Everyone who grew up watching Pokémon knows how Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) started to dream of becoming a Pokémon master. But along the 23 years of airing, there are several interesting details that you probably have missed.
The 2-long-decade history of Pokémon showed its fans several changes, including the growing number of Pokémon being discovered. Currently, there are 838 Pokémon, and within those numbers, 59 are Legendary.
Aside from growing numbers of Pokémon, Ash met several aspiring Pokémon masters and trainers, as well as villains along the way. But, watching all of Ash’s and Pikachu’s adventure, as well as the rest of the gang’s, do you think you didn’t miss anything as a fan?
Here are the top 5 facts you probably did not know about Pokémon:
#1: The first Pokémon
Who was the first Pokémon? It isn’t Pikachu.
Although the story is revolving mostly around Pikachu, Pokémon isn’t the first one that was created. Going through the history of Pokémon, the first Pokémon in Pokedex was Bulbasaur. However, that is not all; there are other firsts in Pokémon. For instance;
- Rhydon was the first Pokémon ever designed.
- Mew was the ancestor of all Pokémon.
- Arceus was the Pokémon that had created the Universe and all Pokémon.
- Victini, a Mythical Pokémon, is at #0 in UnovaPokedex.
However, if it is Ash’s first Pokémon, Pikachu ranks #1 along with Ash’s first roster of Pokémon, such as Bulbasaur, Butterfree, Squirtle, Charizard, and Pidgeotto. If you are a true Pokémon fan, your Pokémon action figure collection should have Ash’s first roster of Pokémon.
#2: Gaming magazine came out first before the anime
Pokémon, in short Pocket Monsters, was originally from a gaming magazine in Japan during 1980. Later on, in 1997, a year after the Pokémon game was released in Japan, Pokémon anime started running. Currently, there are 1,115 episodes of Pokémon that you might want to catch up on.
#3: The first Pokémon merch
The first Pokémon merchandise was video games and still the driving force behind the rest of the merch and franchise.
Other than video games, there is other great Pokémon merch that is created for Pokémon fans. For instance, Pokémon plushies, Nanoblocks, Monopoly, ready-to-wear (t-shirts, costumes, etc.), electronic devices (speakers, AirPods case, etc.), funko pops, and more.
#4: Pokémon names
Did you know that there are Pokémon that shouldn’t have the names they have right now? For instance, Koffing and Weezing were originally named Ny and La, respectively, representing the polluted air in New York and Los Angeles. Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff were originally Pudding and Custard. And Pickachu’s name was originally an onomatopoeic word, where Pika-Pika means sparkle and Chu-Chu means squeaking.
#5: Pikachu was not the original mascot
Despite Pikachu’s popularity, the Pokémon was not the original mascot but Clefairy. The reason was, Clefairy was able to talk and was a counterpart to the Team Rocket’s sidekick Meowth. Anyway, the anime producers pushed Pikachu as the mascot because it resembles a cute family pet.
So, how many facts did you find most interesting?