History TheArtifact / Pokemon

* The Altering Cave in ''[=FireRed/LeafGreen=]'' was meant to work in tandem with the Mystery Gift function, which at sanctioned events would have allowed players to populate it with Gen II Pokémon that were otherwise not available, such as Mareep, Aipom, Shuckle and Smeargle. Its function was rendered redundant just two months before ''FR/LG'' launched by ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', which allows you to just catch Pokémon from all the same evolutionary lines as those which would have been available through the Altering Cave and then transfer them to the main games. Game Freak never hosted any events for the Altering Cave as a result, leaving it as a weirdly-late-game cave to catch low-leveled Zubat in. ''Emerald'' is even worse, as all the Pokémon that would have been available through the Altering Cave were made catchable through regular means (Smeargle can be found in an Artisan's Cave at the Battle Frontier, all the rest were added to the Safari Zone), yet also includes an Altering Cave that nothing can be done with.

* The flightless birds Doduo and Dodrio are likely considered [[FlyingFlightlessBird Flying-types]] because the Generation I games invoked AllFlyersAreBirds and labeled any Pokémon even remotely birdlike as a Flying-type (this is also why Psyduck and Golduck are ''not'' considered bird Pokémon). While Delibird (based on a penguin) and Archen (which is also flightless) also have the Flying-type, the typing is justified with them as Delibird ''can'' fly while Archen gains the ability to fly once it evolves. Since then, flightless bird Pokémon have not been given the Flying-type, including Torchic (pure Fire-type, later Fire/Fighting, based on chickens) and Piplup (pure Water-type, later Water/Steel, based on penguins), but Doduo and Dodrio retained it and it hasn't changed since.

* The only reason the flightless birds Doduo and Dodrio are considered [[FlyingFlightlessBird Flying-types]] is because the Generation I games invoked AllFlyersAreBirds and labeled any Pokémon even remotely birdlike as a Flying-type (this is also why Psyduck and Golduck are ''not'' considered bird Pokémon). While Delibird (based on a penguin) and Archen (which is also flightless) also have the Flying-type, the typing is justified with them as Delibird ''can'' fly while Archen gains the ability to fly once it evolves. Since then, flightless bird Pokémon have not been given the Flying-type, including Torchic (pure Fire-type, later Fire/Fighting, based on chickens) and Piplup (pure Water-type, later Water/Steel, based on penguins), but Doduo and Dodrio retained it and it hasn't changed since.

* Some Pokémon can learn moves that make sense in the context of their earlier stages [[GameplayAndStorySegregation but less so for their evolutions]]. For example, it makes sense for the serpentine Dratini and Dragonair to learn Wrap, but not so much for the bipedal Dragonite whose tail is now too small to realistically enclose anything. Similarly, Surskit is a Bug/Water mon that lives on ponds, so it can use moves like Bubblebeam, Hydro Pump or Ice Beam, but its evolution Masquerain ditches the Water type for a Flying type and looks like a normal moth, and doesn't even seem to have a mouth through which shoot water.

* Fire Spin was in a similar situation to Hyper Beam. In the first generation, it prevented the foe from moving for the entire duration of the attack, meaning a faster user could completely lock down their opponent. And unlike similar "continuous" moves like Wrap, it's learned by strong Fire-types rather than ComMons. As a result, it's placed fairly late in most of its learners' level up move lists, implying it's some kind of "ultimate move" for Fire-types. Gen II changed the mechanics of these moves to instead inflict one weak hit, then a small DamageOverTime effect every turn and only prevent the target from switching out rather than acting entirely, making it strange that Pokémon like Charizard learn such a weak attack so late.

* Some Pokémon can learn moves that make sense they could be used by their preevolution but their evolutions [[GameplayAndStorySegregation probably couldn't use them very well]]. Notably, it makes sense for the serpentine Dratini and Dragonair to learn Wrap, but Dragonite doesn't have any way to enclose their enemy, since it becomes a much more conventional dragon. Similarly, Surskit is a Bug/Water mon that lives on ponds, so it can use moves like Bubblebeam, Hydro Pump or Ice Beam. Its evolution Masquerain on the other hand ditches the Water type for becoming a Flying type, and looks like a normal moth, and doesn't even seem to have a mouth through which shoot water.

* Hidden Machine moves being impossible to forget (at least without consulting a Move Deleter NPC from Gen II on) is a ScrappyMechanic that persisted because in Generation I and II, it was possible to leave an HM in your PC, making it theoretically possible to render the game UnintentionallyUnwinnable if you forgot an HM move and found yourself trapped in an area that required said move. In Generation III, the expansion of your bag meant that you'd always have the needed [=HMs=] on hand and could relearn a move if necessary, rendering the issue moot; however, you can still only delete HM moves with the help of a Move Deleter.[[note]]Granted, there were still theoretically ways to get stuck even then, but the methods required were firmly examples of ''trying'' to make the game unwinnable. There ''was'' the odd question of what to do if a Pokémon actively using Surf forgot the move, though.[[/note]] This naturally stopped being an issue when [=HMs=] stopped being a mechanic in [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Gen VII]], with the field move functions now being found on Ride Pokémon, who can be summoned anytime, anywhere as needed, and are granted to you as part of the plot, leaving your party Pokémon to just fight. As a matter of fact, former field moves can't even be used the way they were in previous games since the game does not provide the option, not even non-HM moves like Sweet Scent. While some of the better HM attacks were converted to standard [=TMs=] (a fact lampshaded by several [=NPCs=]), most weren't, leaving Kartana (an Ultra Beast) in the amusing position of being the only thing able to learn Cut.

* Nidoran is the only Pokémon whose male and female versions are considered separate species, but given the same name (aside from the gender marker). In Gen I, the gender trait did not exist, and thus the male and female Nidoran were classified as different creatures altogether, with their own bios and everything. With the introduction of genders and breeding in Gen II, male and female Pokémon of the same species have since been classified together as part of the same family even if they have different appearances as a result of sexual dimorphism (such as Jellicent) or divergent/stone-based evolution (Burmy having Wormadam and Mothim as an example of the former, Kirlia having Gardevoir and Gallade as an example of the latter[[note]]males can evolve into the latter with a Dawn Stone, but will otherwise evolve into Gardevoir naturally[[/note]]); the divergent evolutions ''are'' still considered separate Pokémon, however. But Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ remain completely differentiated, mainly because combining them would screw up the number count. And though they actually have different names and were introduced after breeding was introduced, Volbeat and Illumise are in the exact same boat.

* A similar oddity hits Rotom-Fan. In its first appearance, it was a Ghost-Electric type with the Levitate ability, which was shared among all Rotom forms then. In the fifth generation, Rotom forms were instead given an appropriate type--which meant that Rotom-Fan became Flying-type. However, it still kept the Levitate ability, which serves to give it certain properties of a Flying-type, even though it's already a Flying-type and has those properties, meaning its ability is redundant to the point of uselessness.[[note]]Like Stunfisk, one could theoretically make the ability do something by changing Rotom's typing, but this comes up so infrequently as to be almost entirely trivial.[[/note]]

* It's traditional for there to be a series of checkpoints just before Victory Road, the last dungeon that has to be traversed before reaching the Elite Four, with each consecutively checking for all eight [[PlotCoupon badges]] that will make you eligible for the Pokémon League. In the original games, your trek through the region essentially was a big circle, with the entrance gate to Victory Road being just outside the second town, which had the final Gym. As such, the checkpoints existed to emphasize that you really shouldn't be there yet. In contrast, the next four generations not only had Victory Road be reasonably far from your starting point, but you couldn't even reach the gate until after you have eight badges anyway; there's usually some obstacle that requires the game's final Hidden Machine move, which is activated by the final Gym Badge, making the checks a mere formality.[[note]]Granted, SequenceBreaking in ''Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald'' (skipping Fortree Gym) meant you ''could'' reach the gates without all badges, so it was still necessary in at least one generation other than the first.[[/note]] Averted from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' onwards. ''X and Y'' have the gate to Victory Road after the first major city, ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' has its equivalent (Mount Lanakila) under construction for most of the game and doesn't bother with a check[[note]]it isn't even treated as a proper Victory Road until the location is expanded in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''[[/note]], and ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' doesn't have one at all.

* Hyper Beam itself has this in its treatment. In the first generation, it was one of the best moves available: its base power was 150 in a generation where most physical attacking moves either had huge downsides or struggled to break 80, it hit everything but Ghost and Rock neutrally (and those had other exploitable weaknesses), and most importantly, its downside of needing to recharge after hit didn't apply if it KO'd a target, making it a perfect FinishingMove. Because of this, the anime and other material tended to treat it as a feared ultimate attack used by a wide variety of expert trainers. However, that last trait was removed in the second generation, making the move far more AwesomeButImpractical, the Steel-type was added, making Normal-type moves in general a lot less reliable, and PowerCreep caused the overall base power of moves to go up, making it far less of a worthy risk. In the fourth generation, Hyper Beam was turned into a Special move in the split, which lowered its number of users even further, as the vast majority of Normal-types are physically-oriented (with said users switching to Giga Impact, a physical counterpart of Hyper Beam added around the same time). Despite all of the above, Hyper Beam still tends to be treated as an incredibly powerful move, particularly in other media, simply because it has formed that aforementioned reputation.

* Some Pokémon can learn moves that make sense they could be used by their preevolution but their evolutions [[GameplayAndStorySegregation probably couldn't use them very well]]. Notably, it makes sense for the serpentine Dratini and Dragonair to learn Wrap, but Dragonite doesn't have any way to enclose their enemy, since it becomes a much more conventional dragon. Similarly, Surskit is a Bug/Water mon that lives on ponds, so it can use moves like Bubblebeam, Hydro Pump or Ice Beam. Its evolution o the other hand ditches the Water type for becoming a Flying type, and looks like a normal moth, and doesn't even seem to have a mouth through which shoot water.

* Hyper Beam itself has this in its treatment. In the first generation, it was one of the best moves available: its base power was 150 in a generation where most physical attacking moves either had huge downsides or struggled to break 80, it hit everything but Ghost and Rock neutrally (and those had other exploitable weaknesses), and most importantly, its downside of needing to recharge after hit didn't apply if it KO'd a target, making it a perfect FinishingMove. Because of this, the anime and other material tended to treat it as a feared ultimate attack used by a wide variety of expert trainers. However, that last trait was removed in the second generation, making the move far more AwesomeButImpractical, the Steel-type was added, making Normal-type moves in general a lot less reliable, and PowerCreep caused the overall base power of moves to go up, making it far less of a worthy risk. In the fourth generation, Hyper Beam was turned into a Special move in the split, which lowered its number of users even further, as the vast majority of Normal-types are physically-oriented. Despite all of the above, Hyper Beam still tends to be treated as an incredibly powerful move, particularly in other media, simply because it has formed that aforementioned reputation.

* Dada Zarude's pink cloth bears the number 251, Celebi's National Pokédex number. However, while every Pokémon had an additional trailing zero added to their National Pokédex number starting from ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' to accommodate those games bringing the total number of Pokémon species to the quadruple digits (with Celebi's number being changed to 0251), Dada Zarude's cloth was not redesigned to match this change.

* Hyper Beam itself has this in its treatment. In the first generation, it was one of the best moves available: its base power was 150 in a generation where most physical attacking moves either had huge downsides or struggled to break 80, it hit everything but Ghost and Rock neutrally (and those had other exploitable weaknesses), and most importantly, its downside of needing to recharge after hit didn't apply if it KO'd a target, making it a perfect FinishingMove. Because of this, the anime and other material tended to treat it as a feared ultimate attack used by a wide variety of expert trainers. However, that last trait was removed in the second generation, making the move far more AwesomeButImpractical, the Steel-type was added, making Normal-type moves in general a lot less reliable, and PowerCreep caused the overall base power of moves to go up, making it far less of a worthy risk. In the fourth generation, Hyper Beam was turned into a Special move in the split, which lowered its number of users even further, as the vast majority of Normal-types are physically-oriented. Despite all of the above, Hyper Beam still tends to be treated as an incredibly powerful move, particularly in other media, simply because it's formed that aforementioned reputation.

* The Pokémon cries from each past generation become this. Gaming technology has come a long way since even the Game Boy Color, and each Pokémon from Gens I and II still sound just like their original 8-bit counterparts. Some of the Spin-Off games, such as ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'', redid the old cries in better audio quality, but this wasn't fully carried over to the main series until ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY''. Also, while a few Pokémon are meant to engage in PokemonSpeak like in [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]], limitations of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy system (they had to go through DevelopmentHell to get Pikachu's voice in ''Yellow'') prevented this, and afterwards it simply became a logistics issue.[[note]]It would also be extremely impractical to dub and program in as most Pokémon have different names in different languages, which would require ''a cast of hundreds'' whereas very few Pokémon (such as Pikachu) have a single name across all languages and can thus use the same voice clips with no issue.[[/note]] As of ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', the only Pokémon to have ever used PokemonSpeak are Pikachu (from ''X and Y'' through ''Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl''), Eevee (from ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' through ''Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl''), and a Kantonian Meowth (in ''Sword and Shield'', and only when [[SuperMode Gigantamaxing]]). Other Pokémon that lack this are the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' card game (obviously), ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', ''VideoGame/PokkenTournament'', and some of the TruerToTheText anime specials (such as ''WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations'' and ''WebAnimation/PokemonTwilightWings'').

* [[CatchPhrase "Gotta catch 'em all!"]] was the catchphrase of the franchise, up until the [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Generation III games]] on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance. There were multiple reasons the phrase was pulled; Gen III games were incompatible with the first two generations, not all Gen III Pokémon were even available in the original releases, and it only served as additional ammo for OneGameForThePriceOfTwo criticism. Plus, while getting 151 or even 251 Pokémon isn't too much of a stretch, especially when you can build your collection off previous games, Generation III's overhaul meant having to start from scratch to get 386 Pokémon spread out across ''seven games and two consoles'', with several being unobtainable if you couldn't attend real-life events that only get run one time. The slogan returned to use in marketing by Gen VI, albeit not to its former prominence, as the games themselves had by then placed far greater emphasis on story than Pokémon collection. By ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', less than half the existent Pokémon were actually implemented, so it's literally impossible to collect them all even with hacking. It should be noted however, that the catchphrase in Japan is "Let's Get Pokémon!", so it's still in use there.

** Alleviated somewhat in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', where an individual named Jack offers the services of the Move Deleter alongside those of the Move Reminder and the Name Rater simultaneously.

* [[CatchPhrase "Gotta catch 'em all!"]] was the catchphrase of the franchise, up until the [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Generation III games]] on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance. There were multiple reasons the phrase was pulled; Gen III games were incompatible with the first two generations, not all Gen III Pokémon were even available in the original releases, and it only served as additional ammo for OneGameForThePriceOfTwo criticism. Plus, while getting 151 or even 251 Pokémon isn't too much of a stretch, especially when you can build your collection off previous games, Generation III's overhaul meant having to start from scratch to get 386 Pokémon spread out across ''seven games and two consoles'', with several being unobtainable if you couldn't attend real-life events that only get run one time. The slogan returned to use in marketing by Gen VI, albeit not to its former prominence, as the games themselves had by then placed far greater emphasis on story than Pokémon collection. By ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', less than half the existent Pokémon were actually implemented, so it's literally impossible to collect them all even with hacking.

* Dada Zarude's pink cloth bears the number 251, Celebi's National Pokédex number. However, while every Pokémon had an addtional trailing zero added to their National Pokédex number starting from ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' to accommodate those games bringing the total number of Pokémon species to the quadruple digits (with Celebi's number being changed to 0251), Dada Zarude's cloth was not redesigned to match this change.

* Umbreon's Pokédex entry in ''Pokémon Gold'' mentions how it protects itself by spraying poisonous sweat from its pores, which is odd when you consider that nothing about Umbreon has to do with poison. This is a leftover from earlier in the Gen II games' development where Umbreon was originally a Poison-type, but was eventually changed to being a Dark-type.

* The Pokémon cries from each past generation become this. Gaming technology has come a long way since even the Game Boy Color, and each Pokémon from Gens I and II still sound just like their original 8-bit counterparts. Some of the Spin-Off games, such as ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'', redid the old cries in better audio quality, but this wasn't fully carried over to the main series until ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY''. Also, while a few Pokémon are meant to engage in PokemonSpeak like in [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]], limitations of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy system (they had to go through DevelopmentHell to get Pikachu's voice in ''Yellow'') prevented this, and afterwards it simply became a logistics issue.[[note]]It would also be extremely impractical to dub and program in as most Pokémon have different names in different languages, which would require ''a cast of hundreds'' whereas very few Pokémon (such as Pikachu) have a single name across all languages and can thus use the same voice clips with no issue.[[/note]] As of ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', the only Pokémon to use PokemonSpeak are Pikachu (from ''X and Y'' onwards), Eevee (from ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' onwards), and a Kantonian Meowth (in ''Sword and Shield'', and only when [[SuperMode Gigantamaxing]]). Other Pokémon that lack this are the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' card game (obviously), ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', ''VideoGame/PokkenTournament'', and some of the TruerToTheText anime specials (such as ''WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations'' and ''WebAnimation/PokemonTwilightWings'').

** It's made even more jarring by the fact that a Nidoran♀ inexplicably becomes sterile upon maturing into a Nidorina, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McB4lCnAips something confirmed and yet still not explained in detail by the official Pokédex]].

* Similarly, Generation 1 takes place in an alternate version of the real world, recently undergone a war. An old man at the Pewter Museum of Science says that the first manned flight to the moon was in 1969, just like in real life. Lt. Surge is nicknamed "The Lightning American" and credits Electric Pokémon for abetting him in the war. Mew is explicitly stated to be discovered in Guyana. And most notably, Kanto is the Japanese region of the same name. Creator/GameFreak has attempted to sanitize all real world references since Generation 4, even re-dubbing Lt. Surge "The Lightning Lieutenant" in ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee''.

* Unown has terrible stats all around, with its only halfway passable stats being in Attack and Special Attack. But it only knows one move, Hidden Power, which is a Special move, meaning that its Attack stat serves no purpose at all. It's a relic of the days before the physical/special split, meaning that Hidden Power being a physical or special move varying depending on its typing. If an Unown had, say, Hidden Power Rock or Ground, that Attack stat would have actually meant something. After the split occurred in Gen IV though, this was lost, so Unown now has an oddly high stat that it can never use for anything barring Struggle.
* In early games, creature names were limited to ten letters, leading to a couple of kludges. The most notable of them were Victreebel and Feraligatr, whose names should really be spelled "Victreebel'''l'''"[[note]]its pre-evolutions, Bellsprout and Weepinbell, both spell "bell" with two L's[[/note]] and "Feraligat'''o'''r". The letter limit was raised in Gen VI, and some Pokémon names from later generations do exceed the old ten-letter limit (such as "Crabominable"), but these names remain forever short a letter. Sunyshore City from ''Pokémon Diamond and Pearl'' will forever be short an "n" due to the same problem.

** Another relic of the Fairy switch is one of the Togepi line's abilities being Hustle, which multiplies its physical attack damage by 1.5 at the cost of said moves losing 20% of their accuracy. This was originally given to the Togepi line so that it would be able to use its physical STAB Normal-moves, such as Extreme Speed, more effectively despite the Togepi line's Attack stat being a lot lower than their Special Attack stat (Togekiss for example has just 50 Attack compared to a respectable 120 Special Attack). However, by the time of the switch to Fairy-type, the Togepi line ended up losing the STAB effect to its Normal-moves, which greatly reduced any possibility of the Togepi line being an effective physical attacker due to the lack of usable physical Flying and Fairy-moves. Thus, it's easier to just run special moves off the Togepi line's much higher Special Attack stat. The result is the Togepi line having an ability in Hustle that it can't really take advantage of anymore.

** Another relic of the Fairy switch is one of the Togepi-line's abilities being Hustle, which multiplies its physical attack damage by 1.5 at the cost of said moves losing 20% of their accuracy. This was originally given to the Togepi-line so that it would be able to use its physical STAB Normal-moves, such as Extreme Speed, more effectively despite the Togepi-line's Attack stat being a lot lower than their Special Attack stat (Togekiss for example has just 50 Attack compared to a respectable 120 Special Attack). However, by the time of the switch to Fairy-type, the Togepi-line ended up losing the STAB effect to its Normal-moves, which greatly reduced any possibility of the Togepi-line being an effective physical attacker due to the lack of usable physical Flying and Fairy-moves. Thus, it's easier to just run special moves off the Togepi-line's much higher Special Attack stat. The result is the Togepi-line having an ability in Hustle that it can't really take advantage of anymore.