Posted: December 23, 2019 | Updated: May 24, 2022

PCNY Chronology Research (Sequencing)

“Sequencing”, what on earth is that? Well you see, certain PCNY Pokémon “go together”. Not in the sense of evolutionary lines or boudoir compatibility, but in that they were distributed from one of the PC New York’s four “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” (GCEA) stations during a particular, retraceable timeframe. Through sequencing, we try and work out what was distributed when.

Think of it like this. Your workplace probably has a coffeemaker, right? That’s our GCEA station. During, say, the fourth week of October 2003 (Ghost Week), it was able to randomly dispense four different flavours of coffee (four Pokémon). Sometime during that week, a hypothetical Joe filled up a whole tray with back-to-back coffees. Meryl did the same, as did Harry. Now, the magic of the sequencing technique is that by parsing coffee grounds scraps of Pokémon data, we can learn how many minutes, hours or even days apart Joe, Meryl and Harry used the coffee machine. In turn, this provides us with clues how long a particular combination of flavours (a campaign) was active. It may even, under certain conditions, help us to identify the exact day some 20 years ago that each got their coffees. And if the coffees (Pokémon) handed down by Joe, Meryl and Harry don’t match up at all, this suggests that same flavour combination (campaign) was put back on on another occasion. Neat, huh?

Now, the goal of the sequencing effort is aid in the reconstruction of a fine-grained GCEA campaign timeline. Official sources are scant, and distribution windows derived from memory card campaign data tell us only what was intended, not what transpired. For example, sequencing has borne out that July 2004’s Pokémon Box distribution continued (far) longer than official sources would have it. But I’m getting ahead or myself. To better understand the sequencing tools at our disposal, and why – despite our best efforts – there is yet a divide between the practical outcomes and theoretical potential of sequencing, let’s start by taking a short primer on the inner workings of the friendly-looking GCEA “machines”.

If one were to strip away the custom facade of any of the Center’s four GCEA stations, one would find concealed several pieces of electronics. Most noticeably, each of the stations housed a TV attached to an archetypal turquoise “NR Reader” GameCube DevConsole, which acted as the beating heart that facilitated PCNY distributions. Each GameCube took a disc containing the distribution software as well as two memory cards: one in slot B with system data (“machine information”) required to make the system tick, and one with campaign data in slot A instructing the station what Pokémon to provide during what timeframe. Connected to controller port 4 was a rectangular metal box containing a “cart writer” circuit board that interfaced between the Cubes and players’ copies of Ruby or Sapphire. A cartridge slot poked out from the concealed writer; guests would insert their RS game directly into it and have a Pokémon uploaded straight to their in-game party without further input. The software played back (on the TV) a floating Pokéball animation whenever a station was idling; it switched to classic Pokémon transfer visuals when a Pokémon was being redeemed. A Gameboy Advance hooked up to Gamecube port 3 acted as a superfluous controller and verification handshake for the whole system. Intelligent Systems (of Fire Emblem fame) developed this intricate multi-part setup specifically for the PC New York, initially to service the GSC games of Gen2 and later, in early to mid 2003, modified it for use with Ruby & Sapphire. Words can only describe so much, and for a visual demonstration of the hardware in action, check out Hard4Games’ video on the subject.

Now, each time the cart writer successfully scanned an inserted gamecart, a Pokémon and its slew of unique characteristics like nature, individual values (IVs) and a vitally important hidden identifier called PID were determined pseudo-randomly there and then. The GCEA also conferred two other pieces of Pokémon data critical to constructing a timeline: Original Trainer Name (or OTN) and Trainer ID (TID). Let’s start with the Trainer Name. As is the standard for event Pokémon, the OTN reflected a key piece of information about the distribution, in this case which of four GCEA stations it was derived from: PCNYa, PCNYb, PCNYc, or PCNYd. Or more accurately, which of the four slot B “machine info” memory cards had been plugged into which station. PCNY letter designations were not determined by some immutable station identifier (as was long thought), but dependent entirely on the inserted memory card.

Four stations, four slot B memory cards, so therefore four separate letter designations per campaign, right? Ah. Would that it ’twere so simple! For starters, not all of the GCEA stations actively pushed campaigns all of the time. They could run demos, or simply be shut off. Sources indicate that out of four total booths, at most two operated concurrently during Generation III. This was (initially) not a matter of convenience or power-savings; rather, it had to do with the Center’s floorplan. Located on the second (US) floor, the positioning of the two GCEA stations nearest the front-facing windows created an insurveyable little corner sheltered from watchful eye of PCNY staff and the Center’s security cameras. This was a problem: schoolkids dropped their backpacks there as they explored the Center, only to – on multiple occasions – report theft of personal items. To prevent this from happening, the corner was closed and its two stations shut off. Technical analysis rhymes with this anecdotal insight: both the 2003 and 2004 campaigns blocs only ever had two unique letter designations: PCNYb+PCNYc for 2003, and PCNYc+PCNYd for 2004. Sources further suggest that between December 2003 and March 2004, all four machines were disabled as management lost confidence in their crowd-pleasing usefulness, not to be powered back up until April 2004 – with the intriguing exception of one singular day over Christmas.1When an irate visitor demanded that the GCEA stations be powered up for their kid to redeem Pokémon! No unallocated campaigns that would fill this void are known, with the possible exception of BC (or CD) Dragons.2Source for these insights is former PCNY staffer Aurora.

Also intriguing is how out of four potential PCNY OTN, only three – B, C and D – exist in the wild. The 2003 and 2004 campaign blocs both include PCNYc, yet neither features PCNYa. For years, the absence of OT “PCNYa” fed the popular belief that one of the stations (commonly dubbed “machine A”) had irreparably malfunctioned early in its lifecycle. Yet staff recall no permanent technical GCEA station failures, even the if the two unfortunately situated ones were commonly offline, and overheated NR units needed replacement from time to time.3Source for this latter tidbit is an anonymous employee close to the situation. We now understand that the explanation the missing-in-action PCNYa lies elsewhere: the memory card labelled “A” in fact produced OT PCNYc. The sequencing implication is that we needn’t look for Pokémon marked “PCNYa” because they cannot logically exist, just like campaigns cannot exceed the practical maximum of two unique letter designations (it’s either B & C, or C & D).4Most campaigns have a relative overabundance of Pokémon branded PCNYc compared to B and D. Why this is so is not entirely clear – it may relate to GCEA station positioning.

Right. Now for that second piece of pertinent information the GCEA stations bestowed upon their Pokémon: Trainer IDs (TID). Gen3 event Pokémon TID often point to the starting date of a particular event. The 2004 Tanabata Jirachi for example had a TID of “40707” for July 7, 2004 the first day of the Star Festival on the Gregorian Calendar. Alternatively TIDs might be set to some commemorative number, like “00010” for Pokemon’s Tenth Anniversary “Journey Across America” event series. Unusually, PCNY Pokémon were numbered sequentially. Until a GCEA station was reset, every new Pokémon it produced had its TID incremented by +1 compared to the previous. Meaning, for instance, that the first Pokémon of the day spat out by “machine” B would always be numbered PCNYb 00001, the second PCNYb 00002, the third PCNYb 00003, and so on, up to a theoretical maximum of 65535. By simply surveying the highest TIDs of preserved PCNY Pokémon, we can begin to make guesstimations about the popularity of any given campaign. It’s brilliant.

Seems straightforward, right? Combine OTN with TID and you have your sequence right there! Why bother with technical analysis? Ah. Distro reruns. Reruns? Yes. PC New York staff could reinstate any given campaign at any time by reverting a GameCube’s internal clock to its appropriate programmed distribution window, provided they had the right memory cards on hand, of course. (Reprogramming of which was done at Japan HQ.) Take “Dragon Week”, for example. It’s fair to assume a powerful dragon distribution was popular with visitors to the Center. So did it truly run only once, for a week in early October 2003? Or was it put back on for Christmas, perhaps, as sources tenuously suggest? Did it make a wholly unaccounted for reappearance somewhere in late Spring 2004? Theoretically, anything is possible, limited only by the (unknowable) actions of PCNY staff. As such, even if no machine resets occurred in the midst of a campaign, and no machine hiccups took place that could splice perfectly good Pokémon chains, any campaign can theoretically have multiple distinct sequences. And many do: there isn’t a single distribution bar May 2004’s “Sheep & Wolf” of which we don’t have multiple. Surface-level analysis has difficulty dealing with TID/OTN overlap between sequences, and when used in isolation may cause false positives (Dragon Week’s PCNYc 00021-00026 really look like they ought to fit together, but they don’t!) Similarly, OT/TID “blocs” can often be shuffled to connect up in any number of ways – but which is the correct one? To say nothing of working out the timegaps between them.

Timegaps. What TID/OTN analysis alone cannot tell us at all is timegaps. The OTN/TID combinations of, say, PCNYb 00100 and 00101 could have been generated 10 seconds, 10 minutes, or 10 hours apart – and there is simply no way to tell off surface-level information. Redeeming a GCEA Pokémon was quick: a speedy customer could generate one every 10-15 seconds, so timegaps could be tiny, or huge, if nobody was using a particular machine (or if it was left on overnight)!

This is where we must dig deeper. Technical sequencing picks up where common logic leaves off. Happily, the output of GCEA stations followed predictable pseudo-random patterns. Unseen by the end user, while active a GCEA station its pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) advanced with every frame for a total of 60 RNG calls per second. PCNY Pokémon their natures and IV spreads are derived from this PNRG state, and critically, so are their 8-digit hexadecimal Pokémon Identifiers (or PID).5Fun fact, species determination is done separately, and uses a modified version of Pokémon Stadium RNG, which is itself legacy from Gen2 PCNY. Why is this information useful to us? Well, because in a stroke of great fortune, we came to know the precise algorithmic variant. Normally unknowable to players, the discovery of DanTrain’s monolithic PCNY stash allowed Project Pokémon wizards to find and reverse-engineer the PID relationship between his Pokémon and thus crack the algorithm.

Algorithm in hand, we are able to group preserved PCNY into accurate, distinct sequences. We can assert with confidence, for example, that “CD Dragons” had a minimum of five unique C sequences, which is a lot, hinting at redistribution(s). And since we know that the GCEA station RNG advanced 60x/second, timegaps between Pokémon in a single chain emerge naturally.6False positives are rare. A full algorithmic cycle takes a theoretical 828.5 days to complete – that’s some ~4.3 billion unique PRNG states! Staying with Dragon Week, more than five hours separate PCNYc 149 Flygon from PCNYc 791 Seadra (~1.1 million frames). Such time intervals reveal how pressured a user was (or wasn’t) in their redeems, which provides clues to the popularity of a campaign at any given time. Inkydog’s hugely impressive 80d-190d Spring Fling sequence is a great example: a mere 78 minutes elapsed from start to finish, suggesting a constant tempo indicative of having had the place mostly to himself. Remarkable chains such as these allow us to speculate on the timing of particular sequences within a campaign (long chains on weekends); sequences that, in some instances, we’re able to retrace to specific dates. The aforementioned Dragon Week and Monster Mosh may both have comprised Day 1 of their respective distributions. And in what is perhaps sequencing’s greatest success, we were able to string together 2004 Box Pokémon from many different owners and prove conclusively distribution overshoot, thus confirming what scraps of anecdotal evidence had long indicated. In this manner, technical sequencing is the gateway to a veritable treasure trove of insights. Its potential only increases with more data points. (So please, if you own original PCNY, donate them for research!)

Finally, there’s another helpful dimension to sequencing: Pokémon authenticity. I’ve commented elsewhere how publication of the PCNY algorithm, the possible release of modified distribution software, or even the simple monetisation of existing equipment makes possible the full reproduction of PCNY Pokémon exactly as distributed all these years ago. However, armed with an exhaustive dictionary of historical PCNY sequences, we are able to identify even replicas that otherwise pass all checks. This is critical to the ultimate goal of maintaining an accurate historical record.

Now for the data itself. Each bloc below marked “Seq X” makes for a distinct chain. Where significant or notable timegaps exist between two surviving PCNY of a single sequence, these are given. As you will see, we don’t have very many examples of a sequence spanning multiple days, which could mean any number of things. It could mean the distribution hardware was manually reset more frequently than our information suggests – perhaps as a matter of routine maintenance, or to resolve software errors. It could also mean that the chief donators of our small sample size – GoldUrsaring, DanTrain, and Inkydog – liked to visit the Center on specific days only due to real-life commitments. Saturday shortly after a reset or a Sunday seem like good candidates. We also have a number of sequences of one, ie. Pokémon that don’t chain with anything else, which would be inherently suspect hadn’t they come from reliable sources before the PCNY algorithm was cracked.

Pokémon have been colour-coded by original owner. Key:
Inkydog26 (227 Pokémon)
DanTrain (141 Pokémon)
Aurora (64 Pokémon)
GoldUrsaring (18 Pokémon)
Chaos#### (7 Pokémon)
Kris (5 Pokémon)
Alchem1stX (2 Pokémon)
EXEC (2 Pokémon)
Unknown OG Owner (16 + 2 Pokémon)
Exception: Aurora > DanTrain (trade) ca. 2004 (4 Pokémon)

—–

Evolution Stone Promotion
August 30 to September 4, 2003

OTs: PCNYb, PCNYc
– Pikachu: 25%
– Staryu: 25%
– Gloom (Sun Stone): 25%
– Gloom (Leaf Stone): 25%

Seq. B1
PCNYb 3 Gloom
PCNYb 4 Gloom
PCNYb 9 Gloom
PCNYb 18 Staryu

Seq. B2
PCNYb 216 Staryu
PCNYb 217 Gloom

Seq. B3
PCNYb 1035 Pikachu

Seq. C1
PCNYc 24 Staryu
PCNYc 25 Staryu
PCNYc 45 Pikachu
PCNYc 52 Pikachu
PCNYc 53 Gloom

Seq. C2
PCNYc 62 Gloom
PCNYc 63 Gloom
PCNYc 64 Pikachu
PCNYc 123 Gloom
PCNYc 128 Gloom
PCNYc 138 Gloom
PCNYc 216 Pikachu
PCNYc 217 Gloom
PCNYc 218 Pikachu
PCNYc 224 Staryu
PCNYc 225 Gloom
PCNYc 238 PIkachu
PCNYc 274 Pikachu
PCNYc 276 Gloom
PCNYc 297 Pikachu
PCNYc 310 Gloom
PCNYc 323 Staryu

Seq. C3
PCNYc 652 Pikachu

Seq. C4
PCNYc 1068 Pikachu

Dragon Week – Variant BC
September 29 to October 3, 2003 (?)

OTs: PCNYb, PCNYc
– Salamence (Scary Face): 25%
– Flygon (Screech): 25%
– Altaria (Refresh): 25%
– Seadra [Lv.32] (Leer): 25%

Seq. B1
PCNYb 1 Seadra
PCNYb 36 Flygon [+2hrs 3min]
PCNYb 48 Salamence [+38min]

Seq. B2
PCNYb 52 Altaria

Seq. B3
PCNYb 71 Flygon

Seq. B4
PCNYb 97 Salamence
PCNYb 120 Altaria [+7m 25s]
PCNYb 121 Flygon
PCNYb 122 Altaria
PCNYb 123 Altaria

Seq. C1
PCNYc 14 Altaria
PCNYc 16 Flygon
PCNYc 17 Flygon
PCNYc 18 Flygon
PCNYc 30 Flygon
PCNYc 33 Flygon
PCNYc 34 Flygon

Dragon Week – Variant CD
September 29 to October 3, 2003 (?)

OTs: PCNYc, PCNYd
– Salamence: 25%
– Flygon: 25%
– Altaria (Ice Beam): 12.5%
– Altaria (Flamethrower): 12.5%
– Seadra (Ice Beam): 12.5%
– Seadra (Leer): 12.5%

Seq. C1
PCNYc 2 Seadra (Leer) [3min from start]
PCNYc 4 Salamence (Thrash)
PCNYc 11 Seadra (Ice Beam) [+3min]
PCNYc 12 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYc 13 Seadra (Leer)
PCNYc 21 Seadra (Ice Beam)
PCNYc 22 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYc 24 Altaria (Ice Beam)
PCNYc 25 Salamence (Thrash) [Lonely]

Seq. C2
PCNYc 23 Salamence (Thrash) [16min from start]
PCNYc 25 Salamence (Thrash) [Rash] [+31sec]
PCNYc 26 Salamance (Thrash)
PCNYc 141 Altaria (Flamethrower) [+2h 30min]
PCNYc 142 Altaria (Ice Beam)
PCNYc 144 Flygon (Flamethrower)

Seq. C3
PCNYc 61 Salamence (Thrash)
PCNYc 62 Seadra (Ice Beam)
PCNYc 67 Altaria (Ice Beam)

PCNYc 212 Altaria (Ice Beam) [+97hrs?]

Seq. C4
PCNYc 108 Salamence (?)
PCNYc 110 Seadra (Ice Beam)
PCNYc 114 Salamence (Thrash)
PCNYc 115 Seadra (Ice Beam)
PCNYc 116 Salamence (Thrash)

Seq. C5
PCNYc 148 Altaria (Flamethrower)
PCNYc 149 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYc 791 Seadra (Leer) [+5.2hrs]
PCNYc 798 Salamence (?)

Seq. D1
PCNYd 67 Seadra (Leer)
PCNYd 68 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYd 69 Seadra (Ice Beam)
PCNYd 71 Altaria (Flamethrower)
PCNYd 72 Salamence (Thrash)
PCNYd 77 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYd 79 Salamence (Thrash)

Seq. D2
PCNYd 89 Altaria Flamethrower)
PCNYd 91 Seadra (Leer)
PCNYd 94 Altaria (Flamethrower)

Seq. D3
PCNYd 210 Seadra (Leer)
PCNYd 211 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYd 366 Altaria (Flamethrower) [+1h 48min]
PCNYd 368 Flygon (Flamethrower)
PCNYd 369 Altaria (Flamethrower)

Ghost Week
October 18 to 24, 2003

OTs: PCNYb, PCNYc
– Duskull (25%)
– Shuppet (25%)
– Cacturne (25%)
– Shedinja (25%)

Seq. B1
PCNYb 266 Duskull
PCNYb 267 Cacturne
PCNYb 268 Cacturne
PCNYb 269 Shuppet

Seq. B2
PCNYb 913 Cacturne

Seq. B3
PCNYb 996 Duskull
PCNYb 997 Cacturne
PCNYb 998 Cacturne
PCNYb 999 Cacturne

PCNYb 1034 Duskull [+3hrs]
PCNYb 1035 Shuppet
PCNYb 1037 Shuppet
PCNYb 1039 Shuppet
PCNYb 1113 Duskull [+25hrs]
PCNYb 1114 Shedinja
PCNYb 1115 Cacturne
PCNYb 1116 Duskull
PCNYb 1118 Shedinja

PCNYb 1119 Shuppet
PCNYb 1120 Cacturne
PCNYb 1121 Shedinja
PCNYb 1122 Shuppet
PCNYb 1124 Shuppet
PCNYb 1125 Shuppet
PCNYb 1126 Shuppet
PCNYb 1127 Shuppet
PCNYb 1129 Cacturne
PCNYb 1130 Cacturne
PCNYb 1131 Cacturne
PCNYb 1132 Shedinja
PCNYb 1133 Shuppet
PCNYb 1134 Shuppet
PCNYb 1135 Cacturne
PCNYb 1137 Duskull
PCNYb 1139 Shuppet
PCNYb 1140 Shuppet
PCNYb 1141 Cacturne
PCNYb 1142 Shuppet
PCNYb 1144 Shedinja
PCNYb 1145 Cacturne
PCNYb 1147 Shedinja

PCNYb 1148 Shuppet
PCNYb 1151 Cacturne

Seq. C1
PCNYc 6 Duskull
PCNYc 7 Shuppet
PCNYc.8 Cacturne
PCNYc 9 Shuppet
PCNYc 10 Shedinja

Seq. C2
PCNYc 79 Duskull
PCNYc 80 Shedinja
PCNYc 81 Cacturne
PCNYc 89 Shedinja
PCNYc 90 Cacturne
PCNYc 91 Cacturne
PCNYc 92 Shedinja
PCNYc 93 Duskull
PCNYc 95 Duskull
PCNYc 96 Shedinja

Seq. C3
PCNYc 462 Cacturne

Seq. C4
PCNYc 745 Shedinja

Monster Mosh
October 25 to 31, 2003

OTs: PCNYb, PCNYc
– Exploud Lv50 (12.5%)
– Exploud Lv100 (12.5%)
– Aggron Lv50 (12.5%)
– Aggron Lv100 (12.5%)
– Crawdaunt Lv50 (12.5%)
– Crawdaunt Lv100 (12.5%)
– Wailord Lv50 (12.5%)
– Wailord Lv100 (12.5%)

Seq. B1
PCNYb 72 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYb 79 Lv 100 Exploud
PCNYb 80 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYb 81 Lv 50 Wailord

Seq. B2
PCNYb 105 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYb 106 Lv 100 Crawdaunt
PCNYb 109 Lv 50 Crawdaunt

PCNYb 377 Lv 100 Wailord

Seq. C1
PCNYc 6 Lv 100 Wailord
PCNYc 7 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 8 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYc 9 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 10 Lv 100 Exploud
PCNYc 16 Lv 100 Wailord
PCNYc 18 Lv 50 Aggron
PCNYc 19 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 20 Lv 50 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 34 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 35 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 36 Lv 50 Crawdaunt

Seq. C2
PCNYc 85 Lv 100 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 87 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYc 95 Lv 100 Aggron [+5min]
PCNYc 96 Lv 50 Aggron
PCNYc 98 Lv 100 Aggron
PCNYc 101 Lv 50 Aggron
PCNYc 104 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYc 107 Lv 50 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 108 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 112 Lv 50 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 114 Lv 100 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 115 Lv 100 Exploud
PCNYc 116 Lv 100 Exploud
PCNYc 118 Lv 50 Aggron
PCNYc 236 Lv 50 Wailord [+1hr]
PCNYc 237 Lv 100 Aggron
PCNYc 238 Lv 50 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 734 Lv 50 Aggron [+4hrs]

PCNYc 906 Lv 100 Exploud [+2.5hrs]

Seq. C3
PCNYc 95 Lv 50 Aggron
PCNYc 107 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYc 397 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYc 398 Lv 100 Exploud

PCNYc 588 Lv 100 Wailord
PCNYc 598 Lv 100 Exploud

Seq. C4
PCNY 99 Lv50 Aggron – OTG ♂
PCNYc 521 Lv 50 Aggron – OTG ♀ [+81hours]
PCNYc 600 Lv 100 Crawdaunt [+3hr 42min]
PCNYc 601 Lv 50 Aggron [+29sec]
PCNYc 602 Lv 50 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 603 Lv 50 Aggron
PCNYc 605 Lv 50 Exploud
PCNYc 609 Lv 50 Crawdaunt
PCNYc 610 Lv 50 Wailord
PCNYc 611 Lv 50 Wailord

Spring Fling
April 19 to 25, 2004

OTs: PCNYc, PCNYd
– Gardevoir (50%)
– Tropius (25%)
– Salamence (25%)

Seq. C1
PCNYc 135 Gardevoir

Seq. C2
PCNYc 136 Gardevoir

Seq. D1
PCNYd 6 Salamence
PCNYd 10 Salamence

Seq. D2
PCNYd 16 Tropius
PCNYd 17 Gardevoir
PCNYd 18 Salamence

PCNYd 111 Salamence [+3.5hrs]

Seq. D3
PCNYd 29 Gardevoir
PCNYd 39 Tropius
PCNYd 102 Salamence [+3.7hrs]

Seq. D4
PCNYd 80 Gardevoir
PCNYd 82 Salamence
PCNYd 83 Salamence
PCNYd 84 Tropius
PCNYd 100 Gardevoir [+8min]
PCNYd 101 Tropius
PCNYd 103 Gardevoir
PCNYd 105 Tropius
PCNYd 106 Gardevoir
PCNYd 108 Tropius [+5min]
PCNYd 109 Gardevoir
PCNYd 110 Salamence
PCNYd 111 Tropius
PCNYd 112 Gardevoir
PCNYd 113 Tropius
PCNYd 114 Gardevoir
PCNYd 115 Tropius
PCNYd 116 Gardevoir
PCNYd 117 Gardevoir
PCNYd 123 Gardevoir [+3min]
PCNYd 125 Gardevoir
PCNYd 127 Salamence
PCNYd 132 Gardevoir [+11min]
PCNYd 133 Gardevoir
PCNYd 134 Salamence
PCNYd 135 Salamence
PCNYd 136 Tropius
PCNYd 157 Salamence [+15.5min]
PCNYd 158 Gardevoir
PCNYd 159 Gardevoir
PCNYd 160 Salamence
PCNYd 162 Gardevoir [+5min]
PCNYd 163 Gardevoir
PCNYd 164 Tropius
PCNYd 165 Gardevoir
PCNYd 166 Gardevoir
PCNYd 167 Tropius
PCNYd 168 Salamence
PCNYd 169 Tropius
PCNYd 170 Salamence
PCNYd 171 Tropius
PCNYd 172 Gardevoir
PCNYd 173 Gardevoir
PCNYd 174 Gardevoir
PCNYd 175 Tropius
PCNYd 176 Gardevoir
PCNYd 177 Gardevoir
PCNYd 178 Tropius
PCNYd 180 Tropius [+1min]
PCNYd 181 Gardevoir
PCNYd 186 Tropius
PCNYd 187 Tropius
PCNYd 188 Gardevoir
PCNYd 189 Gardevoir
PCNYd 190 Tropius [78min total]

Sheep & Wolf
May 15 to 22, 2004

OTs: PCNYc, PCNYd
– Mareep (50%)
– Houndour (50%)

Seq. C1
PCNYc 65 Mareep
PCNYc 125 Houndour [+57min]
PCNYc 330 Houndour
PCNYc 344 Mareep
PCNYc 357 Houndour
PCNYc 358 Houndour
PCNYc 359 Mareep

Seq. D1
PCNYd 7 Mareep
PCNYd 447 Mareep [+4h 18min]
PCNYd 495 Houndour

Pokémon Box Promotion
July 10-16, 2004

OTs: PCNYc, PCNYd
– Spite Absol (25%)
– Wish Absol (25%)
– Seviper (25%)
– Flygon (25%)

C SEQUENCES
Saturday-Sunday, July 10-11
PCNYc 41 Seviper
PCNYc 43 Absol (?)

PCNYc 281 Flygon [+2.5hrs]
PCNYc 282 Seviper

PCNYc 458 Absol Spite [+2.3hrs]
PCNYc 459 Seviper
PCNYc 460 Absol Spite
PCNYc 461 Absol Wish

PCNYc 656 Flygon [+20hrs]
PCNYc 657 Seviper
PCNYc 658 Seviper

Tuesday, July 13 (?)
PCNYc 161 Flygon
PCNYc 167 Absol Spite
PCNYc 169 Seviper

D SEQUENCES
Saturday-Sunday, July 10-11
PCNYd 199 Seviper [+?]
PCNYd 200 Absol Wish
PCNYd 201 Seviper
PCNYd 202 Absol Spite
PCNYd 203 Flygon

PCNYd 217 Seviper [+15m]
PCNYd 271 Seviper [+1h 4m]
PCNYd 272 Absol Wish
PCNYd 274 Absol Wish
PCNYd 275 Seviper
PCNYd 287 Absol Wish
PCNYd 288 Absol Spite
PCNYd 291 Absol Spite
PCNYd 292 Seviper
PCNYd 293 Flygon
PCNYd 294 Absol Spite
PCNYd 295 Absol Spite

PCNYd 463 Flygon [+20hr 42m]
PCNYd 464 Absol Wish
PCNYd 467 Absol Spite

Monday, July 12
PCNYd 2 Seviper
PCNYd 3 Absol Spite

Tuesday, July 13 (?)
PCNYd 26 Absol Wish
PCNYd 30 Absol Spite

Baby & Trade Pokémon (Summer 1)
July 31 to August 6, 2004

OT: PCNYd
– Azurill (25%)
– Wynaut (25%)
– Gorebyss (25%)
– Huntail (25%)

Seq. D1
PCNYd 12 Gorebyss
PCNYd 14 Wynaut

Seq. D2
PCNYd 294 Azurill
PCNYd 299 Azurill
PCNYd 300 Azurill
PCNYd 301 Wynaut
PCNYd 302 Azurill
PCNYd 303 Wynaut
PCNYd 307 Azurill
PCNYd 308 Gorebyss
PCNYd 309 Gorebyss
PCNYd 310 Wynaut
PCNYd 318 Gorebyss
PCNYd 319 Huntail
PCNYd 320 Azurill
PCNYd 321 Azurill
PCNYd 322 Azurill
PCNYd 393 Gorebyss
PCNYd 394 Huntail
PCNYd 395 Huntail
PCNYd 396 Gorebyss
PCNYd 397 Azurill

Slither & Swim (Summer 2)
August 7 to 13, 2004

OT: PCNYd
– Seviper (25%)
– Zangoose (25%)
– Milotic (25%)
– Kingdra (25%)

Seq. D1
PCNYd 7 Seviper
PCNYd 8 Seviper
PCNYd 9 Milotic
PCNYd 10 Kingdra
PCNYd 11 Zangoose
PCNYd 12 Seviper
PCNYd 14 Milotic
PCNYd 15 Milotic
PCNYd 16 Milotic
PCNYd 17 Milotic
PCNYd 18 Seviper
PCNYd 19 Zangoose
PCNYd 20 Milotic
PCNYd 21 Zangoose
PCNYd 22 Milotic
PCNYd 24 Seviper
PCNYd 25 Milotic
PCNYd 26 Milotic
PCNYd 27 Seviper
PCNYd 28 Zangoose
PCNYd 29 Seviper
PCNYd 30 Kingdra
PCNYd 31 Zangoose
PCNYd 54 Zangoose
PCNYd 55 Zangoose
PCNYd 57 Zangoose
PCNYd 58 Seviper
PCNYd 60 Zangoose
PCNYd 61 Zangoose
PCNYd 62 Zangoose
PCNYd 63 Kingdra
PCNYd 69 Kingdra
PCNYd 70 Milotic
PCNYd 71 Seviper
PCNYd 72 Kingdra
PCNYd 73 Milotic [44min total]

Seq. D2
PCNYd 177 Seviper
PCNYd 179 Milotic
PCNYd 180 Seviper
PCNYd 181 Kingdra
PCNYd 187 Zangoose
PCNYd 188 Zangoose
PCNYd 189 Kingdra
PCNYd 190 Seviper
PCNYd 191 Kingdra
PCNYd 193 Seviper
PCNYd 194 Seviper
PCNYd 195 Seviper
PCNYd 196 Kingdra
PCNYd 197 Milotic
PCNYd 199 Milotic
PCNYd 200 Seviper [33min total]

Seq. D3
PCNYd 434 Kingdra
PCNYd 438 Milotic
PCNYd 449 Zangoose

PCNYd 670 Zangoose [+2.6hrs]
PCNYd 673 Seviper
PCNYd 674 Kingdra
PCNYd 676 Milotic

Seq. D4
[PCNYd 164 Seviper]
PCNYd 165 Zangoose
PCNYd 172 Zangoose [+4m 20s]
[PCNYd 180 Kingdra]
PCNYd 200 Seviper [+26m 52s]
PCNYd 207 Milotic [+2m 39s]

Ancients & Aliens (Summer 3)
August 14 to 20, 2004

OT: PCNYd
– Cradily (25%)
– Armaldo (25%)
– Sableye (25%)
– Mawile (25%)

Seq. D1
PCNYd 1 Armaldo

Seq. D2
PCNYd 73 Cradily

Seq. D3
PCNYd 177 Armaldo

Seq. D4
PCNYd 285 Armaldo

Trade & Nature Power (Summer 4)
August 21 to 28, 2004

OT: PCNYd
– Machamp (25%)
– Golem (25%)
– Ludicolo (25%)
– Shiftry (25%)

Seq. D1
PCNYd 30 Shiftry
PCNYd 31 Ludicolo

Seq. D2: Saturday, August 21 or Sunday, August 22, 2004
PCNYd 251 Machamp (here and here)

Seq. D3: Saturday, August 28, 2004 (?)7Note: A “FRLG-related event” was held at PC New York on August 28, 2004. It is likely that the “Trade & Nature Power” campaign, scheduled to conclude the 27th, was reactivated to effectively overshoot its distribution window by a day and have the GCEA stations dispense its Pokémon to party guests. While we can’t be fully certain, the rapid rate of redeems in Inky’s primary sequence, coupled with the conspicuous absence of Fossils in his collection, is suggestive of acquisitions made on a busy Center (Satur)day different from EXEC’s.
PCNYd 65 Machamp
PCNYd 66 Shiftry
PCNYd 100 Shiftry [+19m 57s]
PCNYd 101 Machamp
PCNYd 102 Machamp
PCNYd 109 Ludicolo [+7m 42s]
PCNYd 111 Shiftry
PCNYd 112 Shiftry
PCNYd 114 Machamp
PCNYd 115 Ludicolo
PCNYd 117 Ludicolo
PCNYd 118 Shiftry
PCNYd 119 Shiftry
PCNYd 120 Machamp
PCNYd 121 Ludicolo
PCNYd 123 Shiftry
PCNYd 124 Shiftry
PCNYd 125 Ludicolo
PCNYd 126 Machamp
PCNYd 127 Golem
PCNYd 128 Shiftry
PCNYd 129 Machamp
PCNYd 130 Ludicolo
PCNYd 131 Golem
PCNYd 132 Golem
PCNYd 133 Machamp
PCNYd 134 Shiftry
PCNYd 135 Golem
PCNYd 136 Ludicolo
PCNYd 137 Ludicolo
PCNYd 139 Ludicolo
PCNYd 145 Machamp
PCNYd 146 Ludicolo
PCNYd 147 Golem
PCNYd 148 Shiftry
PCNYd 152 Ludicolo
PCNYd 153 Shiftry
PCNYd 154 Ludicolo
PCNYd 155 Golem
PCNYd 156 Machamp
PCNYd 187 Machamp [+16m 38s]
PCNYd 188 Ludicolo
PCNYd 189 Golem
PCNYd 190 Shiftry
PCNYd 191 Machamp
PCNYd 197 Golem
PCNYd 198 Machamp
PCNYd 199 Ludicolo
PCNYd 200 Shiftry
PCNYd 201 Shiftry
PCNYd 203 Ludicolo
PCNYd 204 Ludicolo
PCNYd 205 Shiftry
PCNYd 206 Ludicolo
PCNYd 207 Golem
PCNYd 208 Machamp
PCNYd 209 Machamp
PCNYd 210 Ludicolo
PCNYd 211 Machamp
PCNYd 212 Golem [94min total]

Seq. D4: Saturday, August 28, 2004 (?)
PCNYd 160 Ludicolo
PCNYd 161 Ludicolo
PCNYd 162 Shiftry
PCNYd 163 Shiftry
PCNYd 164 Golem

Seq. D5
PCNYd 277 Machamp
PCNYd 278 Golem

All credit to Sabresite for developing sequencing tools and groundbreaking, trailblazing analysis.

  • 1
    When an irate visitor demanded that the GCEA stations be powered up for their kid to redeem Pokémon!
  • 2
    Source for these insights is former PCNY staffer Aurora.
  • 3
    Source for this latter tidbit is an anonymous employee close to the situation.
  • 4
    Most campaigns have a relative overabundance of Pokémon branded PCNYc compared to B and D. Why this is so is not entirely clear – it may relate to GCEA station positioning.
  • 5
    Fun fact, species determination is done separately, and uses a modified version of Pokémon Stadium RNG, which is itself legacy from Gen2 PCNY.
  • 6
    False positives are rare. A full algorithmic cycle takes a theoretical 828.5 days to complete – that’s some ~4.3 billion unique PRNG states!
  • 7
    Note: A “FRLG-related event” was held at PC New York on August 28, 2004. It is likely that the “Trade & Nature Power” campaign, scheduled to conclude the 27th, was reactivated to effectively overshoot its distribution window by a day and have the GCEA stations dispense its Pokémon to party guests. While we can’t be fully certain, the rapid rate of redeems in Inky’s primary sequence, coupled with the conspicuous absence of Fossils in his collection, is suggestive of acquisitions made on a busy Center (Satur)day different from EXEC’s.