40 Mind Blowing Pokemon Secrets and Facts

Pokemon Secrets & Facts

The ever-popular Pokemon series has done an amazing job of garnering one of the largest followings of any franchise to date. The games have provided something that the trading card game and popular anime series can not: true interactivity. The Pokemon video games are probably the closest gamers will ever get to actually training, breeding and battling their very own "Pocket Monsters."

All of that said, this doesn't mean we can't delve a bit deeper into the Pokemon canon. We've compiled a list of some of the coolest and most intriguing Pokemon facts, secrets and rumors we could find.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, let's begin!

40. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee are based on Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, respectively.

39. If a Pokemon existed that had every type, it would be weak only to Rock types.

38. Ekans spells "Snake" backwards, and Arbok "Kobra."

37. Poliwag’s swirls actually resemble a real-life tadpole’s intestines.

36. Arcanine was originally intended to be a legendary Pokemon, but was replaced by Moltres.

35. Tangela wasn’t actually able to learn Vine Whip in Generation One.

34. Every Spinda has a unique pattern of spots; there are over 4 billion combinations in-game.

33. The names for each of the three legendary birds ends in Spanish: ArticUNO, ZapDOS and MolTRES.

32. Mr. Mime can also be a girl, even though the female Pokemon's name would still include "Mr."

31. Azurill has a 25 percent chance of changing gender when it evolves

30. Wailord can breed with Diglet...

29. Pikachu (Mouse Pokemon) has a pokedex number of 25, while Meowth (Cat Pokemon) has one of 52. Reverse those, and you can see that they are the opposite of one another, just like cats and mice.

28. Gengar is a Shadow type Pokemon and this "shadow" may be related to how similar it looks to Clefable.

27. "Pokemon" is not a Japanese word, but rather a combination of the two English words “pocket” and “monster.”

26. In the original Red and Blue versions of the game, you could tell the gender of a Pokemon by its Attack Rate and Defense Rate; this did not apply to legendary Pokemon.

25. In the original games the player could cut a tree down, stand where it used to be, save/restart and end up on top of the tree.

24. If a Pikachu from Pokemon Yellow is uploaded to Pokemon Stadium, it will be voiced by Ikue Ohtani and have unique sound effects.

25. In Japan, the Pokemon move "Splash" did not exist; it was called "Hop," which explains why Splash is a Physical ability and not a Water one.

24. In the original Pokemon Red and Blue, it was possible to fish in any of the big statues inside Pokemon gyms.

23. Secret wallpapers for the Pokemon Storage System exist throughout the series.

22. Diamond Dust is a special kind of snow unique to Snowpoint City, Mt. Silver's Summit and Icirrus City; it appears only on certain days.

21. It’s rumored that the music in the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town prompted young people around the world to become suicidal.

20. Hypno, a Pokemon with the ability to hypnotize his opponents, has been known to kidnap children.

19. If the player speaks to Dawn or Lucas on their birthday, they will wish the player happy birthday; this can only be done once the player has beaten the Elite Four.

18. In Pokemon Red and Blue, a scary man appears on top of the Cinnabar gym if you surf along the East coast and don’t have the key to the town's gym.

17. Deino and its evolutions have the german numbers of one, two and three in their names: DEINo, ZWEIlous and HyDREIgon.

16. Doduo can learn fly, apparently by moving its legs around very fast, as evidenced by Pokemon Stadium.

15. Parasect is actually two Pokemon, but the mushroom portion is controlling the crab part of it as a parasite.

14. Rumors indicate that Giovanni’s Persian is a shiny, evidenced by its pink ears.

13. In 2008, Japanese scientists discovered a protein and named it “Pikachurin” because it worked very well with electricity.

12. Munna is referenced in Pokemon Red and Blue by a female Pokemon trainer standing outside of Rock Tunnel; it is also referenced in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald.

11. Yamask Pokemon actually contain the souls of humans who lived long ago; the faces they carry are said to be those humans’ actual faces and cry when reminiscing of memories.

10. The first Kadabra was actually a boy with psychic abilities who awoke one morning transformed.

9. Rumors suggest that Genesect is actually a modified Kabutops.

8. Speculation by fans show that because your rival in Red and Blue had a Raticate during your battle on the S.S. Anne and did not in Lavender Town, that Raticate was actually killed during your battle.

7. Banette was a plush doll that came to life after being abandoned by its owner, whose main goal is now to seek vengeance on that owner.

6. Though proven to be untrue, it was believed that players could collect a Poke Ball containing the legendary Pokemon Mew underneath a truck on the port in Vermillion City.

5. Documents inside the Pokemon Mansion on Cinnabar Island show that Faraway Island was conceived long before its actual implementation.

4. The theme music for Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald was remixed and left in the game code for Platinum Version.

3. Bonsly is the first Generation Four Pokemon that can be caught and used in battle in a generation before it was introduced properly.

2. The theme music for the three legendary Dog type Pokemon - Suicune, Entei and Raikou - was remixed and left in the code for Ruby and Sapphire.

1. Though these aren't in any particular order, we saved one of our favorites for last: it’s rumored that Mew and Ditto are nearly one and the same, but that Ditto is a failed version of Mew. They both weigh 8.8 lbs, know Transform naturally, are pink but blue when shiny, and can learn every move – if only temporarily for Ditto.

So there you have it - 40 rumors, facts and secrets about the Pokemon franchise!