It’s a Pokemon World: 10 Strangely Interesting Facts About Pokemon

Aside from discovering a new Pokemon, learning something new about an old one is what makes us all feel a little more like Professor Oak. With 807 Pokemon currently discovered, and tons that keep being revealed, there’s always stuff to learn. 

But even some of the veteran pokemon have secrets the masters might not know. Keep reading this list of 10 interesting facts about Pokemon to test your Poki-knowledge!

10 Interesting Facts About Pokemon

From legendary Pokemon to your common Meowth, there’s something special about every Pokemon. But there are also hidden traits and things that go unnoticed about Pokemon too.

A lot of these attributes were spotted in games, and a few of them came from the movies or cards. Let’s see if you know them all!

1. Meowth and Pikachu Are… Twins? 

Well, not so much. 

They’re actually opposites. But they’re mirrored to be a pair.

Thinks about it. One’s a cat, the other a mouse. 

This dynamic pairing is so evident in the show, but not a lot of people pause to think about it. The Pikachu that follows Ash Ketchum around is always being flanked by the Meowth that’s a part of Team Rocket.

Good Team vs. Bad Team. Pikachu vs. Meowth.

These two Pokemon are basically flip twins. Speaking of flips, Pikachu is registered as #25 in the Pokédex, while Meowth is #52. 

Coincidence?

We think not. 

2. Ditto Is a What?

A wild Ditto has appeared! 

And… it looks like a glob of goo. 

But then it can transform and has all these mysterious powers. Deep down, there’s more to this Pokemon than just being a friendlier looking Grimmer.

Maybe it’s because, in the original games, Ditto can be found in The Pokemansion (where Mewtwo was cloned). 

And you know who Mewtwo was cloned from…

That’s right: Mew. The legend goes that Ditto is the result of failed attempts at cloning Mew.

For more layering on the cake: Ditto and Mew have the same base stats, similar colors, and both can naturally learn Transform. 

A wild Ditto certainly has appeared!

3. Speaking of Legendaries 

In the original games, there was one fire type Pokemon that was always on people’s minds. 

It’s big, furious, and runs on four paws.

And when you come across one you certainly think it’s mythical.

Arcanine was originally set to be a legendary Pokemon. 

Consider the early Pokemon episode: Pokemon Emergency!. In this episode, an engraving of Archanine is found next to the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. 

A generation later and people thought it was an early reference to Entei, but turns out, if you look at Arcanine’s classification in the early years, it was the legendary fire dog-like Pokemon. 

4. There’s a Time And Place for Everything…

You might still hear Oak’s words echoed today when you try to do something you can’t like fish in a sidewalk or ride your bike in a store. 

But did you know that in the old Red and Blue Pokemon games, you could fish in a very peculiar spot, as you wished?

Those Rhydons in gyms weren’t just for show: you could use your Old Rod to fish for Magikarp. Talk about a weird hack!

Crazy right! Who would want to fish for Magikarp? 

Kidding! Gotta get that Shiney, Perfect EV and IV Magikarp right?

But who would want to fish in the gym? 

5. Speaking of Rhydon

People often equate Bulbasaur to being the first ever discovered Pokemon (which is true). 

But if you go a little more meta, the first ever created Pokemon was the rock dinosaur, Rhydon.

With its drill-horn-nose, its impressive size, and its powerful abilities, Rhydon was the first to be created by GameFreak. 

Maybe that’s where there’s a Rhydon statue in the gyms of the Pokemon games.

6. Zap Zap Zap

Gyms are always a challenge and excitement.

Battling a gym leader for the first time, and winning, is one of the greatest moments for a Pokemon Trainer. 

And one of the most notorious Gym Leaders is famous Lt. Surge, in which you usually get the TM Zap Cannon after defeating. 

A popular Pokemon to teach this to was Magnemite or Magneton, but you might not have known this small detail about the levitating magnet Pokemon.

Magneton is three Magnemite’s in one. Like magnets, they come together. And you would think that they’d weigh about three times as much as a single Magnemite… but it’s way more.

Like 10x more.

Talk about a massive spike, and not only in power! 

No wonder why the notorious Lt. Surge always had a Magnemite in training!

If you’re looking to up your Pokemon Go game and be like one of the great gym leaders of old, view this guide.

7. Hitmonlee vs. Hitmonchan 

Who would you put your money on? 

These two famous fighting Pokemon actually got their names from a few famous fighters in the real world. 

Any guesses? 

Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. 

But this fact is also true for their original Japanese names. World famous kickboxer, Tadashi Sawamura, and fighter, Hiroyuki Ebihara were honored by the Pokemon names Ebihara (Hitmonchan) and Sawamura (Hitomonlee). 

Talk about memorable! 

8. Devolve? 

Everyone usually wants to evolve their Pokemon. 

You get a power spike, it’s the next level, you can learn more moves, and you can take crazy cool or cute pictures with your favorites in Pokemon Go. 

But have you ever thought about Devolving your Pokemon? 

Probably not. Unless you just missed the cute face of your Pikachu. 

But there is one Pokemon that can actually devolve. 

Slowbro. 

The evolution from Slowpoke to Slowbro happens when a Shellder latches to the tail of a Slowpoke. The two fuse as one and become Slowbro (Slowking is another story).

But as Pokédex will tell us, if the two detach, the evolution is reversed. 

Just good luck making that happen in your game.

And if Slowbro turns back to Slowpoke… what does Shellder turn back into?

9. Cough Cough, Wheeze Wheeze

The two famous gas Pokemon, Koffing and Weezing, were originally set to be named after famous cities. 

Their naming was an early call out on air pollution and what it was doing to people’s lungs.

Could this be why we see the villainous Team Rocket use them? 

The Beta names for this duo was Ny and La, after the famous cities of New York and Los Angeles. Crazy right?

10. Mew… Two?

Everyone knows Mewtwo was cloned after Mew. 

There was a whole movie dedicated to the tale. 

But something comes across as a little odd, and puzzles millions of Pokemon fans to this day.

In the Pokédex, Mewtwo comes first, before Mew.

So if they discovered Mew before Mewtwo was ever even successfully created, how does that make any sense? 

A fun bit of GameFreak knowledge is that developer Shigeki Morimoto actually programmed Mew just two weeks before the original games finished development.

And the rest is history!

More Weird Facts

We hope you’ve enjoyed these interesting facts about Pokemon, and can take this knowledge on you’re own adventures as you try to become the very best there ever was. If you’re looking for more weird facts on your favorite topics, head on over to our interesting facts page where we post tons of content. 

If you don’t see something you’re looking for over there, feel free to reach out and contact us. We’d love to dig up some crazy weird, interesting facts on your favorite subject! 

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