference is that absolutely nothing happened afterwards in relation to it, and it became a stub in the plot line. The reason? The whole subplot involving the ball was intended to generate a "Celebi arc" of sorts - perhaps in similar ways as the game it was featured in - but as the fourth movie featured the Pokémon instead, the arc was essentially scrapped.
In these ways, the ball truly represents something that could have been but never was, at least in initial cases. The ball's usage in the game initially hinged on the distribution, which did happen for Japan, but only in a specialized manner, and it could be construed as a "has-been" and "if-only" insofar as general players are concerned. As for the anime, it is as such but in a truer and broader sense, happening due to a shift in the way things are to proceed. One may wonder how things would be if they occurred (better than) as intended.
While my friend may have obtained a GS Ball replica that definitely showcases it as it is, the actual GS Ball as present in the game and anime is something that perhaps could have seen a better light of day when it was initially conceived. At this point, it's simply a curiosity and a complexity of the past, but it still serves well to think about it in modern times, in particular through its physical manifestation as a reminder of a possibly forgotten Pokémon aspect.
Two years ago: Quickies: Yawning Away Matters
Three years ago: The Flying Cup of GBL
Four years ago: Performance Critique: Project "Untitled" J-Karaoke
Five years ago: Let's Rule the World, Together
Six years ago: Triplets and Pairs
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