• Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Obscure Pokémon game trivia

Almonds said:
Also, if you choose Brendan as your player character, May will have a doll in her room in the later part of the game. I can't remember exactly when she puts it there, but when you go talk to her in her room after the post-game you will find that she placed a doll. You can't take it since its her decoration, though.

I can't remember if the same happens for Brendan's room if you choose May as your player character.
Click to expand...
I think it happens, too. In fact, Lorelei in FRLG also gets dolls after you beat the League. Both Lorelei and Brendan/May add more dolls if you keep beating the League, but I don't know at what milestones.
 
FinnishPokéFan92 said:
While Generation VIII finally gave us a Dark-type Gym after so long, making all types have a Gym Leader representing them, of the 18 types, there are still four remaining that have not had an Elite Four member specializing in them: Normal, Grass, Electric, and Fairy.
Click to expand...

Wait! We have multiple Water and Fire but not a Grass one. Outrageous, especially since we got a bug one.
 
FinnishPokéFan92 said:
In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Silvally is programmed to be able to learn the three Pledge moves. However, due to a programming error, the Move Tutor will refuse to teach it any of them, except for Grass Pledge.
Click to expand...

You know, I’m not even sure it’s really a “programming error” so much as it is, the tutoring infrastructure just isn’t designed to support Pokémon that can learn multiple Pledge moves.

At least in SwSh, I’m pretty sure the tutor is like, “You want me to teach your Pokémon a battle combo move?” And then if you say yes, it jumps to your party screen, and you pick the Pokémon that you want to have learn the move. Since every compatible Pokémon except for Silvally can only learn a single one of the Pledge moves anyway, the game then defaults to their corresponding move. So rather than an error, I suspect it’s more like an oversight - it didn’t occur to them that they needed to either create some special case code that recognizes Silvally as the Pokémon being tutored and then offers a choice tree, or prompt you to choose which Pledge move you want to tutor before jumping to the party screen and showing which Pokémon are compatible.
 
Esserise said:
You know, I’m not even sure it’s really a “programming error” so much as it is, the tutoring infrastructure just isn’t designed to support Pokémon that can learn multiple Pledge moves.

At least in SwSh, I’m pretty sure the tutor is like, “You want me to teach your Pokémon a battle combo move?” And then if you say yes, it jumps to your party screen, and you pick the Pokémon that you want to have learn the move. Since every compatible Pokémon except for Silvally can only learn a single one of the Pledge moves anyway, the game then defaults to their corresponding move. So rather than an error, I suspect it’s more like an oversight - it didn’t occur to them that they needed to either create some special case code that recognizes Silvally as the Pokémon being tutored and then offers a choice tree, or prompt you to choose which Pledge move you want to tutor before jumping to the party screen and showing which Pokémon are compatible.
Click to expand...
Good points. I didn't even consider that.
 
Because Zoroark can learn Copycat, it's possible to see any Pokemon using almost any move. All you need to do is have Zoroark take the form of the desired Pokemon, then Copycat the desired move. Here's some examples of this in action (because everyone wants to see Snom using Glacial Lance, right?)...



Inteleon using Pyro Ball looks super cool. Unfortunately there are a couple of moves that this trick doesn't work on, like Behemoth Bash and Aura Wheel.
 
Puddle said:
Because Zoroark can learn Copycat, it's possible to see any Pokemon using almost any move. All you need to do is have Zoroark take the form of the desired Pokemon, then Copycat the desired move. Here's some examples of this in action (because everyone wants to see Snom using Glacial Lance, right?)...



Inteleon using Pyro Ball looks super cool. Unfortunately there are a couple of moves that this trick doesn't work on, like Behemoth Bash and Aura Wheel.
Click to expand...


This is interesting, because Behemoth Blade and Bash can be used by Ditto if it has transformed into Zacian or Zamazenta... but the animation gets really messed up.

I wonder what their thought process behind this is. Additionally, I notice in that video that certain moves, when "stolen" by... let's call them "unintended users," certain parts of the animation are cut out. That may or may not be related to the Zacian gaffe linked above; Dragon Darts is another fairly well-known example where this occurs, although in that case, the imposter's animation looks relatively fine. I'm curious if it takes extra time and effort to rework these animations for these very specific and unlikely scenarios, or if the sequence is maybe coded in a certain way as to where the game can do it automatically (like, for a clunky I'm-not-a-programmer example, "If Urshifu-S is using Wicked Blow, play this extra portion of the animation"). If it does take extra time, then honestly why not just toss Copycat out with the other moves that SwSh banished, and then figure out if there's a way for a Ditto transformed into Zacian to play the Behemoth Blade animation correctly?

At any rate, Inteleon using Pyro Ball alongside Cinderace in a Double Battle is a pretty cool scene. It's an oddly specific sort of appeal, but I often do like it when characters "borrow" each others' signature techniques.
 
Some type trivia:

While Flying, Water, and Psychic are currently the only types what have been paired with every other type, Dragon is close too, having only one type that's never been paired with it: Bug.

Bug is also the only type to not have a Legendary Pokémon yet.

There are four types that no Mythical Pokémon has had yet: Ground, Poison, Dragon, and Ice.

Fire can have both the highest and lowest (non-zero) type-based multipliers of all the types.
  • The highest is possible in harsh sunlight against a dual-type Pokémon with Fluffy whose both types are weak to Fire-type attacks and that has been affected by Forest's Curse and Tar Shot. This would result in a 48× multiplier. Blaze or Flash Fire can boost it further to a 72× multiplier.
  • The lowest non-zero is possible in rain against a dual-type Pokémon whose both types resist Fire-type attacks, with Thick Fat, Heatproof, or Water Bubble while Water Sport is in effect. This would result in a 0.02065× multiplier.
Poison holds the title of most Pokémon of a certain type introduced in a single generation, with Generation I introducing 33 Poison Pokémon. Water comes in second with 32 Water types introduced in Generation I as well.

Despite Psychic currently having 70 different moves, only four of them are physical (not counting Z-Moves, Max Moves, or G-Max Moves): Zen Headbutt, Psycho Cut, Heart Stamp, and Psychic Fangs.

A majority of Psychic moves, specifically 39 of them, are status moves. However, Normal has the most status moves out of any type, with 95.
 
Flint, Koga, and Lance are the only Elite 4 members that are battlable outside of the Pokemon League. However, Lance is battlable outside of the Pokemon League only in games where he is considered a champion, such as the Double Battle with him and Clair as well as in the PWT. Koga is a Gym Leader in the Kanto games and Flint is also battlable in a double battle against him and Volkner. Also, Lance is the only Elite 4 member to appear in the PWT, and both him and Flint are battlable in a Double Battle against them and the eighth Gym Leader of a region. Also, in both cases, the player's partner is their rival.
Sinnoh is the only region whose Elite 4 does not contain any of the original Indigo Elite 4 types (Ice, Fighting, Ghost, and Dragon), as the Sinnoh Elite 4's types are Bug, Ground, Fire, and Psychic.
Fighting is the only type to have a major specialist in every region, Bruno in Kanto, Chuck in Johto, Brawly in Hoenn, Maylene in Sinnoh, Marshal in Unova, Korrina in Kalos, Hala in Alola, and Bea in Galar.
Dragon is the most prevalent type on Pokemon covers, with ten games (Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl) depicting a Dragon-type Pokemon on the cover. Flying is in 2nd place with 9 games (Red, Gold, Silver, FireRed, Emerald, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Y, and Legends Arceus) depicting a Flying-type Pokemon on the cover. Bug is the only type that has never had a Pokemon of it depicted on the cover of a main series game. Normal, Fighting, and Rock had to wait over 20 years to be depicted on a main series cover, with Normal not getting one until Let's Go Eevee, Fighting didn't get one until Shield, and Rock didn't get one until Legends Arceus).
Every single odd numbered gen has featured a female Ghost-type specialist in the Elite 4, Agatha in Kanto, Phoebe in Hoenn, Shauntal in Unova, and Acerola in Alola.
Ash's Alolan team is the only one that players can completely replicate in Sword and Shield, but this does require Pokemon Go, Bank, and the Expansion Pass.
 
FinnishPokéFan92 said:
Bug is also the only type to not have a Legendary Pokémon yet.
Click to expand...
Unless you count Genesect, which many people do.
RileyXY1 said:
Flint, Koga, and Lance are the only Elite 4 members that are battlable outside of the Pokemon League.
Click to expand...
Grimsley can be battled at the Battle Tree and Hala & Olivia are fought as Kahunas before they are fought in the newly established league.
 
I just became aware of the existence of this video thanks to a user over on the Smogon boards. It is a breakdown of a translated Japanese-only publication from the very beginning of the series's history, which includes longer and more detailed versions of the original 150 Pokémon's Pokédex entries. It's definitely worth watching the full video (and its incoming second part when that gets uploaded) if you have the time, but the main thing I want to draw attention to is these entries:

Nidoran♀: Although small, they have venomous needles with devastating power. Females have a smaller horn than the males. Their breeding period comes every year in spring. At the end of summer, they lay two eggs that hatch in two weeks, one male and one female. Baby Nidoran are just 10 cm long.

Nidorina: Being female, they are placid in nature. They emit ultrasonic cries that can allure enemies. While they are the evolved form of Nidoran♀, they lost the ability to lay eggs upon evolution.

Nidoran♂: They flap their large ears like butterfly wings when straining to hear faraway sounds. They extend venomous needles when angered. In their breeding season, their horn glows in seven colors for wooing females. Apparently, the larger the horn, the more appealing to females.

Nidorino: They are easily angered. They flail with their well-developed horn to skewer even diamonds. While they are the evolved form of Nidoran♂, unlike Nidorina, they do not lose their breeding ability.
Click to expand...

So what we have here is a pretty detailed account of the Nidoran family's breeding process, as well as apparent confirmation that Nidorina and Nidoqueen's sterility has been an intentional part of their profile since the very start. While I can't recall the specifics, I don't think the developers having thoughts about Pokémon breeding even during Gen 1 is particularly new information (and surely Kangaskhan is a clear sign that even if they didn't intend for it to be an actual mechanic right away, it was still something that they thought of as part of the setting) - but nevertheless, it is interesting that it seems to be the case that this element of the Nidoran family was conceived of from the beginning, and then silently retained upon the implementation of breeding in Gen 2, despite it never actually being mentioned by the games' text in the 25 years since.

After the SwSh DLC refused to alter Nidorina and Nidoqueen's Egg Group categories despite some other Pokémon being tweaked in that regard in the base games, I'd pretty much internally come to the conclusion that the quirk of those two is most likely by design - I just couldn't work out what the logic behind it might be. But now we can assess that it's just an aspect of their species lore.

(And on another note, I wonder why they stayed true to that particular detail, but have seemingly discarded the bit about Nidoran♂ having a glowing horn? Once they decided to transition to using 3D models, they could have finally depicted that.)

EDIT: Okay, petition to finally just rename the first stages of the family to Nidora and Nidoro so that the above mess with the symbols doesn't happen again. :cautious: Besides, it'd also save some breath and/or typing time.
 
I completely forgot about another type besides Dragon that's only lacking Bug in order to have gone through every possible type combination: Dark.

In FireRed and LeafGreen, a sprite for a Bug-type TM exists in the game's code, even though no Bug-type TMs existed in Generation III.
 
Esserise said:
So what we have here is a pretty detailed account of the Nidoran family's breeding process, as well as apparent confirmation that Nidorina and Nidoqueen's sterility has been an intentional part of their profile since the very start.
Click to expand...
You know, I started assuming that it was intentional when I realised that no other Pokémon have egg group oddities of that nature in the oversight-tastic Gen 2.
 
There is an ability called "Cacophony" in Gen III games, which basically negates the sound-based moves' effects. But the ability has never been given to a Pokémon. From Gen IV and onwards, the ability has been removed from the database, and has never been given to a Pokémon since.
 
Last edited:
Rockapheller said:
There is an ability called "Cacophony" in Gen III games, which basically negates the sound-based moves' effects. But the ability has never been given to a Pokémon. From Gen IV and onwards, the ability has been removed from the database, and has never been given to a Pokémon since.
Click to expand...
Given there was an Exploud card that used the Ability Cacophony, I would have made the ability a Signature Ability for the Whismur line and had it enhance the power of sound-based moves. Would make the Whismur line somewhat more interesting as well.

Obscure fact:

In the Generation I games, there was meant to possibly be waaay more Channeler trainers you would battle (maybe as a gauntlet of battles?) with only one of the Channelers using a Haunter while the rest only use Gastly.

In Pokémon Colosseum, Cipher Peon Lobar's team consist of Pokémon who all gained an evolution in Generation IV.
 
Three things:
The guys who give you O-Powers in Mauville City can be found sharing an apartment on the second floor. They later disappear, never to be seen again.

Additionally, there is a man avoiding paying rent in one of the apartments

On the roof of Mauville City, there is a female Ace Trainer and a Hex Maniac talking to each other. The Hex Maniac is saying goodbye to the Ace Trainer, saying she’s out of the Ace Trainer’s league, or something to that effect. Whether these characters are friends, sisters, or lovers is unclear.

Disclaimer: I’m not sure if any of this stuff is present in RSE, as I’ve only played ORAS’s version of Hoenn.
 
In dppt, if you somehow delete all your Pokedex data after receiving a Pokedex, your party Pokemon will be re-registered as the next Pokemon of the same type you encounter. While box and battle sprites would remain the same, Infernape for example would be shown in the Pokemon summary page as "Rapidash" if the next fire-type you ran into was a Rapidash.
Not sure if this has ever been documented by anyone besides myself, or if it's possible to recreate... It's cool that this is what your game falls back on in that scenario though.
 
Back
Top Bottom