Ah, Pokémon. Seven generations of games— plus remakes— and vast media content stretching over twenty-one seasons of shows and twenty-one movies currently released (we’re not counting Detective Pikachu… yet). You’d think that with all of the Pokémon content out there, Nintendo would go over everything with a fine-tooth comb for errors. But that doesn’t always seem to be the case— especially with the earlier games.
Many Pokémon games are fraught with errors of some kind. Gen I games like Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow are plagued with glitches— some, like Missingno, more famous than others—programming errors, and mistranslations from the Japanese games. But there are a few less-subtle mistakes that most players might not notice in passing.
Much of them have to do with trainer Pokémon using moves they shouldn’t. While you could blame programmers for not carefully examining a Pokémon’s movesets, many Pokémon moves often end up having the same results, and it’s easy to get wires crossed. Other errors include buggy, overpowered, or improperly-functional features that were fixed in later patches or later Generations of games. Finally, some things just don’t add up, and it’s never explained whether it was intentional or if the Nintendo development team is just that tight-lipped about errors.
Fortunately, a lot of these errors can sneak right under most fans’ noses— most of the ones on this list didn’t result in a patch or even a mention of a mistake from the Nintendo team. Here’s 25 errors from assorted Pokémon games that you may not have noticed during your playthroughs.
The Frozen Status Effect Was Way Too Powerful
In Generation I games, the frozen status effect meant big trouble for your Pokémon. While freezing doesn’t impact health, it does render your Pokémon immobile, leaving it wide open from attacks from the other party. If you need your frozen Pokémon healed while in a battle, you’ve got two options— waste a turn using an Ice Heal, or hope that your opposing trainer has a Pokémon with a Fire-type attack that can thaw your Pokemon out for you.
This can pose a problem in battles like Elite Four’s Lorelai. This ice queen has two Pokémon with moves capable of freezing yours, and none of her other Ice-types have Fire-type attacks because… why would they? If you neglected buy some Ice Heals before going into your Elite Four journey, you’re just out of luck.
Fortunately, this was fixed in Generation II going onward. There’s now a percentage chance per turn of your Pokémon overcoming being frozen, just like any other status effect.
Lance’s Dragonite Knows Barrier
In all Generation I games (with the exception of Pokémon Yellow) the Dragon-type Elite Four trainer, Lance, has a Dragonite that can use the move Barrier, which it has never been able to learn. This is also to say nothing of Lance’s low level, fully evolved Dragonites in Generation II.
In a cheeky wink by Nintendo, a Gen VI Global Link event distributed a Dragonite based on Lance’s own Dragonite— including the move Barrier. Due to the Pokébank and the ability to pass down Egg Moves during breeding, it is now technically possible in later games to have a Dragonite that knows the move by legitimate means.
Early Trainer AIs Were Kind Of Busted
Opponent Pokémon trainers have to have some kind of programming involved to make things challenging. However, in early games, the Trainers were just kind of programmed to use certain moves in a certain order. This means that common Pokémon tactics, like type-matching, weren’t really taken into account. Opponent Trainers and even Gym Leaders would often use ineffective moves on a player’s Pokémon. For example, Lt. Surge’s Electric-type Pokémon at the Vermillion Gym in Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow will still use Electric-Type Moves— even on a Ground-type Pokémon.
Fortunately, opponent AI has been improved over the last seven generations, but it’s still not completely flawless.
Victini’s Pokédex Number
Every Pokemon is assigned a National Pokédex number (which accounts for all Pokémon) and a regional Pokédex number (which only accounts for Pokémon that can be found in that game). Every regional Pokédex starts back at #001.
However, the regional Pokédex number for the Mythical Pokémon Victini in Gen V is #000. It is never stated by developers why this is— this is the only instance of it happening, and the regional dexes for Generations VI and VII start back at #001. This is also the only instance of a Mythical/Legendary Pokémon falling into the Pokédex before the common Pokémon of the region.
Gardevoir Knows Fairy Wind In The X/Y Trailer
During Nintendo’s E3 2013 trailer for Pokémon X and Y, we see an opponent Gardevoir using the move Fairy Wind. In the actual X/Y game, it is not possible for Gardevoir to know or learn this move.
It’s very possible that Gardevoir was originally intended to be able to use Fairy Wind, and that was later scrapped. X/Y marked the beginning of Generation VI, and the first iteration of the new Fairy-type. Introducing a new Pokémon type always hits a few snags in the first game— assigning new Pokémon, reassigning some old Pokémon, and coming up with new moves as well. Surely, it can get a little confusing.
How Does Friendship Evolution Even Work?
Beginning in Generation II, some Pokémon could only evolve when leveling up with a high enough friendship stat. This would be a perfectly fine mechanism if anybody would explain how Pokémon friendship even works. Sure, there are some actions that will increase a Pokémon’s friendship with you, and others that will decrease it, but the exact numbers aren’t really agreed upon.
And while there are a handful of NPCs in each game that will measure friendship, they never give an exact number for you to gauge where you are. Having no way to directly measure a Pokémon’s friendship stat can be tricky in certain situations. This doesn’t even include the Affection stat, which was introduced in Gen VI and is apparently a whole other thing.
Cooltrainer Dianne’s Lanturn Knows Earthquake
Cooltrainer Dianne, who can be found on on Victory Road in Pokémon Emerald, has a Lanturn that can use Earthquake. It has never been possible for Lanturn to know this move. In fact, it’s not possible for Lanturn to learn Earthquake— by leveling up or by TM/HM— in any Pokémon game. And while there are a handful of Water-type Pokémon that can use Earthquake, most of them also have Ground-type secondary types, which Lanturn does not. In fact, Lanturn’s secondary type is Electric, so it wouldn’t even make sense for it to be capable of a Ground-type move.
Besides, does anyone want to explain to me how it would even be possible for a fish to cause an earthquake?
Potential Game-Ender in Saffron City
In the original Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow, you have to bribe the guards with a refreshing drink to access Saffron City. There is a way, however, to make it impossible to purchase the item, thus locking you in place, making it actually impossible to continue the game.
The basic way to do this is to run out of money. Battle every trainer (preventing you from making any more money), sell your items, and waste your money by blacking out, or at the Game Corner. It’s tricky to do, and very unlikely to happen accidentally, but the point is that it is possible.
Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen and other future Kanto-region games created a workaround to this by making the tea that the guards want a key item that cannot be sold or traded.
MewTwo Comes Earlier in the Pokédex Than Mew
Mewtwo is often mistakenly referred to as an evolved form of Mew, but it’s actually more of a clone or a descendant. So it’s a bit strange that Mewtwo’s actual Pokédex number (#150) comes before Mew (#151).
This is most likely because Mew was a mythical Pokémon that was believed to be extinct (hence, why it was cloned and spliced into becoming Mewtwo). Mew originally wasn’t even intended to be in Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow, which might account for it being added to the Pokédex after Mewtwo. However, with a name like MewTWO, it’s still a little odd that it comes first in the dex.
The Blackout In Lumiose City
In Pokémon X/Y, there is a section of Lumiose City that is cordoned off due to a blackout and the player cannot progress until it’s fixed. This won’t be resolved until the player takes on Team Flare at the Power Plant. Until then, the player is prevented from accessing the north part of town.
If you visit the blocked-off area at night, when Lumiose City is all lit up, you will still be kept from accessing that part of town due to the blackout. Even though you can clearly see that there are lights on… right… behind… him. Some “blackout”.
Arguably One Of The Most Powerful Pokémon Is… Smeargle?
Smeargle has the move Sketch, which allows it to permanently copy the last move used by the opponent Pokémon and just use it… whenever. Any move that should be impossible for Smeargle to use can be copied with sketch. When we say “any move”, we mean any move. Obviously, you can’t copy Z-Moves. You cannot copy Struggle, which isn’t a real move, or Chatter, which the developers just probably included because Chatter was a nightmare from a development standpoint.
Smeargle can learn Sketch multiple times as it levels up, meaning that you can have a Smeargle with four moves that it technically shouldn’t be able to know. This is a ridiculously powerful move that is exclusive to this Pokémon and has very few in-game limitations. It’s not a mistake per se, but it is a massive oversight that is in desperate need of overhaul.
Hiker Jim’s Onix Knows Wrap
Pokémon Let’s Go! Eevee / Let’s Go! Pikachu introduced Master Trainer Battles, which is a new development for the series that sees players battle experts of the original Gen I Pokémon, plus Meltan and Melmetal, after beating the Elite Four. Winning all of these bestows the player with the title Grand Master.
The Onix Master Trainer, Hiker Jim, can be found on Underground Path 7-8. He has an Onix that knows the move Wrap. This is not a move that Onix should be able to learn. It’s possibly a programming error— Onix is capable of using Bind, and Bind is very similar in effects to Wrap (although they have different power levels).
Unown Can’t Learn Hidden Power
Unown is an odd little hieroglyphic Pokémon capable of appearing in various letter and punctuation shapes. Introduced in Gen II, Unown was designed to only be able to use one move— its signature move, Hidden Power. Unown does not learn new moves upon leveling up, nor can Hidden Power be replaced by a TM or HM move.
Hidden Power is available as a TM for some Pokémon to learn— mostly Psychic-types. However, in what can only be described as a fit of sadistic irony, Unown is unable to use this TM based on its only move. This is due to the fact that a move cannot be overwritten by itself.
Mawile’s Name Was Misspelled In Its Pokédex
Mawile is a Gen III Pokémon with a large jaw on the back of its head. It was introduced as a Steel type, and became a dual Fairy-type in Generation VI. In the 1.0 release of Pokémon Ruby, Mawile’s entry in the Pokédex was misspelled as “Mawhile”. This error only occurred in the actual Pokédex entry itself— all other instances of Mawile’s name in the game were correctly spelled. This may have just been an issue in translation from the Japanese game, and it was fixed in version 1.1.
Roselia Knows Sludge In Battle Hall
The Battle Frontier is one of the more unique features available in Pokémon Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver. A stadium which allows players to face battles with certain challenges applied in the hopes of potential reward, the Battle Frontier makes for an engaging bit of post-game content. All of the Roselia encountered in the Battle Hall portion of the Frontier know the move Sludge. Although Roselia is a Grass/Poison-type, Sludge is not a move it is capable of learning. However, it can learn Sludge Bomb via TM, which might just account for the error; the moves are very similar and share the word “sludge”.
Zoroark Can Emulate A Shiny Without Being Shiny
Zoroark is a Dark-type Pokémon introduced in Generation V. It has the ability Illusion, which allows it to disguise itself as another Pokémon up until they are first hit in battle. It is possible for Zoroark to be shiny, and it is also possible for Zoroark to emulate a shiny Pokémon. Because the odds for Zoroark being shiny and its illusion being shiny are calculated separately, it’s possible for a player to believe that they have found a shiny Pokemon, only to discover on the first attack that it’s really just a plain old Zoroark. This isn’t a mistake per se, but it is pretty mean of the developers and probably didn’t occur to them until after the game’s release.
Nintendo Expected Us To Trade For Gengars And Not Be a Bunch Of Monsters About It
In what was almost certainly a conspiracy on the part of Nintendo to sell link cables (back before the age of WiFi), some Pokémon could only be evolved by trading it to someone else. One of these examples is Gengar; a Ghost/Poison-type widely regarded as one of the most desired Gen I Pokémon. You can only evolve your Haunter into a Gengar by trading.
Of course, this involved putting a moderate amount of faith in your friends that they would actually give you your newly-evolved Gengar back upon trading. We doubt developers stopped to think about how children could just disconnect the cable and not trade the Gengar back, thus turning them into real-life Team Rocket counterparts.
The Totem Wishiwashi’s Ally Alomomola Knows Water Gun
Say that five times fast. We dare you.
Pokémon X/Y introduced Totem Pokémon, which are powerful iterations of a specific Pokémon that the player must face as part of a trial. These Totem Pokémon have the ability to call ally Pokémon into battle, thus making the trial more difficult to win. One such Totem, Wishiwashi, can call in a squad of Alomomola. These Alomomola can attack the player’s Pokémon with the move Water Gun. This is not a move that Alomomola are capable of learning. Considering that Alomomola is a Water-type Pokemon, there’s a plethora of Water-type moves it can use, and it’s strange that it ended up with one of the moves it can’t.
Parasect’s Pokédex Entry Mentions China
It’s widely accepted that Pokémon exists in its own little universe, away from the strife of globalization and politics. Some Pokémon regions do have obvious real-life counterparts—for example, the Kalos region is based of of France, complete with it’s own “Paris” in the form of Lumiose City. However, Kalos is not France, it’s just the Pokémon version of it.
However, Parasect’s Pokédex entry in Pokémon Stadium states that, “…the bug host is controlled by the mushrooms that scatter poisonous spores. The spores are sometimes used as medicine in China.”
That’s right. China. China is apparently a universal constant between the Pokémon world and ours.
You could argue that Pokémon Stadium is an old game, and that developers may have still been hashing out the idea of Pokemon just being its own little world. Except… wait. The same Pokédex entry is used in Pokemon FireRed. Whoops.
Some Baby Pokemon Were Introduced After Their Evolved Forms
Developers in some later-Generation games decided to turn two-stage Pokémon evolutions into three-stage by adding a new Pokémon at the beginning of the line. These “Baby” Pokémon are low-level, usually cute, and often regarded as useless Pokémon that you let sit in the back of your party and rack up enough friendship for it to evolve to the next stage. Examples of “Baby” Pokémon added to Gen I evolution lines include Cleffa (evolves into Clefairy), Pichu (evolves into Pikachu), Tyrogue (evolves into Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, or Hitmontop), and Igglybuff (evolves into Jigglypuff).
While developers have the right to do whatever they want, adding Pokémon to the beginning of the evolutionary line just doesn’t make sense. Did Jigglypuff just suddenly start bursting out of eggs as Igglybuffs starting in Gen II?
