Generation 1 Pokemon

Venusaur

This Pokemon is usually referred to as the least popular Gen 1 Starter by the community, yet it is one of the favorite Pokemon of Ken Sugimori, the main artist for the franchise.

Despite the name containing the suffix, "saur", it is based on frogs, and not dinosaurs, despite popular belief.

This Pokemon has a noticeable difference for the male/female forms, where the female version has a giant seed in the flower.

For some reason the design decision for both alternate forms were just to make the flower on his back bigger.

There was a weird fusion between Venusaur and Blastoise in the anime.

Charmander

The anime decided to make a concerning decision to make it so Charmander literally dies if the fire on its tail goes out.

Early pokedex entries did not mention this detail, instead saying the fire is akin to a fighting spirit, "The flame on its tail shows the strength of its life force. If it is weak, the flame also burns weakly."

This later inspired the Pokedex to confirm this as a fact, "From the time it is born, a flame burns at the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame were to go out."

Charizard

Despite this Pokemon being consistenly shown to be able to carry people on its back, its actual height is 5'07", meaning lifting an actual adult is not gonna happen.

This is one of the most popular Pokemon, gaining 2 mega evolutions, which out of the 1000+ Pokemon, only 1 other Pokemon can say, it also got a Gigantamax form before the other 2 starters and it was the only Gen 1 starter allowed in Gen 8 and 9 at first, the others were transferrable later.

Despite appearances, it is not actually a Dragon-type Pokemon.

Its one of the only Pokemon to have its Shiny coloration change between generations. It was purple in Gen 2 and changed to black in Gen 3 and onward.

Squirtle

This Pokemon has a Mario reference in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

If you jump onto his shell, he enters a special animation where he cannot move anymore, a reference to how jumping on a Koopa renders them unable to act.

This techincally applies to all the Gen 1 starters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but i'll mention it specifically here.

All the Pokemon suffer from unique mechanics, such as type weaknesses and doing less damage if out for too much time. While the type weaknesses is a reference to Pokemon, "It's super effective!", there is no exhaustion mechanic, any Pokemon can fight for as long as possible without losing power, unless knocked out or affected by status moves.

Blastoise

This Pokemon is infamous for having multiple cannons on its back, and never shooting anything out of them.

In the games, its attacks are animated as it shooting out of its mouth instead of those back cannons.

Fearow

The anime and the manga used the same joke about its name, that being: "Nothing to fear but Fearow itself".

Ekans

Ekans spelled backwards is Snake.

Arbok

Arbok spelled backwards is Kobra.

Also whoever wrote the manga really hates Arbok, as he gets literally cut in half multiple times.

Pikachu

The mascot, the iconic rat. This Pokemon basically has inspired a generational version for each game.

Gen 2: Marill, Gen 3: Plusle/Minum, Gen 4: Pachirisu, Gen 5: Emolga, Gen 6: Dedenne, Gen 7: Togedemaru and Mimikyu, Gen 8: Morpeko, Gen 9: Pawmot

This Pokemon has a bunch of games focused around him, such as: "Pokemon Yellow", "Hey, you Pikachu!", "Let's Go, Pikachu!", etc.

One of the few Pokemon who was allowed in every Gen 8 and 9 Pokemon game.

This was the first Pokemon to have its "cry", the little noise a Pokemon plays upon entry, be changed. It was changed to actually say its name, a reference to the anime's decision to make Pokemon say their names.

It has a z-move called, "Catastropika"

It really liked Ketchup in the anime.

In the Generation 3 anime, Pikachu was possesed by the Blue Orb, causing it to get sick symbols all around its body and control the god of land.

Raichu

The evolution of the iconic rat, its widely less popular than its predecessor.

Apparently Indian Elephants are a thing in the Pokemon universe.

"Its electric charges can reach even 100,000 volts. Careless contact can cause even an Indian elephant to faint."

Later this was retconned to be the Pokemon Copperajah, a Pokemon based on the Indian Elephant.

"It can discharge bursts of electricity exceeding 100,000 volts— a single strike with that amount of power would incapacitate one of the Copperajah of my homeland."

Nidoran

So, there is a male and female version, the only Gen 1 Pokemon with genders in fact.

However when breeding was introduced these Pokemon are suppose to be pairs, however Nidorina and Nidoqueen cannot breed for whatever reason, but Nidoran still can breed, even with the adult Nidoking.

Nidoqueen

So besides literally having breasts, its entrance animation in Pokemon Stadium is really weird, since it adjusts its breasts upon entry.

The english version of the game changed this animation to just a breast jiggle (how else do I word this?!).

Clefairy

This pokemon was originally planned to be the mascot of the franchise.

You might also get mugged for having one, "They're popular, but they're rare. Trainers who show them off recklessly may be targeted by thieves."

Ninetales

This Pokemon is entirely vindictive, cursing people for 1,000 years for the crime of touching its tails:

"It is vindictive and relentless by nature. Those who cross it even once will be cursed for a thousand years, along with their descendants."

"Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1000-year curse."

This curse was realized in Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team, when a human grabbed one of Ninetales' tails, he was attacked, although his Gardevoir took the curse for him.

The Gardevoir was basically sealed in a cave until you help him break the curse post-game.

Apparently its a fusion between a bunch of humans too:

"According to an enduring legend, 9 noble saints were united and reincarnated as this Pokémon."

"Legend has it that Ninetales came into being when nine wizards possessing sacred powers merged into one. This Pokémon is highly intelligent - it can understand human speech."

Jigglypuff

It was a Normal-type originally, but got the Fairy-type added to it later.

In the anime, this Pokemon had the running joke that when someone would fall asleep to its songs, it would draw on their faces.

It visited New York City Neon City, the city that never sleeps, and made everyone fall asleep.

In Pewter City, you can talk to an Npc's Jigglypuff and hear its singing.

Wigglytuff

This Pokemon was originally only Normal-type, and later got the Fairy-type added to it.

In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, it was one of the strongest characters in the game, only having 100 less hp than the god of time.

Furthermore, there is an inconsistency with his gender. In Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, he was referred to as a "he". However, in Super Mystery Dungeon, he was referred to as "he" by his teacher Armaldo, but as a "she" by his partner Chatot.

Golbat

This Pokemon gets drunk on blood.

"It can drink more than 10 ounces of blood at once. If it has too much, it gets heavy and flies clumsily."

Vileplume

Based around the real flower, "Rafflesia", its odor is a reference to how the real life flower smells like a rotting corpse.

Parasect

Based around a real-life parasitic mushroom that takes control of ants.

This is why Parasect's eyes are glazed over, the original Pokemon is essentially killed upon evolution, and the mushroom is what you are commanding.

Here are some of the most cursed Pokedex entries:

"The bug host is controlled by the mushrooms that scatter poisonous spores. The spores are sometimes used as medicine in China."

"When nothing's left to extract from the bug, the mushrooms on its back leave spores on the bug's egg."

"The bug is mostly dead, with the mushroom on its back having become the main body. If the mushroom comes off, the bug stops moving."

"Mushroom-lacking specimens of this Pokémon lie unmoving in the forest, lending credence to the hypothesis that the large mushroom is in control of Parasect's actions."

Diglett

Despite being just a head, it somehow can use moves like Scratch and Sucker Punch.

Apparently it has feet?

Psyduck

This Pokemon is shown to have crazy psychic powers in other media, such as the anime and movies.

In Gen 4, a group of Psyduck blocked your path because their headaches were so bad they needed medication before being moved.

"As a result of headaches so fierce they cause it to cry, it sometimes uses psychokinesis without meaning to."

Despite this, its not a Pyschic-type, it is only a Water-type Pokemon.

Some people believe its name is a mixup error, since its evolution is called "Golduck", yet the gold color scheme belongs to Psyduck instead.

This is Junichi Masuda's favorite Pokemon.

Originally, this was suppose to be the other Pokemon for the Let's Go spinoffs. Eevee was chosen instead because they did not want to have 2 yellow colored Pokemon.

In the manga, there was a zombie psyduck that showed a decomposing corpse, and an eyeball falling out of its socket.

Primeape

Have you ever been so angry you died?, "It has been known to become so angry that it dies as a result. Its face looks peaceful in death, however."

Later it got an evolution that forces you to kill it by expressing so much rage it turns into a Ghost-type.

Since its prior evolution, Mankey, has a tail, it could learn Iron Tail. However, when it evolves it loses its tail, but can still use Iron Tail.

Arcanine

Apparently China is real in Pokemon, "A legendary Pokémon in China. Many people are charmed by its grace and beauty while running."

The anime tried to categorize it with the legendary birds, so it may have been planned to be a Legendary Pokemon originally.

Poliwag

The spirals you see on its stomach is a reference to tadpoles having see-through bellies, where you can see their intenstines. These intenstines are organized as a spiral in real-life as well.

Kadabra

"It happened one morning - a boy with extrasensory powers awoke in bed transformed into Kadabra."

This Pokemon has a strange controversy surrounding it, as some illusionist named "Uri Geller" claimed it was a parody of him.

This controversy prevented it from being printed in the TCG as a card, showing up in the anime and more.

In 2020, the illusionist apologized and Kadabra was allowed to make appearances in the media again.

Alakazam

"If it trusts someone deeply, it will let them have one of its spoons. Anything you eat with that spoon is apparently delicious."

Weepinbell

Apparently normal birds exist in Pokemon, courtesy of the TCG.

Tentacruel

There was an unreleased episode that showed a Kaiju Tentacruel attacking a city.

Despite the episode being unreleased, they still use a frame of the episode for the intro of the show, that being Tentacruel smashing a building.

The Pokedex really likes mentioning that it has 80 tentacles, which I think is a flat lie, given that it is never shown to have more than like 10.

"It has 80 tentacles. Once they wrap around an enemy, the tentacles will not release, no matter what."

In the manga, it totally killed someone by dragging them into a cave-in, and also critically wounded 2 people.

Golem

This Pokemon's name is literally Golem, like a rock monster.

Ponyta

Despite being on fire, you can still ride it, if it trusts you anyway.

Slowpoke

This poor Pokemon's tails can't catch a break, its tail is consumed by humans, and being bitten by a different Pokemon triggers its evolution.

Slowbro

Being bitten by a Shellder will cause this Pokemon to evolve. It thinks better by being bitten.

"Though usually dim witted, it seems to become inspired if the Shellder on its tail bites down."

"An attached Shellder won't let go because of the tasty flavor that oozes out of its tail."

While nothing like this can happen in the game, Slowbro is apparently the only Pokemon who can devolve:

"If the tail-biting Shellder is thrown off in a harsh battle, it reverts to being an ordinary Slowpoke."

Seel

This Pokemon's name is literally seel. Like seal. Get it?!

Dewgong

You might be thinking Dewgong is a cool name, just kidding a "Dewgong" is literally a type of seal.

Grimer

"Sludge that was transformed when exposed to X-rays from the moon. Loves sludge, industrial waste and other refuse."

Muk

Muk spelled backwards is REDACTED.

Gastly

This Pokemon's Japanese name is Ghos. No, that is not a misspelling, it is Ghost minus the t.

This Pokemon mentions the Indian Elephant thing again.

"A being that exists as a thin gas. It can topple an Indian elephant by enveloping the prey in two seconds."

Misty held up a cross against a Gastly, in one of the funniest images from the anime.

Haunter

Its licks can cause painful deaths. Poor Charmander. Also Misty too, I guess.

"Its tongue is made of gas. If licked, its victim starts shaking constantly until death eventually comes."

Its Japanese name is literally Ghost.

In the Electric Tale of Pikachu Manga, it was given quite the depiction.

Gengar

Fittingly enough, a ghost type has some of the most cursed pokedex entries in the franchise.

"Should you feel yourself attacked by a sudden chill, it is evidence of an approaching Gengar. There is no escaping it. Give up."

"It apparently wishes for a traveling companion. Since it was once human itself, it tries to create one by taking the lives of other humans."

It, along with Nidorino, is apart of the famous intro scene in the original game. This scene is referenced in the anime, manga, etc.

Hypno

There is a guy that dresses up as a Hypno in a grocery store in Generation 7 asking for donations. He gives you a TM if you pay him the highest amount.

There was an unreleased shirt design featuring Hypno leading 2 children away with its hypnotism.

There is an added sidequest in the remakes of the Gen 1 games, FireRed and LeafGreen, where a Hypno kidnaps a little girl.

The quest is resolved when you go deep into the forest and knock it out.

All of this is probably a reference to its Pokedex entry.

"It carries a pendulum-like device. There once was an incident in which it took away a child it hypnotized."

Despite all this horribleness, it does have at least one saving grace.

"There are some Hypno that assist doctors with patients who can't sleep at night in hospitals."

It had hypnotized Misty in the anime to act like a Seel. Given what we know of Hypno, this is surprisingly tame.

Krabby

This Pokemon's name is literally Krabby.

Its Japanese name literally translates to Crab.

Voltorb

This Pokemon just explodes. A lot. Sometimes to the point of being used as grenades in other media.

"It is said to camouflage itself as a Poké Ball. It will self-destruct with very little stimulus."

There used to be a fan-theory that stated because this Pokemon was found near Lavender Town, and its eyes are similar to Haunters, that Voltorb is a Haunter possessing a Pokeball.

Exeggcute

The Pokedex can never decide whether these things are eggs or seeds.

"Its six eggs converse using telepathy. They can quickly gather if they become separated."

"Even though it appears to be eggs of some sort, it was discovered to be a life-form more like plant seeds."

Distrubingly, theres always been one egg/seed that has its shell cracked and its innards exposed.

Exeggutor

Each head can think independently, although they seem to get along fine.

There was an episode in the anime where a bunch of Exeggutors had hypnotized Ash and each other and went on a rampage.

Cubone

Much of this Pokemon's lore revolves around its dead mother and its grief.

This Pokemon is found in a cemetery, it wears the skull of its dead mother and its constantly crying.

Despite the whole wear the skull of its mom, you can breed a Marowak and its still alive, so uhh, idk how that works.

The card game decided to go in on making some of the most depressing artwork for this Pokemon.

Marowak

As stated, this is Cubone's evolution and thus its mother. Why can you breed it, and cubone still has a wearable skull who knows?

In the anime, Ash's Pikachu defeats a Marowak with an Electric-type move, despite that being impossible since ground is immune to electric.

This was fixed much later in a different episode, where Pikachu shocks the whole group, and Marowak just stands there unaffected.

Koffing

This Pokemon's beta name was "NY", a reference to New York's pollution.

In the "improved" version of the original games, Pokemon Blue, Koffing was drawn incorrectly.

Weezing

This Pokemon's beta name was "LA", a reference to Los Angeles' pollution.

Rhydon

This is the first Pokemon ever designed.

This Pokemon has the infamous meme of, "Aim for the horn!", which is when Ash defeated a Rhydon with Pikachu's electric attacks.

Theres a million reasons why this is dumb, but to start going down the list:

Rhydon is a Ground-type, meaning electric moves do not work on it.

Furthermore, Rhydon's ability, Lightning Rod, makes it immune to electric moves as well.

Mr. Mime

Do we have to talk about this one?

This Pokemon is another one of those, "This is just a guy" Pokemon.

Despite this, Ash's Mom had a Mr. Mime that did chores like a person, but would still eat out of a dog bowl on the floor like an animal.

If you ever decide to interrupt its act, prepared to get smacked.

"If interrupted while it is miming, it will slap around the offender with its broad hands."

There was a scene in the manga where it created an invisible force field in a hot-spring to prevent the two characters from getting close to each other.

Didn't stop the woman from showing her bare body to the kid though.

Jynx

Oh boy...I prayed it would never come to this.

Again, like Nidoqueen, this Pokemon just has breasts.

It has the longest cry of any Pokemon.

Its design may be a reference to nordic or viking women, hence the Ice-typing.

It is literally the "Human Shape Pokemon", which is concerning enough, so i'll leave it at that.

Okay, so the problem with this Pokemon was it was controversal for racism.

Its original color scheme was black instead of purple, which made people say it was a black-face reference, an obvious racist depiction of an African-American.

This is why its skin was changed to purple.

It was in a banned episode, (what a shock), where it kissed Brock apparently? It also had its original black color scheme in this episode too.

In the manga, it could create ice voodoo dolls that caused permanent damage to humans.

The most severe injury being an 11-year old girl getting her arm ripped off because the voodoo doll shattered.

Pinsir

There is a concerning scene in the anime where Ash envisions his Metapod getting torn in half by a Pinsir.

Magikarp

One of the few Pokemon that can be purchased in the games.

It learns 3 attacks, Splash, Tackle, and Bounce.

The Pokedex really hates it, Pokemon Ruby having my favorite entry for it.

"Magikarp is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon that is only capable of flopping and splashing. This behavior prompted scientists to undertake research into it."

"It is said to be the world's weakest Pokémon. No one knows why it has managed to survive."

There was a scene in the anime where Brock and Ash dreamed about eating a cut-up magikarp.

Gyarados

This Pokemon is a reference to an old folklore, of how a fish climbing up an waterfall will transform into a dragon.

Despite this reference, its not a Dragon-type, it's instead a Flying-type.

This could be because Water/Dragon-type would have had no weaknesses in Gen 1, except for Dragon moves, but there was only 1 Dragon-type move in Gen 1, and it always did 40 damage. This attack was Dragon Rage.

The evolution of Magikarp into Gyarados is the highest stat gain of any Pokemon, tied with Feebas and Milotic anyway.

This Pokemon was the first ever guaranteed Shiny Pokemon, that being the famous Red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage.

This Pokemon got a Mega evolution, and was a major abuser of Dynamax and Terastallize.

In a different manga, they gave it a horrifying realistic depiction

Ditto

This pokemon can transform into anything, beyond just Pokemon, although in the games its strictly limited to Pokemon.

In Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, it transformed into a treasure chest, in Detective Pikachu: The Movie: it transformed into multiple different humans.

The anime added the detail that while it can transform, it keeps its original eyes, giving its transformations beedy little eyes.

A popular fan theory is that Ditto is a failed Mew experiment, given the pink color scheme, ability to transform, evenly distributed stat spread and same shiny color as Mew.

Eevee

One of the most popular Pokemon, its the only other Pokemon to say its name in the games, right next to Pikachu, was picked as the other Pokemon for the Let's Go spinoffs, has the most evolutions out of any Pokemon, and was picked as the rival Pokemon in Pokemon Yellow.

Vaporeon

Hey guys I know a cool fact about Vaporeon. (I won't post the whole thing here but look up Vaporeon copypasta if you actually want to know).

Apparently discord knows about it, since you can type "Vaporeon" in the GIF tab and a portion of the animated version of the copypasta is there. I would not actually try this unless you are fine with seeing a humanized Vaporeon.

Its body is made up almost entirely of water, meaning it can dissolve and blend into bodies of water.

Flareon

Hey guys, did you know that in terms of human companionship, Flareon is objectively the most huggable Pokemon? While their maximum temperature is likely too much for most, they are capable of controlling it, so they can set themselves to the perfect temperature for you. Along with that, they have a lot of fluff, making them undeniably incredibly soft to touch. But that's not all, they have a very respectable special defense stat of 110, which means that they are likely very calm and resistant to emotional damage. Because of this, if you have a bad day, you can vent to it while hugging it, and it won't mind. It can make itself even more endearing with moves like Charm and Baby Doll Eyes, ensuring that you never have a prolonged bout of depression ever again.

Porygon

This Pokemon had a banned anime episode that caused children to suffer seizures.

Despite Pikachu actually being the source of the flashing strobe effect, we needed a different scapegoat, so Porygon was chosen.

Because of this, Porygon has been banned from showing up in the anime, and only its evolutions have made appearances, and minor ones at that.

Apparently you can copyright living creatures.

"It is capable of reverting itself entirely back to program data in order to enter cyberspace. A Porygon is copy-protected so it cannot be duplicated."

Omanyte

This Pokemon is famous for its contribution in the Twitch Plays: Pokemon Livestream.

Since the item, "Helix Fossil" is a key item, which cannot be consumed, players would constantly select it in the menu, leading to the joke that they were consulting the Helix Fossil.

This is where the meme, "Praise Helix!" originates from.

Snorlax

This Pokemon apparently caused a famine in ancient times.

"This glutton appears in villages without warning and devours the entirety of their rice granaries—such occurrences have long been counted among the gravest of disasters."

Also Snorlax is just me.

"Very lazy. Just eats and sleeps. As its rotund bulk builds, it becomes steadily more slothful."

It becomes woke when using its signature z-move.

Articuno

Its Japanese name is literally "Furiza" or Freezer.

Zapdos

Its Japanese name is literally "Sanda" or Thunder.

Moltres

What appears to be wings on fire are actually feathers that simply look like fire.

Its Japanese name is literally "Fiyai" or Fire.

Mewtwo

This is actually my favorite Pokemon.

This Pokemon has a birthday, Feburary 6th.

Also, the game states that Mew directly gave birth to it.

Mewtwo had a cut scene from the first movie, where it revealed more of his origins. This deleted scene showed Mewtwo in a virtual reality with some of Pokemon Clones and a Cloned girl. They bonded in this virtual reality, but the scene ends with the other clones dying and Mewtwo being the only survivor. This scene helps explain why Mewtwo comes out of the cloning procedure full of hatred towards people.

While not directly shown or stated, Mewtwo more than likely killed everyone in the laboratory when escaping.

He has one of the most profound, admittedly not actually what he said, quote being, "I see now that it is not the condition of one's birth, but what one does with the gift of life, that determines the worth of an individual."

In the manga, he was described as having 2 fighting styles, 1 vs many, where he would conjure psychic waves that had the force of a hurricane.

The more noteworthy fighting style was his 1 vs 1, where he used a spoon like a sword. This spoon was capable of cutting through steel and extending its size, basically making it a lightsaber.

Mew

The first mythical Pokemon, it was not even originally programmed into the game, being the decision of one guy to program later.

There was a popular fan theory that using Strength on a specific truck near the S.S. Anne would cause Mew to appear.

GameFreak has made a reference to this, as hacking your way to the truck in the remake and using Strength gives you a Rare Candy.

Said to be the origin of all life, until Arceus, this is the reason why Mew can transform and use every move, well at least all TM, HM and tutor moves.

Apparently its from South America.

In the original Japanese version of the first Pokemon movie, Mew was apparently racist? It decided to fight against Mewtwo because it believed clones were inferior lifeforms and went to personally exterminate them.

It has a z-move where it literally throws a Spirit Bomb from DBZ.

Also in a different movie, it kidnapped Pikachu and showed it a yo-yo.

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