Throughout the years, numerous events have occurred in Pokémon Platinum, but one of the most enigmatic ones rewarded a mere 20 Japanese participants with an otherwise unused feature that turned out to be rather lackluster.
YouTube content creator Etchy has documented this peculiar event, which unfolded within Platinum’s Wi-Fi Plaza – an now-defunct online aspect that allowed players to enter rooms, engage in various minigames, and level up “tap toys.” These toys were touchscreen-activated and produced a range of sounds and visual effects. However, it seems the developers at Game Freak had ambitions for the Wi-Fi Plaza that went largely unrealized, including a unique “VIP” player designation.
Receiving VIP status would provide players with distinct advantages. For starters, whenever other users interacted with them in the Wi-Fi Plaza, they would see a unique golden trainer card, differentiating them from the standard blue and red cards. Additionally, the plaza’s news board would announce the arrival of a “very special guest,” signaling their distinguished status. VIP players also entered the plaza equipped with a fully leveled tap toy—something that typically required considerable grinding to achieve with each new entry into the online domain.
While it seems the perks of VIP status are fairly modest, the rare nature of this opportunity adds intrigue. Etchy reveals that, despite the lack of mentions online regarding the Wi-Fi Plaza VIPs, there was an event in 2008 in Japan that allowed players to attain this exclusive designation. This event, organized by the Pokémon Daisuki Club (a Japanese fan site), featured staff members appearing in the Wi-Fi Plaza as VIPs. To earn the status, players could talk to these staff members and acquire special passwords which, when combined with their trainer’s name, allowed them to enter a lottery on the Daisuki Club website.
The ultimate reward for participants was, unsurprisingly, the VIP status—an honor only bestowed upon 20 fortunate winners. Furthermore, Etchy uncovered an ancient Pokémon blog post indicating that players would also be gifted a “wonderful gift,” although the specifics of what this gift entailed seem to have vanished with time.
As per the YouTuber’s findings, no subsequent official blog entries have referenced the VIP feature, making this event a truly standalone instance. It also had a very brief availability window—players could encounter Daisuki Club staff members from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. for just five days, from October 27 to October 31, 2008.
Interestingly, these dates fell on weekdays, which meant that players were unlikely to participate unless they could access it during work or school hours.
Looking through archived Nintendo financial results from March 2010, it was revealed that Pokémon Platinum had sold approximately 7.06 million copies globally. If we consider this figure to represent all players (albeit this may not accurately reflect actual engagement due to factors like pre-owned purchases), the likelihood of any given player acquiring the VIP feature stands at about 0.00028%.
This event was undeniably exclusive, yet the minimal benefits it offered make it even more puzzling.
Be sure to check out our compilation of the top Pokémon games.