Back in the days before smartphones pretty much instantaneously disproved all liars the second they opened their mouths, a lot of kids got secret information about their games through something akin to verbal chain letters. You'd be kickin' around at recess, hanging with your friends, when one of them would run over and tell you something amazing about Pokémon that you just had to try. This could be anything from a secret way to catch some mysterious new pocket monsters to unlocking hidden areas.

Of course, your friend hadn't actually been able to do it himself; he'd just heard about it from a friend of a friend who heard it from some older kid down the street whose dad works for Nintendo. Naturally most of what was told to you was complete and utter nonsense, but that didn't stop anyone from spending countless hours trying to trick their games into delivering them some sweet exclusive content.