100 Fun Facts About Pokemon Anime

On which Japanese network did the Pokemon anime premiere in April 1997?

TV Tokyo first ran it on Tuesday evenings. After a December 1997 episode's flashing lights sent hundreds of viewers to hospital, the show took a four-month break and came back in a Thursday slot.

Which of Ash's Pokemon does he release in a tearful early episode so it can leave with a pink mate?

Butterfree was the first Pokémon Ash ever caught, as a Caterpie, and became the first he let go: in 'Bye Bye Butterfree' he sends it off across the sea with the mate it had just won over.

Ash sets out on his journey from which Kanto hometown?

Pallet Town. His mother Delia stays behind there, and soon has company: a wild Mr. Mime she took for Ash in a costume came in for lunch, was named Mimey and stayed on to help around the house.

Why does Ash get Pikachu instead of a normal starter in the Pokemon anime's first episode?

He oversleeps and arrives late: he had smashed his alarm clock in his sleep, so by the time he ran to the lab in his pajamas the three usual starters were taken and only Pikachu was left.

Which flock of Pokemon attacks Ash and Pikachu, sealing their friendship in episode one?

Spearow: Ash had thrown a rock at one, taking it for a Pidgey, and it called in the whole flock. Pikachu's final blast of lightning drove them off and also burned the bike Ash had just borrowed.

Ash's English surname is a pun on which franchise slogan?

Gotta catch 'em all gave him 'Ketchum' (catch 'em). The dub's producers coined the line as an English stand-in for the Japanese catchphrase 'Pokémon getto da ze!' and wrote it into the theme song as well.

Ash's Japanese name honors which figure behind the Pokemon games?

Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon, gave the hero his own first name. He has said Ash is the boy he once was, a child who spent his days collecting insects.

Ash's rival Gary Oak has a Japanese name honoring which Nintendo figure?

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, mentored the young designer who made the first Pokémon games, so the hero's rival is called Shigeru in Japan in his honour.

Who voiced Ash in the English dub for the first eight seasons?

Veronica Taylor also voiced Ash's mother Delia and, later, May. She lost all three parts after season eight, when Pokémon USA took over the dub, changed studios and recast Ash with Sarah Natochenny.

Which actress voiced Ash in Japanese for his entire run as the Pokemon anime's hero?

Rica Matsumoto did double duty: she also sang 'Mezase Pokémon Master', the show's very first Japanese opening theme, and many of the openings that followed.

After two decades of near misses, Ash finally won a Pokemon League Conference in which region?

Alola. Its League was brand new, founded by Professor Kukui, so when Ash beat Gladion in the final he became the first Champion the region had ever had.

Which champion did Ash beat in the final to become 'Monarch' of the World Coronation Series?

Leon, Galar's 'unbeatable' champion, held the Monarch title as the strongest Trainer in the world. Ash took it from him 25 years after the show began, and his run as its hero ended months later.

Misty is a Gym Leader from where?

Cerulean City: Misty grew up there in the shadow of three older sisters and left to prove herself. She went home to run the Gym only when they announced they were off on a world tour.

Which baby Pokemon hatched from an egg Ash found, then treated Misty as its mother?

Togepi took the first face it saw for its mother, and that face was Misty's. Ash had found the egg and even won the contest held to decide who kept it, but Togepi would go with nobody else.

Brock's original dream in the anime was to become what?

A Pokemon Breeder: Brock was stuck running Pewter Gym and raising his siblings until his runaway father came home and took over. Years later he changed course and began training as a Pokemon Doctor.

Which Pokemon repeatedly Poison Jabs Brock when he flirts with a girl?

Before Croagunk, it was Misty or Max dragging him off by the ear.

Brock was temporarily written out early on because producers worried about what?

His eyes seeming a racial stereotype to Americans was the fear, the show's director later said, so the tall, Anglo-looking Tracey took his place. Nobody ever complained, and Brock came back.

Tracey Sketchit, Ash's Orange Islands companion, describes himself as a Pokemon what?

Watcher. Tracey studies and sketches wild Pokemon instead of battling them, and he tagged along with Ash on learning that Ash knew his idol, Professor Oak, whose assistant he later became.

May, Ash's Hoenn companion, is the daughter of which Gym Leader?

Norman leads Petalburg Gym, and everyone expected May to follow him. In fact she was not fond of Pokemon at all when she set out, and used the journey as an excuse to travel.

Dawn, from Twinleaf Town, chooses which starter Pokemon?

Piplup had run off from the lab after a squabble with Chimchar and got caught in a web. Dawn freed it, the two fought off a swarm of Ariados together, and she picked it on the spot.

Iris, Ash's companion in the Black and White series, travels with which young Dragon-type?

Axew was only days old when her village elder handed it to Iris with orders to raise it into a great Haxorus. By the time she comes back as Champion of Unova, it has made it.

Cilan shares Unova Gym Leader duties with which two brothers?

Chili and Cress wait tables with him in the cafe that doubles as their Gym. Ash insisted on battling all three brothers, needing two wins for the badge, and lost only to Cress.

Serena, Ash's Kalos companion, first met him where?

At a summer camp run by Professor Oak, where young Serena fell and hurt her knee and Ash bound it with his handkerchief. Years later she saw him on TV and set out to give it back.

What title do Pokemon Performers like Serena compete for in Showcases?

Kalos Queen. Serena reached the Master Class final and lost it to the reigning queen, Aria, the same woman who had once befriended her in disguise and encouraged her after a flop.

Bonnie, Clemont's little sister, nicknames one of Zygarde's cores what?

Squishy had escaped from Team Flare and crawled into Bonnie's bag to sleep. No Pokédex could say what it was, so she named it herself and looked after it while Team Flare hunted for it.

Lillie's fear of touching Pokemon stems from a childhood incident involving which Ultra Beast?

Nihilego attacked Lillie as a small child, and the creature that saved her, later called Silvally, was buried in the same blocked memory. Her fear lifted only when she remembered it as her rescuer.

Goh, Ash's Journeys partner, ultimately wants to catch which Mythical Pokemon?

Mew was meant to be Goh's very first catch, so he turned down every starter he was offered. He stayed without a Pokémon until a stray Scorbunny in Galar took a liking to him and followed him.

In Pokemon Horizons, Liko and Roy join which group of adventurers?

The Rising Volt Tacklers roam the world in an airship. Liko's mother had quietly hired them to protect her, and their leader Friede swoops in on a Charizard just as pursuers come for her pendant.

Roy joins the airship crew in Pokemon Horizons to chase which unusual Legendary?

A Shiny Rayquaza, black instead of green, burst out of the ancient Poké Ball Roy's grandfather had given him, drove off his attackers and flew away. Catching it became his reason to leave home.

Which recurring Pokemon pops out of Jessie's Poke Ball at the worst possible moments?

Wobbuffet joined by accident. At a Pokémon swap meet Jessie crashed into a trading machine, her Lickitung's Poké Ball fell in, and she walked away with Wobbuffet instead.

How did Team Rocket's talking cat come to speak human language?

He taught himself for love. A pampered female of his kind said she preferred humans, so he learned to walk upright and talk like one, and she turned him down again as a freak.

Team Rocket's signature hot-air balloon is shaped like whose head?

Meowth's grinning head has carried the trio since the show's second episode, refitted with claws, nets and vacuums for each new scheme. Like most of their machines, it usually ends the day in pieces.

James's Team Rocket backstory says he ran away from what?

A noble, wealthy family: James ran from the mansion to escape his engagement to Jessebelle, an overbearing heiress with a whip. He left behind his fortune and his pet Growlithe, Growlie.

Which voice actress, also Rei Ayanami in Evangelion, plays Team Rocket's Jessie in Japanese?

Megumi Hayashibara knows her as Musashi. In Japan the duo are named after the rival swordsmen Musashi and Kojiro, and the English dub swapped in the outlaw Jesse James.

Who is the boss of Team Rocket, secretly the Leader of Viridian Gym?

Giovanni was called away just before Ash arrived for his eighth badge and left Jessie and James in charge of the Gym. Ash beat them instead, and caught the Earth Badge as they went flying.

Who runs nearly every Pokemon Center Ash visits, each one a near-identical relative of the last?

Nurse Joy is a whole family of lookalike sisters and cousins, one to a town, just as the Officer Jennys police them. Only Brock claims he can tell one Joy from another.

Which Pokemon was considered alongside Pikachu as the franchise's merchandising lead?

Clefairy is the hero's partner in one of the first Pokémon manga, where Pikachu is merely its cousin. Pikachu won out, by the usual account because its design was expected to appeal to boys and girls alike.

Where is Ikue Ōtani's original Japanese performance as Pikachu heard?

In every language's dub. Most Pokémon get new voices abroad, but Game Freak's Junichi Masuda said Pikachu's was kept so that the name 'Pikachu' would sound the same all over the world.

According to Detective Pikachu's creators, what was the original plan for Pokemon in the anime?

OLM could not come up with a concept Game Freak would accept, so only Meowth learned to speak.

What name did Japan's press give the 1997 incident in which a Pokemon episode's flashing lights hospitalised hundreds of viewers?

Pokemon Shock took the show off the air for four months, and the episode has never been shown again anywhere. Afterwards Japanese children's shows carried a warning to watch in a bright room, well back from the screen.

Which Pokemon's attack actually caused the seizure-inducing flashes in the Porygon episode?

Pikachu's Thunderbolt blew up a volley of missiles, and that red-and-blue explosion was the flash. Yet Porygon took the blame: neither it nor its evolutions has had a starring role in an episode since.

Who sang the original English 'Pokemon Theme' that opened the first season?

Jason Paige got a three-figure session fee for about four hours' work. Once the craze took off he pressed for more, and in 2000 he settled out of court for a single payment in the mid-five figures.

Which end-of-episode song in the first English season rattled off the names of 150 Pokemon?

The Pokérap was cut into five chunks, one for each weekday, so a viewer had to tune in from Monday to Friday to hear all 150 names.

In Pokemon: The First Movie, Mewtwo is cloned from what part of Mew?

An eyelash, fossilised and dug up by explorers. Dr. Fuji took on the cloning in the hope of bringing back his dead daughter Amber, a prologue left out of the version shown in Western cinemas.

What revives Ash after he is turned to stone in Pokemon: The First Movie?

The tears of the Pokemon, originals and clones alike, bring Ash back after Pikachu's shocks fail. The sight ends Mewtwo's war: it calls off the fight and wipes everyone's memory of the day.

Which studio released the English version of Pokemon: The First Movie in November 1999?

Warner Bros. opened it on a Wednesday, a school day, and still took $10.1 million. So many children were missing from class that the day was nicknamed the 'Pokéflu'.

Why did Ken Sugimori say Pikachu's body shape changed after the first games?

The new look was easier to animate, so the games copied the slimmer TV Pikachu. Fans call the old stout design 'Fat Pikachu', and it returned in Sword and Shield as the towering Gigantamax form.

The Pokemon anime reached US television in September 1998, weeks before which games went on sale there?

Pokemon Red and Blue went on sale on September 28, when the cartoon had already been airing for about three weeks. Japan had it the other way round: there the games came out over a year before the show.

Which animation studio has produced the Pokemon anime since 1997?

OLM began in 1994 as Oriental Light and Magic, a name borrowed from George Lucas's effects house Industrial Light & Magic. Three years later it started animating Ash and Pikachu.

Which starter Pokemon did Ash's rival Gary take from Professor Oak?

Squirtle itself was barely shown on screen. Viewers met it grown into a Blastoise in the Johto League, where Ash's Charizard knocked it out and put Gary out of the tournament.

In the first Pokemon episode, what does Ash borrow from Misty before Pikachu burns it to a crisp?

Her bicycle is the whole reason Misty tags along: she vows not to leave Ash alone until he replaces it, and the two end up best friends.

Which Legendary Pokemon do Ash and Pikachu glimpse at the end of the anime's very first episode?

Ho-Oh was a sneak preview: it would not turn up in a game until Pokemon Gold, where it is the cover star.

Which Pokemon does Ash rescue after its trainer Damian abandons it on a rock for being weak?

Charmander had been left with a false promise that Damian would come back. It finally joins Ash after saving Pikachu from Team Rocket.

Which of Ash's Pokemon stops obeying him after evolving, costing him his first League tournament?

Charizard refused to fight in the fifth round, handing the match to a rival trainer. Ash had sent it out knowing it might not listen.

Which Pokemon had anime episodes pulled, and its black skin recoloured purple, after blackface complaints?

Jynx made its anime debut as one of Santa's helpers in a Christmas episode that was later removed, and even its brief cameos got other episodes pulled.

Ash Ketchum sets out from home declaring that he will one day earn which title?

Pokemon Master is the goal Ash chases through every region, usually by entering the local League. Pikachu is the only constant member of his team along the way.

Which Legendary Pokemon did the anime's head writer invent specially for the second film?

Lugia was designed by head writer Takeshi Shudo, who pictured it as a maternal Pokemon and was upset when a male actor was cast as its voice.

Which Pokemon moves in with Ash's mother Delia and helps with the housework while he travels?

Mr. Mime first turned up at the Ketchum house while escaping a circus trainer, and Delia mistook it for Ash in costume.

Which Pokemon joins Misty's team by accident, capturing itself in a Poke Ball she has dropped?

Psyduck became a running gag, popping out by mistake when Misty wanted another Pokemon. When its headache gets bad enough, though, it unleashes powerful psychic attacks.

Which Pokemon does Lt. Surge battle with while taunting Ash for refusing to evolve his Pikachu?

Raichu had the raw power, so Ash trained Pikachu's speed instead of evolving it, and that was enough to win the Thunder Badge.

Ash owns a herd of 30 of which Pokemon, all caught in a Safari Zone episode never shown in English?

Tauros arrived by the herd in an episode whose Safari Zone warden points a gun at Ash's group. The heavy use of firearms meant it was never dubbed or shown outside Japan.

Brock leaves his many siblings in the care of his father Flint when he departs which Kanto hometown?

Pewter City's Gym Leader crushed Ash at first. Ash only got his badge after a rematch, once Flint, then just a mysterious rock seller, had helped power up Pikachu at a watermill.

Which Ghost-type wins Ash his Gym badge from the psychic Sabrina by making her burst out laughing?

Haunter was no help in the battle itself, vanishing because it disliked fighting. Its clowning thawed the icy Gym Leader, and it chose to stay behind with her.

Which famously useless Pokemon does a salesman con James into buying aboard the St. Anne cruise ship?

Magikarp could not even swim Team Rocket to safety when the ship sank. James finally kicked it off their raft in anger, and it evolved into a raging Gyarados.

Which two Pokemon, one Jessie's and one James's, evolve side by side into Arbok and Weezing?

Ekans and Koffing evolved in a moment of self-pity, while Team Rocket were lamenting how little real battle experience they had.

Which American company produced the English Pokemon dub for its first eight seasons, and later Yu-Gi-Oh as well?

4Kids won the rights in January 1998, and its dub became America's highest-rated syndicated children's show. The Pokemon Company took over from season nine.

Which actress voiced both Misty and Jessie for the first eight seasons of the English Pokemon dub?

Rachael Lillis voiced several Pokemon too, Vulpix and Goldeen among them, so one actress supplied a heroine, a villain and assorted creatures in the same show.

Which Pokemon does Ash save from bullies as a baby, then catch to explore the Orange Islands?

Lapras later found its family, but the pod shunned it at first for mixing with humans. Once Ash helped fight off the pirates attacking them, it rejoined the pod and he let it go.

Which of Ash's XY series Pokemon takes on a new form named after him whenever their bond is strong?

Greninja's new form proved popular enough to cross into the games: the Sun and Moon demo handed players Ash's own, complete with its Battle Bond ability.

Misty trains Water Pokemon without flinching, yet she has a phobia of which other type?

Bug types send Misty running, which was awkward from the start: the first Pokemon Ash caught on their journey was a Caterpie.

May and Dawn are both Coordinators, entering which events that judge a Pokemon's appearance and appeal?

Contests reward style over brute strength. Dawn took them up to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who had been a Coordinator too.

Which Pokemon does Jessie capture in Hoenn after it bullies and beats Ash's Treecko?

Seviper was a notorious bully in the wild. Jessie set her sights on it while Treecko was busy training for a rematch.

Which Fire-type starter does Ash's Sinnoh rival Paul release mid-tournament, only for Ash to take it in?

Chimchar had been pushed to fight well past its limit. It broke down crying on realising how differently Ash treated it, and later became his Infernape.

Which Mythical Pokemon does the trainer Tobias use to reach the Sinnoh League semi-final against Ash?

Darkrai had won Tobias every one of his badges single-handed. It swept three of Ash's team before Sceptile finally knocked it out with Leaf Blade.

A two-part Team Rocket versus Team Plasma story was pulled just before broadcast and never aired after which event?

The Tohoku earthquake struck directly before the scheduled air dates, and the story ended with a city threatened by explosions. Team Plasma's debut was pushed back to 2013.

Which trainer, eerily similar to Ash right down to owning a Pikachu, knocks him out of the Indigo League?

Ritchie and Ash became friends first, teaming up to stop Team Rocket stealing their Pokemon before the draw pitted them against each other.

Which Pokemon lives inside the talking Pokedex that Professor Kukui gives Ash in the Sun and Moon series?

Rotom gives the Rotom-Dex a mind of its own: unlike the Pokedexes Ash carried before, it is intelligent and capable of human speech.

Which Pokemon sides with Team Rocket in the Sun and Moon series purely because it despises Pikachu?

Mimikyu was the wild Pokemon Ash was trying to catch when Team Rocket interrupted. It wears a crude disguise shaped like the very Pokemon it hates.

Which singing Pokemon sends every audience to sleep, then angrily draws on their faces with a marker?

Jigglypuff dreams of being a great singer, and the capped marker doubles as its microphone between acts of revenge.

In a much-mocked English dub change, Pokemon characters eating which Japanese snack call them jelly doughnuts?

Rice balls, or onigiri, were renamed because the dub swapped Japanese food references for ones that viewers outside Japan would recognise more easily.

Which of Ash's Pokemon is carried off to an evolution festival in a mysterious garden, yet refuses to evolve?

Bulbasaur held out against a whole crowd of its own kind, then mastered Solar Beam to rescue them all from Team Rocket.

Which of Ash's Johto Pokemon grew so jealous of Pikachu that the pair needed therapy sessions?

Chikorita first met Ash as a stubborn wild opponent, and only joined him after he rushed it to a Pokemon Center when it was hurt in their battle.

Which Johto bird Pokemon did Ash catch in a rare Shiny colouring instead of its usual brown?

Noctowl caught Team Rocket's eye as well: they tried to grab the rare, brightly coloured bird before Ash could catch it.

What does Ash do for the first time in the Sun and Moon series instead of travelling between Gyms?

Ash enrols at a school on Melemele Island after what was meant to be a vacation, staying on with his mother's permission to study the local Pokemon.

Which item does the island guardian Tapu Koko give Ash so that he and Pikachu can unleash powerful new moves?

A Z-Ring lets a trainer perform Z-Moves, and Tapu Koko followed up its gift by battling Ash and Pikachu to test whether they could use it.

Which mischievous Galar Pokemon, first seen leading a gang of food-thieving Nickit, becomes Goh's first partner?

Scorbunny trailed Goh after their first meeting until he accepted it. He had earlier refused a Kanto starter, holding out for a far rarer first Pokemon.

Which Pokemon does Liko choose as her first partner in Pokemon Horizons, only for the pair to struggle to get along?

Sprigatito was slow to warm to Liko, and the Explorers even made off with it when they retreated from their first raid.

In Pokemon Horizons, Friede's partner is a Pikachu addressed by which rank?

Captain Pikachu, or Cap for short, is tough enough that Friede uses it as the sparring opponent when he teaches Liko and Roy to battle.

Which streaming service became the American home of new Pokemon episodes in 2020, starting with Journeys?

Netflix released Journeys in quarterly batches of twelve episodes. The original series had reached America in 1998 through syndicated television.

Which actress became Ash's English voice at 18, from the ninth season until his final episode in 2023?

Sarah Natochenny took over when the dubbing moved in-house, and she ended up voicing Ash's mother Delia as well.

In Pokemon Horizons, the pendant that the Explorers chase Liko for turns out to be which dormant Pokemon?

Terapagos lends its name to the show's second story arc, in which the crew set off in search of Lucius's Six Heroes.

Brock leaves the group at the start of the Orange Islands saga to stay with which professor he is smitten with?

Professor Ivy also handed Ash the unopenable GS Ball to carry home. Brock rejoined the group for Johto without ever explaining why he had left her.

Ash trades his Aipom to Dawn in Sinnoh and receives which battle-loving Water-type in return?

Buizel cared more about Ash's Gym training than Dawn's routines, while Aipom was the opposite, so Zoey suggested the swap.

Which Champion does Ash face in the Masters Eight semi-final after beating Steven in the last eight?

Cynthia sprang a surprise by Dynamaxing her Togekiss rather than using Mega Evolution, only for Ash's Mega Lucario to bring it down.

Which English spin-off label gathered Japanese side-story specials such as The Legend of Thunder into one series?

Pokemon Chronicles reached British screens in 2005, a year before America. Most of its episodes had been side stories from a weekly Japanese Pokemon variety show.

Which of Ash's Pokemon stays behind to train with a man named Anthony after winning a Fighting-type tournament?

Primeape had evolved from a Mankey in a fit of rage after James kicked it aside, and Ash chose to catch it rather than run.

Which voice actor played both Brock and James during the first eight seasons of the English Pokemon dub?

Eric Stuart is a musician as well as an actor, and away from Pokemon he is best known as the voice of Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh.

Which Pokemon, living in a Toucannon nest among Pikipek, becomes Ash's first catch of the Sun and Moon series?

Rowlet was starving when Ash found it. He fed it, it helped him fight off Team Rocket in return, and it chose to go with him.

Which wild Pokemon ends Team Rocket's first battle with Ash in the Sun and Moon series by carrying them off?

Bewear made a habit of it: when Team Rocket later raced a mechanical copy of it to win a year of free pancakes, the real one carried them off again.

Which Sinnoh Pokemon does Ash catch after it turns protective of a lost Pikachu, unaware Ash is the trainer?

Turtwig was known for looking after the other wild Pokemon where it lived. Its first battle for Ash came against his rival Paul.