They say diamonds are forever, but Nintendo 3DS game carts might be ready to give that precious material a run for its money. One Pokemon Sun player discovered just how durable the 3DS cart for the game was, as after it appeared to be lost for several years, they located it in their yard and found that it still worked fine.
“I was cleaning outside and I found this, it’s my copy of Pokemon Sun from middle school,” user Lzzz4 shared on the Pokemon Sun and Moon subreddit (via Automaton and Kotaku). “Last time [it] saved [was] November 7, 2018, that’s probably around the time I lost it, that means its been outside for about six years and it still works.”
While the cartridge did show some obvious signs of wear and tear from being outside for seven years–and the game label was missing–the original save data was still present. Lzzz4’s team of Pokemon were ready to resume their journey in the Alolan region, and with over 100 hours logged in the game, they had amassed quite the collection of pocket monsters.
After a long break, the next big entry in the Pokemon franchise will be out later this year. Pokemon Legends Z-A has a release window of late 2025, and last month’s Pokemon Presents livestream revealed more details for upcoming events in several of the free-to-play mobile Pokemon games. Outside of the video games, Lego has also teased its first Pokemon set, with the first image for this collaboration featuring a glimpse at series mascot Pikachu.
