10 things you didn’t know about Pokémon games

Pokémon is one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises, and after almost thirty years of existence, there are inevitably some anecdotes about it…

Nintendo wasn’t really interested

If of course we talk about Pokémon as a Nintendo franchise, this is not, as a reminder, entirely correct. Indeed, Game Freak remains a legally distinct company from Nintendo, and not a subsidiary as one might often think. As a reminder, we should rather think of Pokémon as a “co-production” between Nintendo, Game Freak and the video game company Creatures. This also explains quite well the differences in design with purely Nintendo games.

However, this collaboration might well have not seen the light of day, as Nintendo had originally refused the collaboration, not being particularly excited by the concept. It would be Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario and Zelda, who convinced the Japanese studio to give the game a chance.

The very first Pokémon to be designed is… Rhinoferos!

When we think of Pokémon, the first one that comes to mind is probably Pikachu, followed very closely by Charizard and Bulbasaur (which is also number 1 in the Pokédex). But what is certain is that we probably don’t think about the species of cross between a rhino and a dinosaur that is Rhinoferos.

However, it is indeed him that the designers of the game imagined first, even if nowadays, he appears at number 112 in the Pokédex. Well, in any case, if we are to believe most of the versions, because several versions clash. In any case, what is certain is that mythical Pokémon such as Pikachu were the first designated Pokémon.

And of course, if we base ourselves instead on the internal chronology of the franchise, then the very first Pokémon is rather Arceus or Mew…

It’s also sometimes said that the real first Pokémon developed was Clefairy, and there’s a good reason for that. Indeed…

Clefairy was supposed to be the Pokémon mascot

Although it is difficult to imagine Pokémon without Pikachu, originally, the mascot of the series, which should also have been Ash’s first Pokémon in the series, should have been Clefairy, and not Pikachu. It was also the main character’s first Pokémon in the very first manga released in Japan just after Pokémon Red and Blue, but before the Anime.

However, the Manga was not particularly popular in Japan. But this is perhaps not the only reason for this renunciation. Mélofée, with its appearance of a large pink cuddly toy, was seen as a design that would only appeal to girls and was therefore replaced by Pikachu, considered more universal.

Fight Professor Chen?

In the Pokémon franchise, the role of the “Pokémon professor” is always that of a character who guides the player, and never a potential rival with whom one fights with a lot of Pokémon.

And yet, originally, Professor Chen was to be the most powerful opponent of Pokémon Red and Blue, a fight of which we can still find traces in the source code, and which it is theoretically still possible to trigger in exploiting a glitch.

Banned in Saudi Arabia

Pokémon has long scared a segment of the population. Thus, in the 1990s, we were witnessing the “Satanic Panic”, a broader phenomenon of moral panic which also targeted franchises such as Dungeons and Dragons or Harry Potter, and which associated them with secret occult practices and sometimes even imaginary human sacrifices.

And in the same genre, there is Saudi Arabia. The country’s authorities have in fact decided to ban Pokémon because the franchise supposedly promoted various ideologies frowned upon by the country: polytheism, Zionism and even gambling. However, Saudi Arabia has since revised its posture and Pokémon is now legal in the Gulf monarchy.

Pokéballs are… cans of Campbell’s soup?

You may know the legendary Campbell’s soup cans, used by Andy Warhol in his homonymous work: Campbell Soup Company. Their design is unmistakable: red above, white below, with a circle in the middle.

Doesn’t that remind you of anything?

Eh yes ! It is in fact behind these simple cans that the inspiration for the appearance of Pokéballs is hidden. After all, not very surprising when you think about the fact that the purpose of Pokéballs is to “preserve” Pokémon.

The origin of Pikachu’s name

You may know it if you are keen on Japanese culture, but Manga, Anime and Video Games are fond of colorful onomatopoeia. And it is from these that the name of the most famous electric mouse comes from, whose name means… well “electric mouse”, or rather, “sparkling mouse”.

Indeed, “Pikapika”, which the Pokémon mascot keeps repeating, is the onomatopoeia for a spark in Japanese. As for “Chuchu”, it’s the squeak of a mouse. Simple, right? And yet…

Pikachu is not a mouse

Well, almost… In reality, the designer of Pikachu, Atsuko Nishida, explained that he was inspired by a squirrel, and not a mouse, to create the most famous Pokémon. Nishida thus expressed a certain fascination with small arboreal rodents, and this is for example why Pikachu’s cheeks are pink (an allusion to the swollen cheeks of squirrels when they fill with food) and why he has a very thick tail, very different from that of a mouse.

Which does not prevent the Pokédex itself from describing Pikachu as an “electric mouse Pokémon”. Suffice it to say that these days, for absolutely everyone, there is no doubt: Pikachu is a mouse!

Youkai: a never-ending source of inspiration for Pokémon

You may know Pokémon if you are a fan of Japanese culture, or if you have played Yo-kai Watch, a game which is also very similar to Pokémon. As a reminder, youkai are monsters from Japanese folklore that can take almost any form: from harmless but pranking inanimate objects to creatures worthy of the worst horror films.

Needless to say, for Game Freak, youkai are an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Also Vulpix is ​​a Kitsune (fox spirit that can have up to nine tails) and Water Lily and its evolutions are a Kappa (a monster with a water lily on its head, and very fond of cucumbers). And these are far from being the only ones since dozens of Pokémon are inspired, directly or indirectly, by the monsters of Japanese folklore.

Pokémon Gold and Silver should have been the last games in the franchise

Today, Pokémon seems to be an infinite and endless saga, some of which often criticize the repetitiveness of the gameplay. However, it should have been quite the opposite.

The second opus of the franchise should have already been the last! But faced with the enormous success of Pokémon gold version and Pokémon silver version, Game Freak decided to continue the franchise.

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