What's the most embarrassing thing you used to believe about the Pokémon games?

[Plaid]

A small one: when I was really young (about 4 or 5), I knew pretty much nothing about the Pokémon games and had convinced myself that Charizard evolved into Charmeleon. (Logic being that I thought its name was "Charmillion", which sounded like a bigger and more powerful creature than a Charizard, and refused to believe my brother when he was trying to tell me it was the other way around.)

EDIT: Oh! And a couple that just came back to the brain:
I started off not knowing that Master Balls have a 100% catch rate, so I had thought I was just really lucky to have caught my first Dialga with it after using up the entire rest of my PokéBall supply and getting down to my last Pokémon.

Since I don't recall the games explaining or even foreshadowing critical captures to the player, the tinny whistling noise when I landed one for the first time (White) scared me into thinking I'd either run into a glitch or my DSi's speakers were damaged, and I panic-shut the game off without saving. I didn't find out what that actually was until I looked it up later.

 

[SlowGinFizzzz]

A childhood friend somehow managed to convince eight-year-old me that there was a portal somewhere on Mt. Pyre that would lead to a place where "the other eight gym leaders" would be. I only started playing Pokémon with Emerald, so I had never played one of the Johto games (and wouldn't be able to up until HeartGold/SoulSilver came out, which made them even more elusive and fascinating to me), but I did know that there were 16 gym leaders in the previous games, so it seemed only logical to assume there'd be 16 in Emerald as well, because why would a newer game have less content than an older one?

 

[FelipePR]

Oh man, for a long time I believed that was possible, manually, to influence the catch odds. When the pokeball was going to the left, I would push the stick to the left. Then, when it was going to the right, I would move the stick in the same direction. After the oscillations, I used to press the A button.

I don't remember how such dumb idea came to my mind.

 

[WyndonCalling]

Oh man, for a long time I believed that was possible, manually, to influence the catch odds. When the pokeball was going to the left, I would push the stick to the left. Then, when it was going to the right, I would move the stick in the same direction. After the oscillations, I used to press the A button.

I don't remember how such dumb idea came to my mind.

This - or some variation on it - was probably the most common single myth regarding the early games.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

Oh man, for a long time I believed that was possible, manually, to influence the catch odds. When the pokeball was going to the left, I would push the stick to the left. Then, when it was going to the right, I would move the stick in the same direction. After the oscillations, I used to press the A button.

I don't remember how such dumb idea came to my mind.

Lol I STILL do this, or like draw circles in the correct direction on the DS screen. Same in Pokemon GO. Not because I think it actually helps, more just like habit now.

 

[prog rocker]

I also do that, and not only in Pokémon. It's like I just do it out of habit in RPGs.

 

[olivinelighthouse]

I believed that if you leveled your Pokemon to Level 100, it would either die or be looped back to level 1 (which didn't even really exist in the early games since Pokemon hatched at 5 and the lowest wild mons were 2, but hey, I still got the cold sweats when my first Pokemon ever got to level 100).

I also had one of those friends who told you lies about Pokemon games on purpose. My favorite one was that if you did something very specific, you could get an HM to cut down full-size trees. I spent hours fantasizing about where I could explore when I finally got it.

 

[Frozen Fennec]

Prior to becoming more aware of the internet around 2006, I used to believe that defeating the Elite Four a number of times in Generation II and III would let you join the Elite Four with your own team. Oh how silly I was...

 

[prog rocker]

Prior to becoming more aware of the internet around 2006, I used to believe that defeating the Elite Four a number of times in Generation II and III would let you join the Elite Four with your own team. Oh how silly I was...

Well, you were ten years ahead...

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

A friend misled me into believing that overleveled traded pokemon would come to obey on their own if you battled a lot with them so they grew “used” to you.

He traded me a level 100 Infernape that I spent so long grinding on lower routes trying to convince it not to punch itself whenever I sent it out.

 

[PinkIceFox]

For whatever reason, I never really 'fell' for any big hoaxes. I did however HOPE Bill's Secret Garden was a real thing because it sounded neat.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

For whatever reason, I never really 'fell' for any big hoaxes. I did however HOPE Bill's Secret Garden was a real thing because it sounded neat.

Oh wow, Bill's Secret Garden and the hidden starters brings back a TON of cafeteria memories I don't think I was ever fully invested in the conspiracy though for whatever reason. I was too bust hyperfocusing on the Johto whereabouts of keckleon lol

 

[Jet-black Zorua]

I remember thinking that if you let a Pokemon faint too many times it would die. I think someone told me that rumor and I just believed them until I wised up.

 

[Greninjaman]

I remember thinking that if you let a Pokemon faint too many times it would die. I think someone told me that rumor and I just believed them until I wised up.

I can see why someone would think that.

 

[Chevywolf30]

My brother used to think that they were about throwing balls at each other.

 

[Venomaid]

I thought Togepi was a Gen 1 Pokemon because it appeared in the cartoon during the Kanto arc. And I remember asking all my friends how to unlock Togepi in Blue and Red lol.

 

[Novia]

I used to believe that I had to mash A while a Pokeball was catching a Pokémon to improve the chances of catching it too.

 

[GiratinasEmbodiment]

I want to say "let's get the obvious out of the way", but all truth be told, I was given a very unique form of the button-influenced catching rumor. An acquaintance outside of my peer group (who purported to be a Nintendo fan whenever we were relatively alone on our commute and then ignored my existence during busy hours) told me that there was a specific method to maximize your chances of a Poké Ball catching your target: press the B button when the ball closes, hold it for the first shake, release it at the conclusion of the second shake, no contact for the third shake, and press A when the ball is supposed to click. I think it was only after my first round in Unova that I actually bothered to look up this specific information myself.

Also, the first core series game that actually belonged to ME, and thus that I was able to go through the entirety of, was Pokémon Pearl Version. I was under the impression that motions on the touch-screen during battle animations could influence the damage of an attack. Perform actions on the touch screen relative to the attack to activate (i.e. rapid haphazard tapping when using Close Combat, circular motions for Flame Wheel). Slash right repeatedly if you want to reduce damage, slash left repeatedly if you want to increase damage. "Useful" (see the quotations I'm making with my claw hands) when you're trying very hard NOT to knock out a Pokémon because you want to catch it.

Being a sentient creature (and stupidly adherent to thematicism what's more), I still do some of these things despite knowing better - not because I think they have any effect, but just because they give my hands something to do while the animations are playing.

 

[Yami-no-Game]

I used to think that holding down the B button while throwing a Pokeball increased the odds of it succeeding. Even now I still do that out of habit.

 

[Daenerys]

For whatever reason, I never really 'fell' for any big hoaxes. I did however HOPE Bill's Secret Garden was a real thing because it sounded neat.

I never fell for that rumor although I did think that the pond behind Cherrygrove's Pokemon Center in G/S/C was a special area. I remember trying a ton of different methods to reach it but to no avail.