did you get the Mew pokemon (this was back when it was only blue and red). It was like an exclusive to Toys 'R' Us. They had a special cartridge and you could go there and get it transfered to you game pack...not sure what the stipulations were, ie if you had to turn any kind of certificate or anything...I worked at TRU at the time so I got the hook up
Most of my pokemon vanished from my cartridge (I had all 151, including one at each stage of evolution) Dunno why the vanished though, maybe they left cause I hadnt played it since like 98 But my core team is still there as well as my Mew.