Do you remember, many years ago, when the Game Boy was all the rage and we all spent our lunch times trading Pokémon in Yellow, Fire Red, and Gold? Chances are, you also heard a rumor about using a certain button combination to cheese your game and use Master Balls all the time.
Well, it turns out that the globally recognized rumor originated in Planet Game Boy magazine, a UK-based publication focusing on Nintendo's classic handheld. As Pokémon games started releasing, so did articles offering tips and tricks on how to play.
One specific column titled Better Poké Balls, dug up by a Reddit user, contains two such helpful hints - one suggests holding down A when throwing a ball as it makes it "shut tighter", thus making it easier to catch your potential Pokémon.
The second tip claims that when using a Poké Ball of any kind, you can simply hold the up and B buttons to turn it into a Master Ball, which gives a 100% chance of success. I don't know about you, but this is the kind of thing I'd absolutely try as a youth and then be disappointed that it didn't work.
This rumor went wild - comments on the Reddit post chime in from the UK, New Zealand, Spain, the US, and more, all reminiscing about the trick. Other variations involve using B or B and the down button to ensure a catch. Obviously, the Master Ball trick didn't work, otherwise, none of us would ever have lost a shiny Espeon, but it's still a fun look at the community and the psychology of gamers.
Well, turns out we can thank Planet Game Boy for sparking this rumor, and our innate need to hold B when catching electric Pokémon, or water Pokémon, or others to fill our Pokédex.