Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all entries were folderized and all spoilers removed. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.
This page is for species and families introduced in Pokémon Red and Blue as well as their cross-gen evolutions.
Unlike the Characters subpage, this does not cover forms introduced in other generations. For the Mega Evolutions, check the Gen. VI Families page. For the Alolan forms, check the Gen. VII Families page. For the Galarian, Dynamaxed/Gigantamaxed, and Hisuian forms, check the Gen. VIII Families page. For Paldean forms, Convergent species, and Paradox Pokémon, check the Gen. IX Families page.
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Fridge Brilliance
- If Charizard can melt boulders with its flames, how are its fire attacks still not very effective against Rock-types? Well, since the majority of Gen I Rock-types have poor Special statsnote , being resistant to Fire moves may not be enough for them to withstand Charizard's powerful Fire moves.
- Rock-types in general have better physical defense than special defense. Top this with Charizard's high special attack, and it can deal more damage to them than usual.
- Why does Raticate/Rattata have the ability "Guts"? Because of the saying "A cornered rat will bite the cat".
- Flame Wheel looks like an odd pick for a breeding-only move for Rattata. It's actually a reference to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: the third prince who sought Kaguya-hime's hand in marriage was asked to bring her the coat of the Kaso, a fire-rat. (Even better — in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, when you encounter a Kaso in the lower portions of Antlia, the fire coat appears to be spinning.)
- Why would Vulpix be able to learn Grass Knot? Vulpix is a fox. Foxes are known for their cunning and cleverness. Who's to say that Vulpix can't use Grass Knot like a snare for a meal?
- Why are Zubat and its evolved forms Poison-types? Bats are sometimes known to carry disease. There's also a species of bat called the Mexican free-tailed that can thrive in a warm cave filled with poisonous gas.
- More to the point, vampire bats (which Zubat derives its bloodsucking nature from) are one of the few venomous mammals, using their anaesthetic and anticoagulant venom to cause a bloody wound without being noticed.
- Why do Zubats so aggressively gang up on you when you enter a cave? Well, Zubats are blind and have to compensate with their highly sensitive hearing. It could be that they just spook easily and thus expect every sound they hear to be a potential threat.
- The Machop line has a 3:1 ratio of males to females. With so few females, there must be a lot of competition for available mates... so naturally, the Pokémon would train to be as strong as they can!
- Rhydon evolving into Rhyperior. According to a certain Let's Play
, Rhydon is a tank that evolves into a Gundam. Gundams are effectively bipedal, agile tanksnote , and thus this evolution is entirely logical. - Staryu and Starmie's Pokédex entries note the in-universe theory that they came from outer space. They can regenerate any part of their body so long as the stone in their center is intact, and said stone flashes to send signals into space. Enter Deoxys, who is explicitly from space, can regenerate any part of its body as long as the stone in its chest is intact, and communicates by projecting light from the stone. Deoxys may not have been the first of its kind to visit the world of Pokémon...
- Magmar is allegedly based on the blue-footed booby, hence the fact that it has a beak and its Japanese name being "Boober", but beyond that, it doesn't look anything like a booby bird. So why would they pick such a random bird as the inspiration for this Magma Man? Because blue-footed boobies are only found on the Galapagos — a series of volcanic islands!
- Why are Voltorb and Electrode just Pokéballs with eyes? Well, since the series keeps items in Pokéballs, the Voltorb line is Pokémon's unique take on the concept of a mimic.
- Ditto being a Normal-Type. Well, a 'Mon who can transform into any of the others would naturally need to be a Jack of All Stats, now, wouldn't it?
- Porygon is called the first "artifical Pokémon" and it consists completely of computer code. Its various Pokédex entries say "A man-made Pokémon that consists entirely of programming code. It is capable of moving freely in cyberspace", "An artificial Pokémon created due to extensive research, it can perform only what is in its program", or "It is a man made Pokémon. Since it doesn't breathe, people are eager to try it in any environment". Since it can do whatever it is programmed (taught moves and sprite animation), tested in different environments (meaning different games), and moving through cyberspace (can refer to online trading/battling), this means that Porygon, like all other mons in the video game, is computer code that forms the Pokémon. Meaning that Porygon technically is a real life Pokémon!
- A relatively small one, but one that could double as a possible Brick Joke, in a sense of the term. Back in the first generation, when you fought either of the two available Snorlax and defeated them, instead of catching them, you were given dialogue that they "returned back to the mountains", indicating that Snorlax's natural habitat is in the mountains. At that point, most would simply write it off as the mountains appearing to the north of Kanto in whatever printed artwork was available for the game. Come Gen IVnote , we are introduced to Munchlax, the perceived pre-evolution of Snorlax. Luckily, these guys can be found in the wild, albeit annoyingly rarely. Now, what nation can they be caught regularly in? The Gen IV region, Sinnoh, which is, to date, the most mountainous region in the series.
- This might overlap with continuity nod, but take a look at Moltres' Pokédex entry in the Sinnoh games. They mention that its arrival signals an early spring. Now take a look at its entry in the Johto games. They state that Moltres ends winter early when it travels to cold climates. The people of Sinnoh think that Moltres merely signals that Spring will come early, like the Groundhog myth, which explains the wording in the Pokédex!
- Why does Mewtwo's tail appear to be connected to its belly rather than its rump? Think about the fact that it and Mew have a sort of embryonic theme, and you realize. It's not a tail, it's an umbilical cord.
- Many of Umbreon's Pokédex entries mention that it sprays poisonous sweat from its pores. Most fans, if they paid attention to this at all, thought it was because it can learn Toxic by TM, but it was still odd and random because many Pokémon learn that move without the Pokédex feeling the need to point it out, and it would make more sense to have information more specific to Umbreon instead of highlighting a random move it couldn't even learn naturally. Fast-forward around 20 years later to 2018, when the old 1997 Gold demo was leaked online and subsequently datamined, it revealed that Umbreon was originally a Poison-type instead of a Dark-type, and evolved from Eevee via a now Dummied Out Poison Stone, which explains those Pokédex entries. They're all remnants from that!
- A similar leak has revealed that early on, Blastoise was actually completely separate from the Squirtle line, and Wartortle evolved into something different. Blastoise even had a baby Blastoise pre-evo.note Some fans think this possibly explains why Wartortle develops a swirling tail that is not retained by Blastoise, and why Blastoise suddenly develops cannons when Squirtle and Wartortle don't have them; when these two lines were merged, it led to minor design inconsistencies.
- Raichu's infamous "it can electrocute an Indian elephant" PokéDex entry was finally retconned in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where Laventon says it can knock out a Copperajah. But since there's been elephant Pokémon since Gen 2, why didn't they retcon it sooner? Because those elephant Pokémon were Ground-types!
Fridge Horror
- The Pokémon Paras is said to be a bug that is being controlled by sentient mushrooms. On its own, that's creepy enough, but what would happen if those mushrooms ever decided to take over a human? It would be a regional zombie apocalypse!
- You think that's bad? Watch this. The mushroom on its back is slowly taking over the Paras, and by the time it evolves, it has explicitly been entirely taken over by the mushroom and is nothing but an empty shell. The first stage is implied to have the same level of sentience as most Pokémon, but the second is just a mindless zombie. Imagine yourself as the Paras...
- This takeover is reflected in the sprites themselves: a Paras loses its pupils when it evolves!
- By the way, guys, Paras is designed after a real-life fungus which takes control of an ant in order to spread its own seeds. It's not 'intelligent', per se, but it has something going for it.
- You think that's bad? Watch this.
- "It happened one morning — a boy with extrasensory powers awoke in bed transformed into Kadabra." That is the Pokédex entry for Kadabra in FireRed. The question is, which of the Kadabra you've ever battled was that boy?
- Evolving Exeggcute in general. Count the number of heads on Exeggcute, then Exeggutor. You should realize that their numbers are different then.
- The Pokédex says that Exeggutor heads can fall off and become Exeggcute again, so presumably only a few heads become Exeggutor and the rest go on to form new batches of Exeggcute.
- Some horror regarding Farfetch'd — it's an Endangered Species that has been hunted to near-extinction for its meat, and thus far the only Pokémon currently known to be eaten by humans. Now consider the fact that it's not very useful in battle and ask yourself...in a world where Pokémon battles are a major societal thing, is that why people think nothing of eating the poor little leek-obsessed duck? Do they think it's okay because they believe Farfetch'd is a "useless" Pokémon that no one will want to battle with?
- Ditto can breed with any other Pokémon, which makes perfect sense since it can Transform. But really, think about what that means. It is Transforming into other Pokémon to induce them into having sex with it (or however it is that Pokémon breed). And of course, when you leave Pokémon at a day care center, you don't actually tell them the purpose of such is to get them to breed, so Ditto is doing this of its own will. Ditto is an in-universe Memetic Molester, able to seduce any (non-gender neutral) Pokémon by shapeshifting into their image of a physically ideal mate.
- Ditto can manipulate its own DNA code, so potentially it could assume the form of anything that uses Deoxyribose nucleic acid, such as bacteria. While you're all sitting on that (bioweapons imminent), it's probably not actually assuming the real form of rocks and other non-DNA things so much as simply imitating their general shape.
- It is mentioned that Eevee has highly-mutable DNA. Which means it can evolve into several different "mature" forms... or become more susceptible to cancer, polysomies, and degenerative diseases. (Which may be why these cute Pokémon are exceedingly rare.) That's your depressing thought for the day.
- Some Dex entries explain that Nidoqueen is at her fiercest when protecting her young. This seems to be an instinct endemic to most sentient creatures, so perhaps it's to be expected... but keep in mind Nidoqueen are sterile and have been since breeding was introduced. Maybe Nidoqueen is especially protective of her children because she knows she can't have any more if she loses them?
