Franchise: Pokémon
Pokémon Y
Pokémon Sun
Pokémon Battle Revolution
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
Pokémon Picross
Pokémon Omega Ruby
Pokémon Puzzle League
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Pokémon Shining Pearl
Pokémon Black Version
My Pokémon Ranch
Pokémon Sapphire Version
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
Pokémon Pokédex Organizer
Pokémon Ultra Sun
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
Pokémon Moon
Pokémon Pearl Version
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
Pokémon Go
Pokémon Red Version
Pokémon Silver Version
Pokémon Sleep
Pocket Monsters Stadium
Pokémon Sword
Pokémon Green Version
Pokémon Pinball
Pokémon Blue Version
Pokémon LeafGreen Version
Pokémon Platinum Version
Pokémon Emerald Version
Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!
Pokémon White Version 2
Pokémon SoulSilver Version
Pokémon Home
Pokémon Scarlet
Pokkén Tournament
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
Pokémon Art Academy
Pokémon Violet
Pokémon Rumble Blast
Super Smash Bros.
PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
Pokémon X
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Hey You, Pikachu!
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Contrary to popular belief, the name "Pikachu" is not derived from the pika (a rodent-like lagomorph found in Japan that gains a yellow tinge in the winter), but rather a Japanese onomatopoeia for an electric spark. It should be noted that pikas are known as "nakiusagi" in Japan.
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Prior to what would become the film "Pokémon 3: The Movie" as we know it, Takeshi Shudo, a writer for the Pokémon series from Kanto to Johto, considered writing a unique concept for the third film for half a year. He wanted to feature the fossilized remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex as the main threat, rampaging throughout Kanto without a specific end goal in sight.
Since Shudo created the Pokémon Lugia for "Pokémon: The Movie 2000", he figured that his concept for the third film would work. However, it was rejected because a "story where a bunch of minerals gain consciousness and comes to life won't be a hit". Shudo said he smiled at the appropriate people and said he'd think of another story, but afterward went home and drowned his sorrows in alcohol. It's believed that a copy of the script was later auctioned off for 1 billion yen (about 8 million US dollars) to someone in their 30s going by the name Suu (スー). Unfortunately the conclusion of his script was never explained, as Shudo passed away on October 29, 2010 before finishing his blog posts on this scrapped concept.
Since Shudo created the Pokémon Lugia for "Pokémon: The Movie 2000", he figured that his concept for the third film would work. However, it was rejected because a "story where a bunch of minerals gain consciousness and comes to life won't be a hit". Shudo said he smiled at the appropriate people and said he'd think of another story, but afterward went home and drowned his sorrows in alcohol. It's believed that a copy of the script was later auctioned off for 1 billion yen (about 8 million US dollars) to someone in their 30s going by the name Suu (スー). Unfortunately the conclusion of his script was never explained, as Shudo passed away on October 29, 2010 before finishing his blog posts on this scrapped concept.
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Although referred to as an electric mouse, Pikachu's design is actually based on a squirrel. According to former Game Freak designer Atsuko Nishida, she was fond of squirrels at the time of Red & Green's development, so she based Pikachu on squirrels. From its red cheeks used to store electricity based on squirrels storing food in its cheeks, to its lightning bolt-shaped tail more closely resembling a bushy squirrel tail rather than the tail of a mouse.
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In particular, Pikachu was apparently redesigned to resemble a tiger with big breasts. When Ishihara asked how it was meant to be Pikachu, the American designers responded that because it has Pikachu’s tail, then that makes it Pikachu.
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subdirectory_arrow_right Pokémon Snap (Game)
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Mascot costumes were made of Poliwhirl for promotional events, the Pokémon Adventures manga featured Poliwhirl as one of Red's Pokémon, Poliwag was placed closely to Pikachu on the box art of Pokémon Snap, food and toy lines would near-consistently feature a member of the Poliwhirl line alongside Pikachu even when the pool of Pokémon was as limited as 3 or 4 (with exceptions primarily being ones that also lacked Pikachu), and, most famously, Poliwhirl appeared on the center of the cover of TIME magazine's issue addressing the popularity of Pokémon.
This could be related to Poliwag being Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri's favourite of the original 151 Kanto species.
Comedic video about bizarre Pokémon merchandise showing off many instances of Poliwhirl and Poliwrath merchandise - the nature of Poliwhirl's "mascot" status is discussed at the 13:06 mark:
https://youtu.be/Gri7-XW3no8
ResetEra thread about Poliwhirl that opens with multiple images of Poliwhirl memorabilia:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/pokemons-bygone-mascot.763622/
Video from a Kellogg's fan channel featuring box scans and commercials for Pokémon cereal with Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/4kEnxp0ihPI
Pop Tarts commercial featuring Poliwrath toys:
https://youtu.be/oKw6l1Skglc
Kraft Mac & Cheese advert featuring Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/Sj5lfgEz_bU
Video featuring a photo of a Poliwhirl mascot:
https://youtu.be/KR5oKvYi_PQ
KFC and Heinz commercials for promotions featuring neither, Poliwhirl nor Pikachu:
https://youtu.be/9HCDPTQGmrI
https://youtu.be/nNc1xl8uoMA
Tajiri talks Poliwag:
https://youtu.be/gplIo-J9Ttc?si=vXRHECazu6kGu4IQ&t=433
https://youtu.be/Gri7-XW3no8
ResetEra thread about Poliwhirl that opens with multiple images of Poliwhirl memorabilia:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/pokemons-bygone-mascot.763622/
Video from a Kellogg's fan channel featuring box scans and commercials for Pokémon cereal with Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/4kEnxp0ihPI
Pop Tarts commercial featuring Poliwrath toys:
https://youtu.be/oKw6l1Skglc
Kraft Mac & Cheese advert featuring Poliwhirl:
https://youtu.be/Sj5lfgEz_bU
Video featuring a photo of a Poliwhirl mascot:
https://youtu.be/KR5oKvYi_PQ
KFC and Heinz commercials for promotions featuring neither, Poliwhirl nor Pikachu:
https://youtu.be/9HCDPTQGmrI
https://youtu.be/nNc1xl8uoMA
Tajiri talks Poliwag:
https://youtu.be/gplIo-J9Ttc?si=vXRHECazu6kGu4IQ&t=433
subdirectory_arrow_right Portal 2 (Game), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Game), AM2R: Return of Samus (Game), Pokémon Uranium (Game)
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From 2014 to 2016, The Game Awards featured a "Best Fan Creation" category. The 2014 winner was "Twitch Plays Pokémon" (a social experiment featuring a crowdsourced attempt to play through various Pokémon games), and the 2015 winner was "Portal Stories: Mel" (a modification of Portal 2). During 2016, however, two of the nominees for the category were removed prior to the show's airing: AM2R (an unofficial remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus) and Pokémon Uranium (a fan-made video game based on the Pokémon series). During a stream prior to the event, host Geoff Keighley explained that this was due to the fangames not being legally cleared by Nintendo, who owned the rights to the games they were based on. Additionally, "Best Fan Creation" would end up being the only category to not have its winner (Enderal: The Shards of Order, a conversion mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) announced during the ceremony itself.
2014 nominees:
https://www.polygon.com/2014/11/21/7259309/game-awards-2014-nominees
2015 nominees:
https://www.polygon.com/2015/11/13/9728874/the-game-awards-2015-nominees
2016 nominees:
https://www.vg247.com/the-game-awards-2016-doom-overwatch-more-up-for-game-of-the-year-heres-the-full-list-nominees
Nominee removals:
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/1590200/why-fanmade-games-like-pokemon-uranium-wont-be-at-the-2016-game-awards
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/168862-The-Game-Awards-Drops-Pokemon-Uranium-AM2R
Category removal:
http://twinfinite.net/2016/12/best-fan-creation-2016-game-awards/
https://www.polygon.com/2014/11/21/7259309/game-awards-2014-nominees
2015 nominees:
https://www.polygon.com/2015/11/13/9728874/the-game-awards-2015-nominees
2016 nominees:
https://www.vg247.com/the-game-awards-2016-doom-overwatch-more-up-for-game-of-the-year-heres-the-full-list-nominees
Nominee removals:
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/1590200/why-fanmade-games-like-pokemon-uranium-wont-be-at-the-2016-game-awards
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/168862-The-Game-Awards-Drops-Pokemon-Uranium-AM2R
Category removal:
http://twinfinite.net/2016/12/best-fan-creation-2016-game-awards/
subdirectory_arrow_right Pokémon Pearl Version (Game), Pokémon Diamond Version (Game), Game Freak (Company)
This trivia has been marked as "Not Safe for Work".
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PC Gamer article:
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pokemon-dev-game-freak-appears-to-have-suffered-a-teraleak-that-includes-25-years-of-never-before-seen-pokemon-art-assets-documents-and-even-canceled-movies/
Nintendo Life article:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/10/pokemon-developer-game-freak-reportedly-hacked-massive-amounts-of-data-allegedly-leaked
My Nintendo News article:
https://mynintendonews.com/2024/10/21/pokemon-mmo-leaked-codenamed-rodeo/
TheGamer article:
https://www.thegamer.com/game-freak-pokemon-leak-humans-pokemon-children-together/
PennLive article:
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2024/10/massive-pokemon-leak-exposes-personal-data-never-before-seen-lore.html
Forbes articles:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2024/10/14/pokmon-fans-dont-understand-the-game-freak-leaks/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/10/14/pokmons-typhlosion-goes-viral-after-game-freak-leak-for-the-weirdest-possible-reason/
Link to the leaked scrapped Sinnoh myths (in Japanese):
https://pastebin.com/x9Rne5iZ
The Cutting Room Floor article featuring English translations of the myths:
https://tcrf.net/Development:Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_and_Pearl/Documents
Veilstone's Myth and other Sinnoh myths:
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sinnoh_myths#Veilstone's_Myth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajRq8I6ZkHM#t=426s
Canadian indigenous myth of the Bear Mother:
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2f27e.html
https://www.sfu.ca/brc/our-work/imesh-mobile-app/indigenous-art-walk/bear-mother.html
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_the_Fisherman%27s_Wife
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pokemon-dev-game-freak-appears-to-have-suffered-a-teraleak-that-includes-25-years-of-never-before-seen-pokemon-art-assets-documents-and-even-canceled-movies/
Nintendo Life article:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/10/pokemon-developer-game-freak-reportedly-hacked-massive-amounts-of-data-allegedly-leaked
My Nintendo News article:
https://mynintendonews.com/2024/10/21/pokemon-mmo-leaked-codenamed-rodeo/
TheGamer article:
https://www.thegamer.com/game-freak-pokemon-leak-humans-pokemon-children-together/
PennLive article:
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2024/10/massive-pokemon-leak-exposes-personal-data-never-before-seen-lore.html
Forbes articles:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2024/10/14/pokmon-fans-dont-understand-the-game-freak-leaks/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/10/14/pokmons-typhlosion-goes-viral-after-game-freak-leak-for-the-weirdest-possible-reason/
Link to the leaked scrapped Sinnoh myths (in Japanese):
https://pastebin.com/x9Rne5iZ
The Cutting Room Floor article featuring English translations of the myths:
https://tcrf.net/Development:Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_and_Pearl/Documents
Veilstone's Myth and other Sinnoh myths:
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sinnoh_myths#Veilstone's_Myth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajRq8I6ZkHM#t=426s
Canadian indigenous myth of the Bear Mother:
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2f27e.html
https://www.sfu.ca/brc/our-work/imesh-mobile-app/indigenous-art-walk/bear-mother.html
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_the_Fisherman%27s_Wife