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RTTP: The Pokemon. All 721 of them, and counting.
- Thread starter Watch Da Birdie
- Start date
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
050 - Diglett
Ground
One of the greatest mysteries of the Pokemon World, Diglett stretches the player's suspension of belief by being a strange little mole Pokemon whose lower body is never seen. Yes, despite this world having technology that can literally store the creature in a tiny ball, no one has figured out how to get a good look at its lower body. And it only gets weirder from there as Diglett can be used regardless of the terrain, even when traveling across the sea, without its lower half ever being visible. And then Gen II came along where Diglett apparently hatches looking like that.
To be fair, the "mystery" of Diglett's body is only brought up in the Pokemon Stadium Dex entries (and if I recall that game wasn't developed by Game Freak, thus it's perhaps not "canon"), and in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. The game's PokeDex doesn't seem to indicate that Diglett's actual body is a mystery, rather it's simply a design choice that plays with the fact that this is a video-game character, and thus can take liberties other mediums cannot. Presumably, in the Pokemon World, Diglett's actual body has been seen and observed, and judging by the attacks it can learn its lower half probably resembles an actual mole. This hasn't stopped players from speculating Diglett's lower-half might actually be some incredibly enormous creature.
Diglett's design brings to mind the exaggerated moles seen in the popular Whac-A-Mole arcade game. In Japan, there's a similar game known as Mogura Taiji (Mole Buster), which is slightly older than Whac-A-Mole, but from my research it seems both games were developed around the same time as a complete coincidence. Weirder coincidences have happened---ever look up Dennis the Menace? Either way, the idea of a "mole game" is a cross-cultural phenomenon, meaning that Diglett is a Pokemon that likely appeals to everyone because they can quickly identify what it's based upon. Other Pokemon throughout the years have suffered in certain areas of the world because they're based on obscure cultural elements specific to Japan usually, but Diglett gracefully manages to avoid being pigeonholed.
Diglett is a Pokemon of extremes---in Gen I it was the smallest Pokemon in terms of height (it now shares this status with multiple other Pokemon, and was beat in Gen V), and due to its small size has the lowest HP of any Pokemon except for a particular Pokemon whose HP is 1. Diglett only appears in one area in Kanto, Diglett's Cave, and is the only Pokemon other than its evolution who inhabit said cave. Until the player gets Fly or Surf, Diglett's cave is the only way to return to the areas before Cerulean City's infamous "point of no return", and the player will also have to pass through after Vermillion to advance the game. This means the player will surely encounter Diglett. Despite its low health, Diglett and Dugtrio are actually very useful Pokemon in Generation I due to having high speed and great attack, but the player might not realize that by appearance, and due to Diglett's low health, might faint them easily thus not having a good opportunity to catch them. They're also so common in Diglett's Cave, the player might expect them to not be that strong if they're not hard to encounter. In this way, you could say Diglett are sort of those RPG characters who are seemingly pointless, but in reality are really good.
The show has a problem with Diglett that the game doesn't have to worry about, as the show has to work in a more "realistic" and "consistent" environment compared to the games. Most people won't question Diglett popping up on top of the water in the game, because people realize games cannot account for every situation as they are open-ended and have to obey certain rules and restrictions, but in the show such a logical violation would be a lot more noticeable and bothersome. Because of this, Diglett's appearances are always done in a way that makes logical sense (well, for the most part), appearing in areas that make sense for them to pop up in. Diglett's actually had a fair amount of focus episode, the most well-known being Dig Those Diglett!! in Kanto, but also had an episode in the Orange Islands and Johto. That said, even the anime had some fun with Diglett in a Diamond and Pearl episode, where it appeared in a classroom setting sitting at a desk next to its trainer, seemingly emerging right out of the wood.
051 - Dugtrio
Ground
How do you take an already silly, logic-stretching design and make it even sillier? Multiply it by three. Dugtrio is the first Pokemon in Kanto to follow a much complained-about evolutionary pattern where the evolved form simply multiplies rather than goes through a more significant change. Dugtrio is simply three, larger Diglett that fight together, and sometimes they're also given eyebrows to make them look more intimidating, but this isn't consistent. Their original sprite and Sugimori Art had such eyebrows, as did their anime appearance, but in Generation II they lost them. From Gen III -> Gen V, the sprite regained the eyebrows, but the new Sugimori Art for FRLG lacked them, and now in XY they've also lost their eyebrows in their in-game model as well as their Global Link artwork. Personally, I love the eyebrows, and hope they return.
Dugtrio look like simply three Diglett's who travel together, but the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald PokeDex entries claim they all split off one body, and are perfectly in-sync with one another. It's not clear if the three heads share one body, or if they each have their own body that simply sticks right next to the other two, as we never see what it looks like below the ground, but most people seem to think the central, largest Dugtrio is the leader, and probably the original Diglett head. In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, there's a Dugtrio who appears as Diglett's father, and you gotta wonder how exactly that works. Dugtrio speaks as if he's one person, and is addressed as such, so it makes you wonder what the relationship between the three Diglett heads is like.
I mentioned the Katie Battle in Venomoth's entry, and Dugtrio was also part of that battle, making good use of its Ground-type attacks to take out Pikachu---a considerable accomplishment considering Pikachu's track-record against Ground-type Pokemon. Otherwise, Dugtrio is another Pokemon that's basically attached at the hip to its pre-evolution, rarely appearing on its own in the show.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I always change my favorite because something trumps it.
Gens 1-3 it was always Arcanine
4 came and it became Floatzel
5 came and it became Braviary
6 came and it became Tyrantrum
and I seriously doubt they can trump Tyrantrum, who is perfection.
Gens 1-3 it was always Arcanine
4 came and it became Floatzel
5 came and it became Braviary
6 came and it became Tyrantrum
and I seriously doubt they can trump Tyrantrum, who is perfection.
Gus tha God
Banned
Nostalgia.
too much color
Catching a Dugtrio when I arrived in Vermillion in red was awesome. It was such a boost to my team's strength.
Floatzel stands out as the strange one among them. And overtaking Arcanine?!
I'd love for them to go with a.
Floatzel stands out as the strange one among them. And overtaking Arcanine?!
I'd love for them to go with a.
Or, you know, C: A regular evolution.
I don't know...would you really want a permanent evolution for such an old 'mon? Rhyperior completely destroyed the Rhy line in my eyes with it's ugliness, which is a shame because Rhydon is cool.
That's the best thing about Mega Evolutions imo; they're pretty easy to ignore if you don't like them (outside of competitive play I guess), and if a new MegaEvo was universally trashed for looking crap, there's still the odd the Pokemon could receive a better looking X or Y mega evo further down the line. This is my hope for Blastoise. ;-;
But megas allow them to be more ridiculous than regular evolution.
At least Eviolite gives you a reason to use it without evolving it.
Shuggananas
Banned
lol dragons though
Well, gen IV also gave us Roserade, Mismagius, Honchkrow, Weavile, Togekiss, Mamoswine... New designs are always going to bother someone, that's the way Pokémon goes. Mega evolutions applied to weak Pokémon makes them predictable since no one is going to use Beedrill in it's base form. Also there is this sense of lack of permanency that I dislike about them, they don't even have pokédex entries!
And please, no more X/Y gen I pandering.
That was by far the worst thing about X/Y.
I don't want to insult anyone, but most Gen 1 Fans were not going to appreciate Gen 6 anyway, and most of those that do are not going burst out in enjoyment because Snorlax is blocking the way again.
No thanks. Mega are way more badass in all aspects than regular evolution. A new evolution wouldn't help Dugtrio's crappy stats anyways.
The new designs never bothered me that much (okay, they bothered me, but only because if you have hundreds of designs only so many are going to be good no matter what; there were some lame ones in the first gen but it became an exponentially bigger issue after that.) It's the fact that the games never really did enough new to make me care after Gen II. The devs constrained the games to a hermetically sealed box which has let advances in the genre pass them by almost totally.
Also, the mega evolution stuff started smacking to me of Digimon, and I wanted none of that.
Also, the mega evolution stuff started smacking to me of Digimon, and I wanted none of that.
Honestly, generation 6 may be my favorite to play in game. It's for a bit of an odd reason though, because it has nothing to do with the actual single player experience (which honestly wasn't too great): its because I feel like gen 6 is Gamefreak finally taking the idea of people playing competitive Pokemon on their carts seriously!
Breeding is FAR easier in gen 6 than other gens, thanks to Destiny Knot making the child inherit 5 IVs from the parents, everstone guaranteeing a child's nature instead of being a 50% chance, egg moves coming from both parents, etc. EV Training is also trivial now thanks to hordes and super training. This is especially great for when gamefreak announces weird tournaments. For example, in about a week, the Spooky Cup starts: and it has a bizarre allowed Pokemon list that makes Mr.Mime and Exploud huge threats. In gen 5 I would have been screwed, because almost no one breeds that shit. But in gen 6, I can quickly whip those two up in time for the tournament!
And of course you also have the battle spot ladders, which tend to be VERY competitive. People don't screw around in those, so its great for testing stuff! Hell, gamefreak even has usage stats now! Granted, people sorta have to hack the site to get more than the top 12 per metagame, which can get annoying.
I mean things aren't totally perfect: I'd argue that it'd be best if IVs could just be modified, and soft reseting is still a huge pain in the ass. Overall though, gen 6 is by far my most played gens of Pokemon, just because I think gamefreak really nailed the multiplayer aspect this time around.
Here's hoping Gamefreak continues to take competitive Pokemon more seriously
Breeding is FAR easier in gen 6 than other gens, thanks to Destiny Knot making the child inherit 5 IVs from the parents, everstone guaranteeing a child's nature instead of being a 50% chance, egg moves coming from both parents, etc. EV Training is also trivial now thanks to hordes and super training. This is especially great for when gamefreak announces weird tournaments. For example, in about a week, the Spooky Cup starts: and it has a bizarre allowed Pokemon list that makes Mr.Mime and Exploud huge threats. In gen 5 I would have been screwed, because almost no one breeds that shit. But in gen 6, I can quickly whip those two up in time for the tournament!
And of course you also have the battle spot ladders, which tend to be VERY competitive. People don't screw around in those, so its great for testing stuff! Hell, gamefreak even has usage stats now! Granted, people sorta have to hack the site to get more than the top 12 per metagame, which can get annoying.
I mean things aren't totally perfect: I'd argue that it'd be best if IVs could just be modified, and soft reseting is still a huge pain in the ass. Overall though, gen 6 is by far my most played gens of Pokemon, just because I think gamefreak really nailed the multiplayer aspect this time around.
Here's hoping Gamefreak continues to take competitive Pokemon more seriously
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Otters are cool and cute.
TriggerShy
Member
Mega Evolution is a nice concept to me, but I was worried it would replace a standard evolution for poke'mon like you mentioned. I also like seeing a permanent boost, but now I just want the weaker poke'mon to get something.
I'm totally all for a normal evolution for Pokemon that can still get them instead of a Mega for the most part, but I definitely prefer a Mega over nothing. Though Dugtrio really does feel like a Mega kind of makes more sense to me than a normal Evolution, as doing something ridiculous like a swarm of the little guys or maybe some kind of crazy body rising out of the ground feels more fitting for a Mega somehow.
Also, Rhyperior is awesome, screw the haters.
Also, Rhyperior is awesome, screw the haters.
Magneton was also a trio pokémon until magnezone came, broke the "add more" evolution pattern and it turned out great.
There are lots of ways to make shit pokémon shine: add a new type when evolving, raise their stats like in gen VI, give them a new ability (hello Huge Power, most gratuitous ability ever) or even make an item just for them a la Light Ball or Thick Club.
There are lots of ways to make shit pokémon shine: add a new type when evolving, raise their stats like in gen VI, give them a new ability (hello Huge Power, most gratuitous ability ever) or even make an item just for them a la Light Ball or Thick Club.
Lol, you really think new evolutions of old mon's is gonna happen now?
Dugtrio's always been one of my favorites. I'm a huge Ground type fan (probably my favorite type after Poison and Bug) and Dugtrio's high speed and low defenses were unique among Ground types for a long time. Plus, learning Dig and Earthquake naturally and learning Slash with such high speed (crits in RBY were determined by speed) meant Dugtrio was a complete powerhouse in RBY's single-player.
Also, Diglett Cave in FireRed and LeafGreen is a death trap for Nuzlocke runs. Diglett and Dugtrio can have the ability Arena Trap, which makes it impossible for non-Flying, non-Levitating Pokemon to escape. Combine that with their high speed, and it's often impossible to get away without KOing them. A high level Dugtrio with Arena Trap can singlehandedly wipe out unprepared teams in Nuzlockes.
Also, Diglett Cave in FireRed and LeafGreen is a death trap for Nuzlocke runs. Diglett and Dugtrio can have the ability Arena Trap, which makes it impossible for non-Flying, non-Levitating Pokemon to escape. Combine that with their high speed, and it's often impossible to get away without KOing them. A high level Dugtrio with Arena Trap can singlehandedly wipe out unprepared teams in Nuzlockes.
Tyrantrum is definitely in my personal SSS tier of Pokemon design.
I actually abandoned my starter and made him my "main" once he was available in XY.
fredrancour
Member
But they could spend two or three generations slowly creating mega eeveelutions instead!
boo mega evolutions! Yay new old evolutions!
Dragonair needs an alt evolution.
Eevee needs some new evolutions.
Dunsparce needs a pre-evolution!
We need an evolution for a legendary just to screw with everything!
(Can arceus make a pokemon more powerful than itself?
Yeah, the gen 1 pandering was annoying and left Kalos with very little identity at all.
Of course X and Y had other shares of problems, like how it felt it by the number Pokémon games.
At least regular evolution count as a new Pokémon, Mega however do not.
Here's hoping Gamefreak continues to take competitive Pokemon more seriously
Hopefully not at the cost of single player gameplay, not everyone plays Pokémon for the competitive battling.
Yes.
Your junior status betrays your ignorance
Even in its own line, Haunter is the best.Besides, best pokemon is Espeon
Crobat was a great evolution and Psychic/Dragon types were traditionally a huge zit in the ass.
Plus, it is interesting how the Fire starters had always a bit of advantage (Charizard wasn't classified as Dragon but would learn Dragon moves later on, Blaziken could learn Ice Punch).
On a side note (coming from a person who hasn't played any Pokemon game since R/S and is completely unaware/uninterested for any later gen), i recently started Heart Gold and so far the experience is absolutely terrifying. Everything from G/S/C are right there and improved, and i love how all the type/item/interface upgrades from the previous games are making this like a brand new G/S experience. Plus, the most of the legandary pkms, plus all the previous starters. Imo it's the definite G/S experience by far. Gold/Silver was the peak of the series anyway, both for main games (and anime i'd say).
I like how GameFreak remakes those old gens (with older fans in mind) with all the new creatures/upgrades featured in, because many people of my age had stopped bothering with new generations a long time ago.
Plus, it is interesting how the Fire starters had always a bit of advantage (Charizard wasn't classified as Dragon but would learn Dragon moves later on, Blaziken could learn Ice Punch).
On a side note (coming from a person who hasn't played any Pokemon game since R/S and is completely unaware/uninterested for any later gen), i recently started Heart Gold and so far the experience is absolutely terrifying. Everything from G/S/C are right there and improved, and i love how all the type/item/interface upgrades from the previous games are making this like a brand new G/S experience. Plus, the most of the legandary pkms, plus all the previous starters. Imo it's the definite G/S experience by far. Gold/Silver was the peak of the series anyway, both for main games (and anime i'd say).
I like how GameFreak remakes those old gens (with older fans in mind) with all the new creatures/upgrades featured in, because many people of my age had stopped bothering with new generations a long time ago.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
052 - Meowth
Normal
Meowth, that's right! Meowth is seen as the rival to Pikachu, being based off a creature that preys on the latter, and his Dex number is even the reverse of Pikachu's. Nobody knows if this was done on purpose, or was merely an accident, but most people probably forget that Meowth was actually created as the Blue Version Counterpart to Mankey. The two share a similar color scheme, but lack the cohesion some of the other Version Counterparts share so it's easy to forget this fact. I didn't remember that Meowth was exclusive to Blue Version myself till I looked it up. Probably because his more memorable Version Exclusive status was being uncatchable in Pokemon Yellow.
Meowth is a very Japanese-inspired Pokemon based off the popular "maneki-neko" (beckoning cat) statues, which are placed as good luck charms in front of stores and other business in Japan. The maneki-neko statues usually hold a koban (which is on Meowth's head), and have their hands raised in a beckoning pose, which Meowth is usually depicted with, especially in its original Red and Green sprite. Maneki-neko are usually designed to resemble the Japanese bobtail, but Meowth looks more like a Siamese cat perhaps. Bobtails are known for their short, rabbit-like tails, whereas Meowth has a very long, curly tail. Meowth's signature move Pay Day is even named Neko Ni Koban (coins to cats) in Japan, a popular idiom associated with maneki-neko that is best summed up as being equivalent to "pearls before swine", giving your money to those who don't appreciate it. Pay Day served an important role in Generation I as one of the few ways to make money after having defeated all the trainers, and was learned by quite a few Pokemon (a rather random selection, at that) due to being a TM, but has actually become one of the rarer moves as time has passed possibly since its use isn't as important now. As of now, Meowth is the only Pokemon who can learn it naturally, and only if you hold off Persian's evolution. Purloinn can also pick it up through breeding, but otherwise the only other legal user from Gen III and beyond is an Event Skitty distributed through Pokemon Box.
Meowth despite being a Normal-type Pokemon learns quite a bit of Dark-type moves, and unlike the maneki-neko which are seen as good luck, Meowth is a rather dirty Pokemon who wanders the street at night looking for loose change. Given its association with Team Rocket, I'm sort of surprised they didn't give it the Dark-type in Generation II, but perhaps unlike the Steel-type the Dark-type was deemed natural enough that a Pokemon suddenly being classified as it would "break canon". In Japan, Meowth's species is actually called "Bakeneko" rather than "Scratch Cat", and there's a lot of history behind that. In Japan, cats that lived long lives were said to gain spiritual powers, and a cat with a long tail was particularly seen as bad luck---as the story goes, owners would actually cut cat tails out of superstition, perhaps explaining why cats like the Japanese bobtail came to exist through natural selection. One legend associated with Bakeneko is that due to traditional oil lamps being made of fish fat, cats would often be seen on their hind legs reaching up to lick the lantern, which was seen as eerie and unnatural. Perhaps this is what Meowth is depicted in a bipedal pose. Furthermore, Bakeneko are said as they live longer to pick up many supernatural powers, such as the ability to shape shift into humans, and even learn to talk! You can see where I'm going with this...
Yes, Meowth's biggest claim to fame is due to the show. Usually I tend to leave the anime discussion for the end, because while it shaped my view of many elements of the franchise throughout the years, I know a lot of people don't care for it and probably gloss over that section, so I put it as somewhat of a footnote. But there's no denying Meowth's role in the show is arguably his most important characteristic, and even more than Pikachu I think Meowth is entirely in-debt to the anime. Meowth has never been that popular in the games, and even nowadays is still somewhat of an uncommon Pokemon without too much going for it. I'm surprised they never gave it a cute Baby form, personally. I actually feel that Meowth's popularity is entirely dependent on the show at this point, and could probably be said to be the show's true mascot more so than Pikachu.
Anyway, Meowth in the show is unique because of his ability to talk. I used to think this decision was made by the anime staff, but now I wonder if this was always planned for Meowth and perhaps he was a late addition created when the anime was in the planning stage? Meowth's original Japanese name, Nyarth, appears to be the same pun as his English name---meow + mouth---but using the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound a cat makes. Why the focus on Meowth's mouth in particular? Furthermore, Meowth's original species, Bakeneko, has many traits that bring to mind the anime's Meowth, particularly its tendency to stand on hind legs (in the show, Meowth specifically said he learned this trait to be more human even though it's actually shared by all Meowth in the games), and especially the belief they were capable of speaking in human tongue and disguising themselves as humans. It's an interesting theory certainly, but it may be all simply coincidence, and the anime staff simply thought all these elements made Meowth a good Pokemon to use for their "talking Pokemon role".
In case you didn't know this, Meowth learned to speak in order to impress a female Meowth who considered him garbage by listening in on a language etiquette class (which in the dub, apparently taught him how to speak like a Brooklynite?), as well as walk on two legs, but this backfired spectacularly as his love interest merely saw him as a freak. The show treats Meowth's ability to talk rather oddly---it seems like a scientific breakthrough, and Team Rocket could easily get rich by exploiting it, but many characters never seem to comment on this fact except Ash's buddies making note of it when they first meet Meowth at the beginning of each season. Since Meowth is so human-like, maybe most folks just don't even realize he's a Meowth? Honestly, I sometimes myself forget Meowth is actually a Pokemon. Also because Meowth learned how to speak and walk, it's been said he doesn't have enough brain power left over to master Pay Day.
In Japan, Meowth (or Nyarth/Nyasu, the official romanization is the former while the latter is how it's pronounced) has always been voiced by Inuko Inuyama, who gives Meowth a speech impediment as he always ends his sentences with "nya", perhaps suggesting he hasn't fully mastered human language. The dub tried to incorporate this quirk as well by having Meowth say "Meow!" after his sentences, but it came off as very awkward since English, unlike Japanese, doesn't naturally use sentence endings like that. In the dub, Meowth has gone through three voice-actors---Nathan Price for the first 31 episodes, who seemed to be impersonating Heathcliffe, the late Maddie Blaustein till the voice-actor switch, who is the most well-known voice and gave Meowth a slightly softer, more endearing tone, and currently Carter Cathcart. I don't watch the dub anymore, and I've learned to love Inuyama's take on the character, but it's pretty disheartening when you realize we'll never hear the classic Meowth voice ever again.
I believe the show's writers have specifically said Meowth was inspired by the character of Muttley from Wacky Races (Dick Dastardly's sidekick), which was broadcast in Japan as "Chitty Chitty Machine Fierce Race". Like Muttley, Meowth serves as the henchman of human villains and despite being an "animal", is usually shown to be more competent and intelligent than his human owners, although Meowth's much more sympathetic than Muttley was who was pure comedy relief. Meowth is implied to be the brains behind the operation, and most of the mechanical contraptions Team Rocket uses throughout the series are thought to have been his invention. How do Team Rocket afford all those crazy machines though?
Alongside Pikachu, Meowth has appeared in basically every episode of the show except for the first episode until Best Wishes (the Black and White season) changed things up. Team Rocket became "serious" at the beginning of that season, and began to appear less often, such as usually being absent during Ash's Gym Battles, and this trait continued even after they returned to their more comedic selves into the XY Season. Thus, Meowth can longer claim to have appeared in every episode since episode 2. One very interesting arc of Best Wishes (the only time you'll hear me say that phrase), was an arc where Meowth joined up with Ash and co. for a few episodes. While it was ultimately a long-winded plan to steal the gang's Pokemon, Meowth felt like a very natural member of the group, and the episodes gave more focus on his unique ability to talk than usual as he served as a "Pokemon Interpreter". There was even a tease with Iris trying to catch him at one point! Honestly---I never really though about it till this arc, but Meowth on the main cast was actually very interesting and brought a neat dynamic, and I gotta say if Team Rocket is ever dropped from the show, I'd love to see the writers have Meowth join up with Ash. Part of me wonders if this arc was perhaps the writers testing how audiences would react to Meowth serving that role...
Have you ever heard about "Meowth's Party"? If you've played Smash Brothers Melee, you've likely seen the Meowth Trophy that shows him playing the guitar. During 2000's Space World (an old Nintendo show that was like their own E3), there were various tech demos shown for the upcoming Gamecube, one of them being Meowth's Party, which used the Pokemon Stadium models and was used to show how multiple Pokemon models could be processed by the Gamecube at the same time. The demo wasn't interactive, as far as I know, but the camera could be controlled and rotated to show that it wasn't simply pre-rendered footage, but was actually being processed by the Gamecube. Meowth's Party actually didn't originate there---it originally served as one of the ending themes to the Japanese anime in 1999, and used the Pokemon Stadium models, except they looked simpler and a bit uglier than the Gamecube Tech demo did.
Meowth's Party seemingly disappeared after Space World, and most people believe it wasn't intended to be a full game but was always just a tech demo---like Mario 128 and the "Realistic Zelda" demos. However, Meowth's Party DID indeed come to the Gamecube eventually as part of Pokemon Channel in 2003. Pokemon Channel was a rather gimmicky Pokemon game for the Gamecube, where you basically played with Pikachu and watched television. One of the big features of the game was an unlockable anime short called "Pichu Bros. in Party Panic", which the player could watch through the game. The last chapter of this short featured a brand new version of Meowth's Party (the original versions used Kanto Pokemon, but this version featured various Johto Pokemon as well such as Wobbuffet) for the player to watch. The interesting thing about this is the footage that plays seems to suggest it was from a later build of the tech demo, as Meowth's movement during the segment are very awkward, and looks like someone is controlling him rather than it being pre-programmed. Furthermore, there are multiple version of Meowth's Party that plays every time the player watches it, with Meowth interacting with different Pokemon. This seems to indicate that development of Meowth's Party didn't end with the 2000 Space World demo, but was developed further perhaps as an actual game, but ultimately ended up as a small video within Pokemon Channel. It's a shame, because a musical Pokemon game would be rather neat.
One more rumor about Meowth---his "planned appearance" in Smash Bros. As the story goes, because Meowth was popular, he was intended to be included in Smash 64, but his model and animations proved too difficult thus at the last minute Jigglypuff was chosen instead. I looked into this claim, such as Smash Boards, and there seems to be no proof of Meowth ever being planned whatsoever. Meowth is a popular character who I've seen requests for, but Sakurai presumably has never seriously considered the character to be worthy than anything more than a PokeBall Pokemon, and considering Meowth's popularity has been on a downward trend for years, it seems unlikely we'll ever see the character included.
I think that write-up turned out longer than Pikachu's!
053 - Persian
Normal
If Meowth is the rival of Pikachu, than Persian perhaps is the rival of Raichu. Yup, they're rivals alright, both competing to see which one is the most ignored evolution of a popular mascot Pokemon! I'd say Persian arguably loses out here, because I know plenty of people who love Raichu, but I struggle to recall anyone I've ever met who actually liked Persian. And despite having decent speed, Persian doesn't seem to be particularly blessed when it comes to battling either.
Persian, despite its name, resembles the Siamese breed more so and in fact in Japan its species isn't "Classy Cat", but "Shamuneko", which translates into Siamese Cat. Persian is quite large for a house-cat, however, and resembles instead a wild cat such as a mountain lion or a puma. And Persian has the attitude to match as despite its beauty, it's said to be quite vicious and mean-spirited, its status going straight to its head. Meowth is somewhat of a scoundrel, but he has somewhat of a rogue charm to him whereas Persian just comes across as a jerk that's not very likable. I imagine in the Pokemon World, Persian is owned by the same extravagantly rich folks who in our world spend money to import exotic pets like lions and tigers. Persian's status is also symbolized by the jewel embedded in its forehead, which I suppose is possibly a "Cat's Eye gemstone". I'm not sure exactly why Persian has this jewel, except to show it's richer than Meowth.
Like Meowth, Persian has the anime to thank for bolstering its popularity by making it the signature Pokemon of Team Rocket's leader Giovanni. This was undoubtedly a shout-out to the character of Blofeld in the James Bond movies, an evil organization leader who in his first appearances, like Giovanni, was shrouded in mystery and was simply shown stroking his pet persian cat. Although, when I was a kid, and I'm sure this goes for a lot of us, the first thing I thought of was Dr. Claw and Madcat from Inspector Gadget. Maybe the writers first saw it in Inspector Gadget too? Either way, Persian quickly became the signature Pokemon of Giovanni, and appeared alongside him in Pokemon Yellow and Pokemon Stadium, as well as a few TCG-cards. Speaking of the TCG, in Japan there's a short manga series known as "How I Became a Pokemon Card" illustrated by one of the TCG artists that provides short stories explaining the background behind various cards. One in particular focuses on the Persian card from the Jungle Set, and implies that it is Giovanni's Persian, and that as a child, Giovanni saved it from Pokemon Poachers. Of course, how canon this is is debateable, and there's no evidence to suggest this is Persian's backstory in the show. Personally, I always figured Giovanni's mother, the former leader of Team Rocket Madame Boss, gave it to him as an extravagant gift.
Despite being Giovanni's signature Pokemon, Persian's appearances never really amounted to much until Best Wishes, where it finally battled and was shown to be able to holds its own against Pikachu with its Shadow Claw and Power Gem attack. Outside of Giovanni's Persian, other Persian don't appear much, except to serve as a foil to Meowth---the most famous one being the gang-leader who Meowth fought against when he returned home in Go West, Young Meowth! In the Hoenn League, there was another Meowth introduced---Meowth in Boots, belonging to the tournament's victor Tyson---who also had a hatred of Persian, due to losing against one when he challenged its position as pack leader. It just so happened a Persian appeared in the Hoenn League, and Meowth in Boots went nuts against it, not even stopping its attack even when the Persian had fainted. Pretty brutal, and one of the few times you felt sorry for a Persian.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
To this day I still don't like Meowth, maybe it's the lack of nose. I like Persian though.
You'd be surprised. While Persian certainly isn't useful now, it's actually one of the best Pokemon in Red and Blue thanks to the way crits work. In the first generation critical hits are based off speed; at 115 base speed, Persian will always crit when using Slash. Add in STAB and suddenly that cute kitty is Death personified.
Er, yes it does.
Wait really? I swore that was one of the various gen one quirks.
EDIT: I REMEMBER NOW. This was a false fact presented in two of the official guides of the time!
So I remembered someone screwed up but not the right way it was screwed up.
Hopefully it wasn't this guide.
But yeah, I don't blame you for making that mistake, there are so many goofy glitches in Gen 1 like Rage's accuracy decreasing to 1/256 the moment it misses that Normal not getting STAB would be tame.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Giovanni had a Persian and it made him that much more sophisticated.
tirkaroKujo
Member
I can't help but notice that gen I has a disproportionate amount of conspiracy theories regarding its pokemon. I'm not sure whether or not this is because of it being the most iconic and popular gen or the inherent nature of all the early installment wonkiness that seems to permeate most of them. Maybe both?
On the current subject, Gamefreak's treatment of cats has always been a sour point for me. I don't think any of them are really viable, and they're surprisingly few in number despite them being the most popular pets IRL.
And Meowth's Party was a missed opportunity. A Pokemon-themed Guitar Hero/Guitarfreaks and Drummania clone would have made mad bank back in like, 2007.
On the current subject, Gamefreak's treatment of cats has always been a sour point for me. I don't think any of them are really viable, and they're surprisingly few in number despite them being the most popular pets IRL.
And Meowth's Party was a missed opportunity. A Pokemon-themed Guitar Hero/Guitarfreaks and Drummania clone would have made mad bank back in like, 2007.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
ColtraineGF
Member
The person making the video cheated it by just inserting the evade dialogue. Pretty sneaky.
fredrancour
Member
Wonkiness was definitely a part of it. Once you've seen missingno happen in front of your own eyes it's hard not to believe the next bizarre conspiracy in line might also be based in fact.
Widespread popularity also meant every playground/friend group's That One Guy was able to get in on creating silly rumors from nothing, and that more ill-informed people had opportunities to spread misunderstandings..
The internet also hadn't become widespread enough for terrifyingly thorough argument-settling information whenever needed.
ColtraineGF
Member
As was mentioned, the late 90s/early 00s were real early "internet" - it isn't like today, where you have a dedicated crowd of people essentially reverse-engineering the game on release day / a few weeks later, or posting complete guides within the week for everyone to pore over. Stuff like PokeGods and Bill's Secret Garden were actual things you could get away with passing on to your friend from that other kid who told you about it in passing.
The site RAGECANDYBAR has a neat article on all the various rumored PGs (I never believed any of them... maybe <_<).
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Lack of internet and lack of technical skill to see the game's code made those conspiracy theories.
And isn't Liepard a viable mon? Suckerpunch and other things.