Pokémon/Trivia

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• The design of Rotom is a throwback to the design of Pulse-Man, a game previously made by Game Freak.
• Sometimes the Pokémon movies have scenes that really seem out there for the anime in question. However, the Manaphy movie in particular seems to take this to an extreme as evidenced in this YouTube video starting at 1:21.
• Everyone knows how Nintendo's former rival Sega has gone Multi Platform after the death of the Sega Dreamcast (and thus has games on Nintendo consoles), right? Well, very little know that the opposite is true in Japan, as there is a Pokémon game on the Sega Pico. (And yes, the Pico is still very much alive over there.)
• Wobbuffet is a Homage to late Japanese comedian Sanpei Hayashiya. No, really. Everything from Wobby's pose to its original name in Japanese. The trainer in G/S/C saying his Wobbuffet would spontaneously jump out of his Poké Ball and agree with everything he says is a reference to said comedian's Catch Phrase, roughly "That's the way it is!" -- sadly, there was really no way to translate this gag to non-Japanese audiences.
  • On that note, it was fixed in Explorers of the Sky, where the catchphrase of Wobbuffet is "That's Right." Or, something to that effect...
• First Pokémon revealed in each generation?
  • Gen II: Ho-oh, via cameo in the first episode of the anime. Togepi was the first identified as such however. Donphan also appears in the original film while Marill and Snubbull were in the short film tied in to that and Elekid, Slowking, Bellossom and Lugia in the second. There was also an episode where a sketch of the top of Elekid's head was shown.
  • Gen III: Kecleon, Wailmer, and Azurill
  • Gen IV: Munchlax, Bonsly, Weavile, Mime Jr., and Lucario.
    • Bonsly had the honor of actually being playable to a limited extent in a Pokémon RPG before its own game was released- it was available in the bingo mode of Pokémon XD.
  • Gen V: Zoroark and Zorua
• Rhydon was the first Pokémon ever created, according to Ken Sugimori. You can see this in Red, Green and Blue's code - the internal list of Pokémon starts with Rhydon. Second is Kangaskhan.
  • Which might explain why some Missigno. turn into Rhydon at some point and the Glitch Pokémon 'M can actually evolve into Kangaskhan.
• Mew was copyrighted in 1990 by Game Freak, years before the release of Red/Green.
  • Despite this, Nintendo didn't even know that Mew had been programmed in by Shigeki Morimoto when Red and Green were released.
• Pokemon Red and Blue weren't the first Pokemon games. The duo was originally Red and Green, while Blue was a third game that was pretty much a remake with better graphics.
  • When they were imported into the United States, Game Freak took the Pokémon lists and scripts from Red and Green and programmed them into Blue, giving us remakes of Red and Green with the improved graphics of Blue.
    • This is also why the remake of Pokémon Blue is titled LeafGreen, along a statement by Junichi Masuda that claimed a leaf was more suggestive of peace rather that opposing elements of fire and water.
    • Incidentally, this is why one of the NPC traders tells you that your Raichu evolved after you trade it to him (Raichu cannot evolve)--they took that line from the Japanese Blue Version, in which you trade him a Kadabra (which evolves into Alakazam when traded).
      • This is also the cause for the infamous Green vs. Blue naming of the Rival who later becomes the Gym leader of Viridian. In Japan, the Rival is originally known as Green to the main character's Red. However, since the improved Red and Green versions were released as Red and Blue in America, they wanted to be consistent with your player being one version and your rival the opposite. Many fans argue over which name you should use when referring to Green/Blue/DOUCHE (you DO have the option of naming him in-game despite default canon), while others simply say "whatever."
• If a shiny Ditto copies a regularly-colored Pokemon, it will transform into the shiny version of that Pokemon. If a regular-colored Ditto copies a shiny Pokemon, it will transform into the regular-colored version of that Pokemon. And, somewhat-obviously, if a shiny Ditto copies a shiny Pokemon, it will be the shiny variant.
  • Or at least this was true in Gen III, in the Gen IV games this doesn't work and a shiny Ditto changes into regular-colored Pokémon.
  • There's an exploit abusing this in Gen II and Gen I. Simply transfer the shiny Gyarados to any Gen I game, and capture a Ditto after it transforms into that Gyarados. Voila, transfer it into any Gen II game and you have a shiny Ditto. And because of the way the game is structured, said Ditto vastly increases your chances for a shiny egg of any other Pokemon when breeding with it.
• Currently, Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is the only Pokemon game in which you can actually die (Specifically, by failing to stop a sinking ship.).
  • In Guardian Signs, there is a similar mission, except instead of stopping a sinking ship it's escaping a flooding submarine.
• The glitch Pokemon Missingno was not a Kangaskhan pre-evolution, nor was it a beta test Pokemon. There were originally supposed to be 190 Pokemon in Red/Green/Blue, but at least 36 (and maybe 39) were deliberately left out of the final game. Their entries in the game's code were blanked and their names replaced with "MISSINGNO." The three unsure ones are used for extra sprites in-game (fossils and unidentified ghosts), though they're still called "Missingno" if spawned as Pokemon.
• The favorite Pokemon of Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, is Poliwhirl.
  • Suddenly, Red from the Special Manga having Poliwhirl as his first Pokémon makes sense.
  • And so does a Poliwhirl randomly appearing in a Pokémon Zensho artwork.
  • As does Poliwhirl randomly being a Pokemon trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee despite not appearing in the game either as playable, from a Pokeball or any other way.
  • Also probably explains why Poliwhirl was in the center of a Time magazine cover once.
• Think you've got a guaranteed catch with a Master Ball? Think again; thanks to how catch rates are calculated in the game, there is a slim chance of the Master Ball failing. How slim? 1 out of 65536. That's eight times less likely to happen than encountering a shiny Pokemon.
  • Don't know about the Gen. III games, but this is not true in the Gen. IV thanks to an early check in the formula. However, if you don't pass this early check but would still have a "100%" chance of capture, you do have a 1/65536 chance of failure.
• Clefairy was originally slated to be the Pokemon Ash got from Professor Oak, similar to the main character Red in the most popular pokemon manga in Japan; it was only changed at the last minute to be a Pikachu,.
• Remember, that Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow that refused to evolve? Yeah, turns out that there is a glitch that lets it evolve.
• Longtime fans may remember back in Generation I when bogus rumors were flying about the infantile internet speculating on a possible secret/glitch that would allow you to catch the most elusive of all Pokémon: Mew (No.151). Surprise surprise, there really IS a secret glitch that allows you to catch a Mew! For real this time! Now the bad news: you will probably have to restart your game in order to pull this off, since the easiest method for getting Mew requires you to have not battled a certain trainer on the route north of Cerulean City. Mew is actually only a small part of a game-breaking glitch which can be activated as soon as you have Teleport/Fly and meet a trainer who will try to battle you as soon as he appears on-screen (near Lavender/Saffron). Fly away before he battles you, but after the "!" appears over his head, and you will soon find yourself battling strange glitch Lv.7 Pokémon determined by the Special stat of the last Pokémon you fought.
• Junichi Masuda's favorite Pokémon is Victini (it used to be Pichu), favorite type is the Water type, and favorite move is the Water-type Surf.
  • In a recent IGN interview, he also mentioned Tangela as one of his favorites. He said he liked how it evolved into Tangrowth and considered it underrated.
• After the release of Pokemon Platinum, the Japanese title of the second and third Diamond & Pearl movies was changed to Diamond & Pearl & Platinum. However, the series itself does not feature this same name change and the final movie goes back to the original title.

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• Hey, It's That Voice!: The anime was dubbed by 4Kids after all, though the TPCI dub does have its share once DP got going.
  • Toho often helps put together and distribute the anime, especially the films, and anyone familiar with the Godzilla series will recognize some of the Pokémon roars and cries as being from the ranks of Kaiju. Giratina has Adult Mothra's chirp, Palkia uses a mix of Godzilla 1954 (in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) or Heisei King Ghidorah (in the anime) and Boga the varactyl's warble, Dialga's roar is a higher-pitched variation of Gorosaurus, and the "Megarig" vehicle uses Megaguirus' shrill keen.
  • Also, Sean Schemmel, of Dragonball Z fame, has appeared multiple times throughout the anime, as Archie, Cyrus, Grings Kodai, and Lucario.
  • In the Japanese version of Best Wishes, Taiki's Voice Actor took up the role of Luke (The guy who made movies and has a Zorua).
  • In Denmark, Ash is Johnny Test, Robin, and Chris McLean
  • The episode that introduces Elesa is a Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's reunion, with the gang meeting Bianca's dad. It's harder to tell early on, but when he goes all Hot-Blooded, you almost expect him to say "Let's rev it up!". Biana is voiced by Bella Hudson (Akiza Izinski), while her unnamed dad is voiced by John Campbell (Yusei Fudo). Also, his Japanese nickname is "Red Shooting Star", which could reference Yusei's "Shooting Star Dragon.
  • In Brazil, Ash is (The Other Darrin for) Doug Funnie. He also voices other famous protagonists, such as Arnold, Shinji and Ichigo.
  • In 2011, there were quite a few voice actors from Funimation in the dub. At least one (if not all of them) doubled as a Casting Gag aimed at older fans.
  • Kirbopher is Khoury.
• Name's the Same: Mt. Moon shares its name with a mountain from Kimba the White Lion.
• No Export for You:
  • The original Pokémon Stadium. The game that was ported was its sequel. Fortunately, it was more or less an unfinished version of the one we did get.
  • The 2nd trading card game for Game Boy Color.
  • Celebi has a bad tendency to not get released in the US. Only two US events - one in Gen II and another near the end of Gen IV - have given it out, with a third on the way.
• What Could Have Been:
  • According to an interview, there was a rejected Pokemon design based on Dolly, the cloned sheep. It was scrapped in fear of controversy.
  • Just as Girafarig's name mirrors itself, so did its original design.
  • Apparently, Shellos and Gastrodon were intended to be in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire versions, but they weren't integrated into the final design, according to a Nintendo Power interview with Ken Sugimori.
  • Stunfisk was originally going to be a Water/Electric angler fish, but was changed to increase type diversity within the Unova region (and possibly globally, seeing as we already have Lanturn).
• The Wiki Rule: The Pokedex from the official site, Serebii.Net, Pokèmon Wiki, WikiDex (a Spanish Poke wiki), and Azurilland Wiki. Just to name a few.