It has been a great two decades for the Pokémon franchise. When the series came to America, I was barely a junior high student with dreams as high as the cloud. Now, I am an old man and still, the series remains fresh and one of th🐬e most popular franchises in the world. Not counting the Mega Evolutions and Alola variants, there are 802 different species of Pokémon. If the franchise maintains its popularity, there will be even more in the near future.
After Pokémon Go was released nearly a year ago, I rewatched aꦜnd replayed all of the Pokémon titles from my childhood. That was one great summer filled with nostalgia and good times. Nothing like walking in the park in the middle of the night, trying to catch Pokémon.
Through the many generations, there are probably a lot of things that fans overlooked or just forgot. It is impossible to remember all of them, to be quite honest. Thankfully, the internet has supplied us with all of the wonderful Pokémon trivia that we can impress our friends with. Here are 20 different facts, trivia, and secrets that are often forgotten or overlooked. Please be sure to go on our social media to mention some more. Enj♚oy!
20 ꦦ Remember Faraway Island
The only known habitat of the legendary Mew, Faraway Island is only visitable in Pokémon Emerald. However, it was actually first mentioned in the Pokémon Mansion Journals left in the destroyed mansion on Cinnabar island in Generation I. Pieces of the manuscript can be discovered littered all over the abandoned mansion filled with burglars, Growlithes, and many other Poison-type Pokémon. The Guyanese jungle where Mew is discovered is actually Faraway Island. This was further bolstered by a signpost in Pokémon Emerald where a signpost contains a signat🎶ure containing “Ji”🃏, which is most likely a nickname for Mr. Fuji, who used to live in Cinnabar Island when he founded the Pokémon Lab.
19 A Creeping Feeling Of Doom 𝔍
What if you woke up tomorrow morning and mysteriously turned into your favorite Pokémon? Pretty cool, right? Probably, not, though. This is actually the backstory of the Pokémon named Kadabra, the evolved form of Abra. In the entry in Emerald, it was written that “a boy with psychic abilities suddenly transformers into Kadabra while he was assisting research into extrasensory powers.” In FireRed, the entry said “one morning, a boy with extrasensory powers awoke in bed transformed into Kadabra. Though it is common for Pokémon creators to write up interesting theories through Pokédex entries, this description of Kadabra is probabl🧸y one of the more dis🦹turbing ones.
18 Zombi෴e Shroom🐽s
Sure, there are Ghost-types, Dark-types, and even some crazy specters Pokémon throughout this run of this popular franchise. Should we really be surprised that there is a Walking Dead Pokémon even as early as 🐠in Generation I? Though it is believed that Parasect is a parasitic insect Pokémon, the actual parasite is actually the mushroom-like fungus that is on its back. Theౠ insect has actually been drained of nutrients and under the control of the mushroom, known in Japan as a tochukaso or caterpillar fungus. Likely, the insect is merely a zombie doing the bidding of a sentient mushroom. The mushrooms actually command Paras and Parasect species to drain nutrients from tree roots. Poor Paras never saw this coming. They should be known as a Zombie Pokémon rather than a Mushroom one.
17 Origins Of Munna 🐻
Though introduced in Generation IV, Munna was actually first mentioned in Generation I. Don't believe me? A female trainer in front of the Rock Tunnel utters a descrip🌊tion that mirrors the appearance of Munna: “The Pokémon are so chunky! There should be a pink one with a floral pattern!” It was likely that Munna wasn't planned this early in the series, but it is very interesting to find this unintended Easter Egg with a harmless comment growing into something more. Could it be that a keen designer ꧅remembered this forgettable dialogue and turned it into a floral patterned Pokémon? Nothing like a small idea turning morphing into a bigger plot point.
16 The Electric Protein ⛦
Pikachu is the first Pokémon to have a scientific discovery to be named after it. Pikachurin is a retinal protein that was first recorded in 2008 by Shigeru Sato. The protein is named after Pikachu due to its nimble movement. Pikachurin aids in visual acuity, or the clarity of someone's eyesight. Thus, the usage of Pikachurin can help in the treatment of eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that causes severe visual im๊pairment. In case you were wondering if there are other video game characters that have a protein named after it, please know that there is a human-based 🍰protein called Sonic Hedgehog, after Sega's wonderful mascot. Yes, scientists are the biggest geeks in the world.
15 Who Needs Wings? ♑
Gamers probably never understood why a wingless bird like Doduo can use HM Fly. Similar to its real-world counterpart, the ostrich, Doduo and its evolution Dodrio look like they are land-based birds that lack the ability for flight. However, it actually can. Because you never really see this in the original series of games on the Game Boy, it is assumed this was just another misstep by GameFreak. In Pokémon Stadium, the creators actually made up a graphical sequence of how Doduo can indeed fly. For some inexplicable reason, whenever a Doduo uses Fly, it magically floats up into the air, almost like some sort of witchcraft. Though there are many fan-made explanations for this, most of them being more humorous than feasible, the official word from the series and Pokédex entries recognize these wingless birds are capable of flight. I'm assuming that it is able to run fast enough to generate enough lift to glide in the air. Hmm. Let's not apply real-world logic to Pokémon.
14 𒊎 Whal▨e Of A Diglett
Probably one of the more disturbing facts in the Pokémon series is that a giant-sized Wailord can actually breed with a Diglett. This has actually led to many witty artists on the internet making hilarious drawings and Memܫes elaborating on this topic, and most of the time it is not very pretty. Introduced in Generation 🅷III, Wailord is a huge species of Pokémon that evolves from the much smaller Wailmer, which is still much bigger than a Diglett or Dugtrio. Indeed, it is possible for trainers and breeders to breed a Diglett with an enormous Wailord. Animal Planet has never covered anything like this before.
13 𝐆Ditto Is Mewဣ 1.5
Ditto and Mew are both pink and rather rare Pokémon that share the same weight and other interesting traits. Though not officially proven, the relationship of Mew and Ditto is probably more than just skin deep. Indeed, they are the only two Pokémon to be able to learn Transform, but Mew is capable of learning every move while possessing all Pokémon DNA. Yet, Ditto does seem rather similar to Mew. It has been proven that scientists in the Pokémon universe attempted to recreate and clone Mew on many different occasions with numerous failed results. Their most successful and fearsome creation is the powerful and horrific Mewtwo, the star of several films over the run of Pokémon. Thus, it is very possible Ditto is one of the failed subjects, ending up in a blobby version of Mew. In Pokémon Yellow, Ditto is found at Pokémon Mansion, the same place where manuscripts of Mewtwo and the Mew cloning experiment 🌳could be read. Though this might one of those unexplained plot points, it remains one of my favorite secrets.
12 ൲ Giovanཧni's Persian Is Special
Giovanni of Team Rocket๊ does love rare Pokémon. So, is it kind of odd that his favorite pet is actually a rather pedestrian Persian? I would think not. The shiny version of Persian looks rather similar to the re꧅gular incarnation except it has a pinkish tint to its ears. In the anime, Giovanni's Persian actually has this same pinkish tint to its ears, much like the shiny types in the game. Though fans claim that it is probably an exaggeration or an animation mistake, it is very likely that his Persian is special. Since the Shiny attribute is introduced in Generation II, after Persian's appearance, it is possible that it was not an official plan by the creators. It could be that it is a variant, much like how Puka, the surfing Pikachu, looks so different than Ash's Pikachu.
11 Orphaned
Will GameFreak just admit that a Cubone is a Kangaskhan baby wearing the skull of its deceased mother? Then all of these CreepyPasta theories will become real and canon. Since being introduced in Generation I, Cubone's backstory has been quite a mystery. In the original games, the spirit of a murdered Marowak haunts Pokémon Tower. This storyline was also revisited in the Pokémon Origins anime. In the Pokédex, it reads that each Cubone “wears the skull of its deceased mother.” A Cubone does look oddly similar to a baby Kangaskhan with a skull helmet. So, it is more than likely that Cubone was birthed from a Kangaskhan that later died. What about Marowak, then? It could be that Cubones are only created when 🎐their mothers die before they could grow up into adult Kangaskhans.