Pokemon changed the face of entertainment history. From games to comics, shows, and toys, it has become an unstoppable cultural juggernaut. However, even the biggest fans of the franchise don't know everything about it. Here are the strangest secrets from
r/todayilearned about the world's most popular franchise!
Also check out
Cancelled Canon: 10 Cancelled Pokémon Games.
1
The Pokemon Kadabra stopped appearing in the trading card games due to a lawsuit filed by magician Uri Geller in the early 2000s. Geller claimed that Nintendo based Kadabra on him because he also has a spoon-bending act and its Japanese name Yungeller sounds similar to his own.
2
The Pokemon Charizard inspired the naming of Chilicola Charizard, a species of stem-nesting bee.
3
Bronze medal Olympian, UFC champion, and WWE wrestler Ronda Rousey used to be a moderator on a Pokemon forum, in her bio it said "I also spend a lot of time doing judo... right now I'm ranked #1 under 20, if you don't believe me look it up."
4
The Pokemon Wobbuffet (called Sonans in Japan) is an homage to the late Japanese comedian Sanpei Hayashiya, who was known for a bit where he would touch his hand to his forehead and say "sō nansu, okusan," which translates to "That's the way it is, ma'am."
5
3 newly discovered Australian beetles were named after Legendary Pokemon: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres due to their rarity and one researcher's love for gen 1 Pokemon games.
6
The most expensive collection of Pokemon cards is valued at over $10 million, by Gary Haase, a 67-yr old father of 3 from Las Vegas.
7
The Pokemon Magikarp's evolution into Gyarados is inspired by Chinese mythology where the Carps who jump over the Dragon gate are immediately transformed into mighty Dragons. Nowadays, “Carp Leaping over the Dragon Gate” symbolizes good wishes for overnight achievements and advancements.
8
Based on the revenue total including revenue from movie tickets, home entertainment, video games, merchandise, and any other franchise-related products, Pokemon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. Followed by Hello Kitty in second place and Winnie the Pooh third.
9
SEGA's edutainment "Pico" system had a couple of games featuring Pokemon. Meaning, there are several official, Nintendo-approved Pokemon titles exclusive to a SEGA console.
10
A driver distracted by playing Pokemon and a pedestrian playing Pokemon, each injured in separate accidents but treated at the same time in the same ER, were among the first reports of augmented reality application-related injuries, which prompted medical research into reality-based games.
11
When Pokemon Go first came out, it increased U.S. activity levels by 144 billion steps in just 30 days.
12
The Hermit of North Pond- Christopher Knight- lived off of supplies he stole from nearby cabins in a secret campsite where he evaded human contact for almost 30 years. He stole and loved playing Pokemon, Tetris, and Dig-Dug but never stole games he thought were new or would be missed by kids.
13
Satoshi Tajiri (Creator of Pokemon) has Autism.
14
Burger King recalled Pokeball containers after an 18-month-old girl suffocated on the promotional item for Pokemon: The First Movie leading to one of the most expensive recalls in history in which the container can be returned to a local Burger King for a small fries.
15
If he hadn't died, the original head writer for the Pokemon anime was going to end the series with Ash as an old man in the real world, and all his adventures being imaginary.
16
The Pokemon franchise has generated approximately three times as much money as Harry Potter.
17
GPS signals are being spoofed in some areas of Moscow: “the fake signal, which seems to center on the Kremlin, relocates anyone nearby to Vnukovo Airport, 32 km away. The scale of the problem did not become apparent until people began trying to play Pokemon Go.”
18
At the beginning of the Pokemon franchise, Pikachu was named "Jean Luc" by Ash. This name was quickly abandoned though.
19
Jason Paige, the singer of the original Pokémon Theme, didn't expect the song to become popular and knew nothing about the franchise when he recorded it. He considers the song to be a relatively minor part of his career, as he has worked with Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, and Frankie Valli.
20
When it was time to make Pokemon Stadium, future Nintendo President Satoru Iwata got a hold of the PKMN Red/Green source code, and figured out how all the battle logic worked so it could be ported. The original programmer was astounded he figured out the complicated system - in just a week.
21
The city of Topeka, Kansas changed its name to "Topikachu" in honor of the release of new Pokemon games not once, but twice - once in 1998, and once more 20 years later in 2018.
22
Pentagon employees are banned from playing Pokemon go inside the building because the users' movements are inadvertently mapping the insides of the Pentagon for all to see.
23
In 2000, amid rampant rumors that Pokemon was the work of the devil, the Pope gave his blessing to Pokemon calling it "full of inventive imagination" and that it did not have "any harmful moral side effects."
24
Today I learned of Twitch Plays Pokemon. A social experiment where internet users collaborated to beat Pokemon Red in just over 16 days. Generally regarded as a classic internet moment, the event holds the world record for "the most participants on a single-player online videogame" with 1,165,140.
25
In 2005, researchers made a groundbreaking discovery of a novel gene that causes cancer when mutated and tried naming the gene Pokemon but were promptly threatened with a lawsuit by Pokemon USA because the company "did not want Pokemon associated with cancer."
