History UrbanLegendOfZelda / Pokemon

** A more insane April Fool's joke (courtesy of the official website of Creator/{{Nintendo}} of America itself) claimed that Lickitung could evolve into Luigi if you fed it a RareCandy while holding your UsefulNotes/GameBoy upside-down. It's particularly nonsensical because it requires Lickitung to be caught in ''Blue'' in a specific type of Pokéball; the games didn't keep track of this until ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', and you can only obtain Lickitung in ''Blue'' through trade anyway. The sprite they showed for Luigi is also clearly just grayscaled artwork from the original ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', much higher-quality than the game's real sprites. Game Freak may have referenced this rumor in [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY the sixth generation]], when we were introduced to Inkay, a Pokémon that indeed ''does'' evolve when you hold your console upside-down (since [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS the game's console]] had a gyroscope and could track motion).

* ''VideoGame/HeyYouPikachu'': The game has a persistent rumor that saying "UsefulNotes/PlayStation" or "Creator/{{Sega}}" would make Pikachu angry. Neither word is in the game's voice recognition library.

Not to be confused with [[PopCultureUrbanLegends/Pokemon Pop Culture Urban Legends]] which is for non-gameplay related rumors. Any non-gameplay related rumors should go there.

Not to be confused with [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/PopCultureUrbanLegends/Pokemon Pop Culture Urban Legends]] which is for non-gameplay related rumors. Any non-gameplay related rumors should go there.

* It was rumored that ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'' gave Youngster Joey's Rattata perfect [=IVs=] [[AscendedMeme in reference to the "top percentage" meme.]] Datamining the game reveals it has 0s in every IV, the same as all other Pokémon owned by non-boss trainers.

* Mew in general was such a hot topic for urban legends that it could be credited for saving the franchise from potentially fading into obscurity and elevating it into one of the planet's largest {{Cash Cow Franchise}}s. The original games were released late into the UsefulNotes/GameBoy's lifespan in Japan and were given minimal advertising [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail as they were not expected to sell well]], and their performance on launch was actually not too stellar, but interest in the game was kept alive in part thanks to rumors surrounding the elusive 151st Pokémon who was added to the games as an internal prank that wasn't meant to be discovered by general players. Word of mouth surrounding the legendary Mew's existence and potential ways of obtaining it (such as the aforementioned truck myth) drew interest to the games as a whole, and so sales increased exponentially well past their initial launch numbers (a rarity for handheld games, especially towards the end of the console's lifespan), to the point where they became a [[SleeperHit hit]]. And the rest is history.

* One factoid commonly shared among the Pokémon fandom is that Snorlax is directly inspired by Game Freak employee Kōji Nishino, and that its Japanese name (Kabigon) is a nickname given to Nishino and derived from 黴 ''kabi'' (mold), since Nishino reportedly had a habit of eating moldy food. While the first part of the factoid is confirmed by Game Freak staff, the second part is just a myth. Instead, [[https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2019/10/24/more-burning-questions-for-the-pokemon-series according to a 2019 interview by Game Informer]], Junichi Masuda stated that Kabigon is a pun on ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' (Japanese: カービィ ''Kābī''), and that Nishino was nicknamed "Kirby" by the other Game Freak staff thanks to his large appetite. Further evidence is [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Kabiin.jpg this piece of concept art]] which resembles Kirby, Nishino, and Snorlax all at once.

* A weird rumor that spread only in Italy was about a secret legendary called Luxor, which makes every other Pokémon around it (wild, in your team or in the PC box) disappear into nothing and must be first summoned by going into the point where you caught Lugia (or Mewtwo in ''VideoGame/PokemonFireRedAndLeafGreen'') and using Flash, starting a cutscene where Luxor crushes on Earth via asteroid and panicking every NPC and wild Pokémon until the player goes back to the starting town and fights it. While fascinating, it's obviously fake (although Deoxys, a Mythical alien Pokémon that arrives on the planet inside an asteroid, would be added just one generation later, and later still, ''Sun and Moon'' would add Necrozma, another otherworldly Legendary strongly associated with light).

* A weird rumor that spread only in Italy was about a secret legendary called Luxor, which makes every other Pokémon around it (wild, in your team or in the PC box) disappear into nothing and must be first summoned by going into the point where you caught Lugia (or Mewtwo in ''VideoGame/PokemonFireRedAndLeafGreen'') and using Flash, starting a cutscene where Luxor crushes on Earth via asteroid and panicking every NPC and wild Pokémon until the player goes back to the starting town and fights it. While fascinating, it's obviously fake.

** The usual methods for encountering [=MissingNo.=] are urban legends in most European countries. The games released after they did in North America and, since they were working off the [=NoA=] build of the game, they took the opportunity to patch some of the glitches that were present. Including the ones that lead to [=MissingNo.=] Unfortunately for those European gamers, gaming publications (largely borrowing and translating from North America) didn't get the memo and left in the steps to get the mysterious Pokémon, which now did nothing. Naturally, the glitches that ''did'' remain in European copies didn't help matters there.

** A grassy path can be seen continuing north from Bill's house, but you can't access it. It became commonly known as "Bill's Secret Garden", and it was said to contain extremely rare Pokémon, usually Mew, [[EarlyBirdCameo Togepi]], or [[FandomEnragingMisconception Pikablu]]. Others claimed it contains the starters Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur -- they can't be caught anywhere else in the game (and as breeding didn't exist back then, most people wouldn't want to trade their starters just to complete the Pokédex). If you use cheat codes or glitches to walk through walls, you can access it, but it's a patch the height of your character and as wide as Bill's house with nothing in it. In another fit of AscendedFanon, there ''is'' a "secret garden" area in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', accessible only after completing the entire Pokédex (bar Legendaries) and containing many rare and unique Pokémon, including a shiny Haxorus.

* In the early days of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' 's English release, a persistent rumour was that Ghetsis tried to kill the player in the Japanese version, and that the English version censored it to HarmlessFreezing. This arose because the animation for Kyurem's Glaciate looks like ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice without the dialogue for context, and it didn't seem out-of-character for [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Ghetsis]]. But eventually Japanese-speakers translated the scene and found that it's freezing even there.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' allows you to tip certain [=NPCs=] after conversations, your choice of nothing, 100, 500, or 1000 in-game currency. Since the mechanic had no obvious benefit, it started to circulate that tipping 1000 all the time slightly increases your chance of getting a Shiny Pokémon to appear in the wild. Nothing has ever been conclusively proven, and as far as anyone knows, it's just a little nod to reality, with the only real benefit being [[AchievementSystem a medal]] on [[TemporarilyOnlineContent the now-defunct Global Link site]] for giving a total of 10000 in tips.

* Right next to [=MissingNo.=] was a rumor revolving around a truck in a secret harbor in Vermilion City. You can only access it by surfing around the S.S. Anne, which usually leaves never to return long before you get the Surf HM. Clever players avoided this, either by simply trading for the Cut HM from another game (avoiding the need to board the ship entirely), by deliberately losing in battle (which automatically takes you to the last-visited Pokémon Center and tricks the boat into remaining in harbor), or by exploiting glitches to allow you to pass the guard a second time. While the truck contains no secrets, it became incredible fodder for rumors, the most popular of which being Mew being underneath it. Neither Nintendo nor Game Freak have ever officially explained its presence, but that's not to say that the developers were above referencing it once the rumors took off. The truck is present in both the GBA [[VideoGameRemake remakes]] and ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'', with it having a Lava Cookie in the former and a Revive that respawns daily in the latter. And an NPC references it in a song lyric in ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', as noted in the image caption.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' allows you to tip certain [=NPCs=] after conversations, your choice of nothing, 100, 500, or 1000 in-game currency. Since the mechanic had no obvious benefit, it started to circulate that tipping 1000 all the time slightly increases your chance of getting a Shiny Pokémon to appear in the wild. Nothing has ever been conclusively proven, and as far as anyone knows, it's just a little nod to reality.

* A common (though generally not persistent) piece of trivia shared around websites is that on pirated copies of ''Pokémon [=FireRed=]'', the ticket-checker at Vermillion City's ferry has an extra line of dialogue: "By the way: if you like this game, buy it or die." This text does not exist in the data of ''[=FireRed=]'', at least not in official versions; it was secretly added into one of the first ROM dumps of the game as a joke and spread from there.

* There's always at least one Pokémon in each set of games that can't be captured during regular gameplay -- later dubbed "Mythical Pokémon", before online distribution simply made them regularly occurring TemporaryOnlineContent, players had to physically attend promotional events (or use a VideoGame/GameShark) to receive them. Many rumors revolve around a hidden point and/or series of actions to take that allows you to get one without needing to deal with this.

** One factoid commonly shared among the Pokémon fandom is that Snorlax is directly inspired by Game Freak employee Kōji Nishino, and that its Japanese name (Kabigon) is a nickname given to Nishino and derived from 黴 ''kabi'' (mold), since Nishino reportedly had a habit of eating moldy food. While the first part of the factoid is confirmed by Game Freak staff, the second part is just a myth. Instead, [[https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2019/10/24/more-burning-questions-for-the-pokemon-series according to a 2019 interview by Game Informer]], Junichi Masuda stated that Kabigon is a pun on ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' (Japanese: カービィ ''Kābī''), and that Nishino was nicknamed "Kirby" by the other Game Freak staff thanks to his large appetite. Further evidence is [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Kabiin.jpg this piece of concept art]] which resembles Kirby, Nishino, and Snorlax all at once.

** A "swimming goggles" held item which increases accuracy and Special Attack and puts non-Water Pokémon using it to sleep. It was a popular rumor in when the games had just came out, with the main reaction that [[GameBreaker Starmie would be overpowered now]]. Said item does not exist, nor does anything remotely similar to it.

* In the early days of [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Black and White 2]]'s English release, a persistent rumour was that Ghetsis tried to kill the player in the Japanese version, and that the English version censored it to HarmlessFreezing. This arose because the animation for Kyurem's Glaciate looks like ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice without the dialogue for context, and it didn't seem out-of-character for [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Ghetsis]]. But eventually Japanese-speakers translated the scene and found that it's freezing even there.

* There was a short-lived rumour in the late 2000s claiming that if you defeat over 100 Unown in a row in the Solaceon Ruins in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', a wild Celebi will appear. This was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLw7fKGkoSc quickly debunked]]. Celebi cannot be obtained in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum without using a cheating device.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'': The only Pokémon not available for rental in the first game is Mewtwo, leading many people to wonder how to unlock him. Theories included OneHundredPercentCompletion of the tournaments and [[BossBonanza Gym Leader Castle]], or getting every Pokémon into the Hall Of Fame. There exists no Rental Mewtwo in the game however, with the claims of how to get him either doing nothing or netting you different rewards (completing everything unlocks [[NintendoHard Round 2]] Hard Mode, while getting every Pokémon into the Hall Of Fame instead gives you a Psyduck with Amnesia that you can transfer over to a mainline game). Similarly, the sequel doesn't have any rental Mewtwo, Lugia, or Ho-oh.

** The game doesn't have evolution stones, so Eevee simply chooses an "eeveelution" randomly when it evolves. Rumors proliferated over how to control or predict its evolution, based on things ranging from Eevee's moveset to the color of the nearest gym. It was eventually discovered that you could control their evolution by naming them [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Rainer, Sparky, Pyro, Sakura, Tamao,]] [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Linnea, Rea, and Kira]] (for Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, and Sylveon respectively) -- but only once for each name. Since then, rumors persisted about how you could control its evolution ''every'' time, but none have been proven to work.

* There was a short-lived rumour in the late 2000s claiming that if you fight and defeat over 100 Unown in the Solaceon Ruins in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', a wild Celebi will appear. This was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLw7fKGkoSc quickly debunked]]. Celebi cannot be obtained in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum without using a cheating device.