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See also Phonýmon for more references to Pokémon not featured on this page.


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    Anime & Manga 

    Asian Animation 
  • Happy Heroes: In Season 10 episode 23, where the Supermen are trapped in a video game and have to Win to Exit, Smart S. throws a Pokéball at a monster to attack it, even saying "I choose you!" as he does so.
  • Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf:
    • In The Athletic Carousel episode 55, Mr. Slowy summons a pitchfork-wielding bee from a Pokeball to give Weslie a boost into the air.
    • In The Great Rescue episode 9, Wolffy recites Team Rocket's famous line from the anime, "Prepare for trouble! And make it double!"

    Comic Strips 

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animation 
  • In Leo, the lizard protagonist’s turtle roommate is named Squirtle.
  • In making Turning Red, director Domee Shi has stated that the look of the film was inspired by Pokémon and other games like it.

    Film — Live-Action 
  • Austin Powers in Goldmember: During a chase scene, Austin accidentally gets his father's Mini Cooper stuck inside a statue of a giant lizard that suspiciously looks like Godzilla. As the car causes the statue to move, several Japanese people are seen running away in fear, one of them wearing a Charmander costume. Someone else who is wearing a Pikachu costume can also be seen in the background of that scene, standing next to a street light.
  • Green Lantern: Hector Hammond has a cartridge of Pokémon Sapphire in his appartment.
  • Osmosis Jones: In one scene, Pikachu makes a cameo.
  • In the 2001 film See Spot Run, James tells Gordon (who is looking after the former for his neighbor) had a nightmare where a Charizard was trying to burn him.
    Gordon: Who's Charizard?
    James: A Pokémon.
    Gordon: I thought Pikachu was the Pokémon.
    James: There's all different Pokémon.
  • Two Weeks Notice: June asks George to guess what she likes better than chess. George guesses Pokémon.

    Literature 
  • Evidence of Things Not Seen: As a six-year-old, Tommy was obsessed with Pokémon and wanted to collect every card ever made.
  • Unimaa: As part of the book being a Period Piece for the late '90s, the Pokémania craze is alluded to when Lumi and Sami discuss their progress in the Generation I games, which had just recently been released in Europe - Lumi's training for the Elite Four, Sami can't get past the ghost in Pokémon Tower, and Sami tries to blackmail his older sister into revealing the identity of the last Gym Leader.
  • Nathaniel from Mindblind was obsessed with Pokémon when he was ten, and bonded with Jessa's cousin Sam over it. At fourteen, he has a dream in which Sam is represented by a shroomish.

    Live-Action Television 

    Music 
  • Several Pokémon appear in this song of Destripando La Historia.
  • "I Got You" from Bring It On: The Musical has the line "I got you, like Pokémon and Pikachu" during a segment where they name various couples/partners from other media to describe the singer's relationships with their friends. However, it should be noted that this particular line is like saying "I got you, like animal and dog.", since "Pokémon" is not a singular character; "Ash and Pikachu" may have been intended.
  • R.E.M.: The band's 2003 holiday single, distributed exclusively to members of their fan club, features graffiti of Pikachu on its cover art.

    Video Games 
  • Bejeweled:
    • One of the Butterflies levels in Bejeweled Stars is called "Gotta Catch 'Em All?"
  • Born Under the Rain: The Hand of Cofagrigus, to the Pokemon, Cofagrigus, debuting in Pokémon Black and White, since it it's basically a sarcophagus with black hands, and the icon for the Hand is a black hand.
  • The Boxxy Quest series: In multiple games:
    • BoxxyQuest: The Shifted Spires: The north path to the "The Grand City of /m]" is blocked by a Guard, who literally has come from the Kanto games:
      I'm on guard duty. Gee, I'm thirsty, though!
      Oh wait there, the road's closed.
      (I can't believe I've fallen back into this. Soliciting drink from fucking kids. This is the exact reason I was fired from my last job back in Saffron City...)
    • BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm: Multiple:
      • The vending machines seen throughout the game sell exactly three kinds of drinks: Fresh Water, Soda Pop, and Lemonade. True to form, the lemonade heals the most, followed by the soda and water.
      • A certain vendor in YouTube is selling furniture to “pimp out your secret base.” He’s disappointed to learn that secret bases aren’t a thing in this game.
        Vendor: Well, shit. I've made a terrible career decision.
      • There’s a very rare chance of catching a Feebas at the 4chan fishing pond… but only if you fish on certain tiles.
  • Coffee Crisis: The alien leader's upper body is covered with eyes, which looks like pokeballs.
  • Demon Front: Dr. J has a robotic Attack Animal named Flip, a hovering one-eyed robot with the ability of generating an electromagnetic sphere around itself to attack opponents, clearly based on Magnemite.
  • The Epic Battle Fantasy series features more than a few references:
    • Epic Battle Fantasy 1:
      • Regice and Regirock appear as a pair of bosses. A pair of Expies named Metaice and Metarock replace them in the EBF Collection re-release, to avoid a copyright dispute. The Collection adds a medal for defeating Metaice, which calls it a bootleg Pok*mon".
      • Zombie Goku, the game's Final Boss, is accompanied by a Duskull (which is incorrectly called Cubone). Like Regice and Regirock, an Expy named Duskmask replaces it in the EBF Collection version.
      • Registeel and Pichu are available as a pair of summons for Natalie, with Pichu sometimes appearing on top of a Mareep. Once again, all three were replaced in the Collection - Registeel is replaced by an Expy named Metasteel, Mareep is replaced by a generic sheep (called A Sheep), and Pichu is replaced by Pikablu. Pikablu, notably, takes some minor cues from Marill's design, including the predominantly blue body and the thin tail with an orb at the end.
    • Epic Battle Fantasy 3: One of the Yellow Slime's three variants has a tail which looks like Pikachu's, with Blush Stickers to match.
    • Bullet Heaven 2: One of the levels is described as a place "where excess electrical power is stored and randomly discharged in the form of electric slime". Naturally, said slimes are yellow with pointy ears and red blush stickers, and shoot bolts of lightning at you. This is lampshaded at the end of the level:
      Lance: Those slimes kind of reminded me of something...
      NoLegs: Pikameow?
    • Epic Battle Fantasy 4:
      • The P*chu Sticker Flair is a sticker in the shape of a Pichu's face. Whilst worn, the Thunderbolt skill is randomly cast between turns.
    • Epic Battle Fantasy 5:
      • Matt tries to explain himself after battling Natalie, and NoLegs chimes in with "Meowth! (That's Right!)"
      • Two NPCs in the game are parodies of Brock and Nurse Joy. The Brock-parody is regarded as significantly creepier than who he's based on.
      • The Slime Mouse's variants are references to Pichu, Pikachu and Dedenne, all electric-type "Mouse" Pokemon. The Bestiary's description is quite blatant:
        "An electric mouse made from slime. Totally not a Pok*mon of any sort."
      • The v2 update introduced Monster Cards, a set of 50 cards whose design resembles Pokemon trading cards.
      • Equipping more than 6 summons gives the medal "Not Pok*mon".
      • Capturing 151 foes gives the medal "Gotta Catch 'Em All", after the first generation's number of Pokemon. The medal's description is quite unsubtle:
        "Capture 151 different foes. This game won't make you capture all of them, but there was a time when 151 was considered impressive."
  • Grow
    • A bug catcher trainer can make an appearance in Grow Park.
  • Judgment: A side case features a serial groper named "Ass Catchem".
  • Like a Dragon
    • Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Enemies are known as "Sujimon" and they are listed in a "Sujidex". Additionally, when the player first meets Sujimon-sensei, they are asked to choose between three Sujimon: A green one, a red one, and a blue one, clearly referencing a Pokémon player's starter choice.
    • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: Sujimon now return, with the addition of a Sujimon-battling minigame complete with a sidequest involving the "Sujimon League" and fighting through the "Discreet Four". Also, when the Sujimon Sensei learns that Ichiban is going to Hawaii, he describes it as a new region blessed by the Sun and Moon.
  • Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS:
    • In a 4koma with Ayumu Uehara, one of the Famitsu App representatives/School Idols, she references the franchise by name when answering a question asked by the "God of School Idols".
      • Also, Pokémon is one of Ayumu's favorite video game franchises mentioned in her introduction.
  • Luxaren Allure: To the Anime: Guard leader on the way to Springsmouth from Parvian, says:
    As soon as we get word from the castle, we'll begin a very special mission! We'll show those monsters out there who's the very best, like no one ever was!
  • NEO: The World Ends with You often mentions a mobile game called FanGO, which is implied to be like Pokémon GO but with Final Fantasy monsters instead of Pokemon. The protagonist, Rindo Kanade, is a fan of the game, as is Rindo's online friend Swallow.
  • Neptunia: One of the recurring antagonists in the series is Warechu, a sort-of knock-off of Pikachu and one representative of piracy.
  • One of the Monarchs in Persona 5 Strikers is an author who plagiarizes various works. He transforms into a dragon during his boss battle. In this form, he resists fire, electric, and wind (standing in for Grass type), but is weak to ice and bless (standing in for Fairy type).
  • Ruphand: An Apothecary's Adventure: To multiple generations: Pokémon Red and Blue: Youngster NPC that says “I like shorts! They’re comfy and easy to wear!”, and Pokémon Gold and Silver: Younger Joey's "top percentage" Rattata: The Royal Library of Ruphand has one bookshelf's interaction talk about one book:
    Brill: "On the comfort and ease of wearing of shorts." I heard this book's in the top percentage of books...
  • In the good ending of Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair, Nobara plays a Pokemon-like game, in which she catches a Level 64 male Smugglestuff with Alpha and Beta balls, to kill time while waiting for Raiko.
  • In Skylanders games, the achievement name for buying all the upgrades for one character is "Gotta buy 'em all".
  • Sonic Mania:
    • One of the achievements is called "Gotta Gacha 'Em All", which is a reference to a slogan for the entire Pokémon franchise.
  • Them's Fightin' Herds: Almost every one of the playable fighters have at least one alternate palette that is based on a Pokémon. note  As of Shanty's release:
    • Arizona (a calf) has a couple based off Miltank and Shaymin's Sky Form.
    • Velvet (a reindeer) has palettes based off Virizion, Xerneas, and Fennekin's family line.
    • Oleander (a unicorn) has two based off of Blitzle/Zebstrika and Galarian Ponyta.
    • Pom (a lamb) has a couple based off Mareep and Wooloo.
    • Tianhuo (a longma) has two based off Mega Charizard-X and Rapidash.
    • Shanty (a goat) has one based off Gogoat.
  • Workshop In The Ironwood Grove: The Tailwind Sweep attack that also boosts party Speed, a.k.a Agility, as said by Word Of God when talking about Superboss strategies:
    On that note, Tailwind Sweep in Air Form is very useful for getting the Agility advantage, just like the Pokemon move that directly inspired it;

    Web Animation 
  • Battle for Dream Island:
    • Vomitaco: Stickfigure versions of Ash and Brock appear as recommended characters.
    • Reveal: Charmander, Pachirisu, Pikachu, Reshiram, Zekrom and a pokeball appear as recommended characters.
    • Gardening Hero: Porygon and Meloetta appear as recommended characters.
  • Etra chan saw it!:
    • The end of this episode has a reference to the battle screen from the original Pokémon games when Azami and Akamatsu dig a mountain searching for buried gold.

    Webcomics 
  • Oshiete FGO! Ijin to Shinwa no Grand Order: During the chapter on Asterios, Gudao hurls a yarn ball and says, "Yarn ball, I choose you!"
  • Questionable Content: The page in which Sam plays with the floppy blue robot but implant is titled "Daughter of Magikarp".
  • Sheldon:
    • One strip has Arthur donning an empty turtle shell and describing himself as "some weird Pokémon character".
    • At Comic-Con, five friends decide to dress up as Jedi... but one of them, Gary, ruins it by dressing as Pikachu instead.
    • One of Sheldon's rejected Halloween costumes is a Pokémon character that he made up using math - "Dodecahedron".
    • Here Arthur complains that Apatosaurus, the new name for the Brontosaurus, sounds like a Pokémon.
    • This strip has Sheldon and Arthur comparing Dungeons & Dragons to Pokémon.
    • This strip reveals that Flaco has a lot of Pokémon cards.
      Arthur: Oh, Flaco. You've made a horrible error. You've... you've CAUGHT THEM ALL.
    • This strip goes over the anatomy of an axolotl, culminating in a chart of its "Pokémon Evolution". First it evolves into a salamander and then it evolves into Patton Oswalt.
    • While talking to another dog, Oso calls their obsession with catching squirrels "Dog Pokémon". The next day continues the gag with "Pokémon For Dogs" - Squirrelax, Raccoonizar, Possum-Mew, and a "Highly Evolved Pokémon" (a bird on a telephone wire).

    Web Original 
  • SCP Foundation:
    • SCP-2466 is a handphone app titled "Slay Dragon Save City" where the player can batle against a Mega Charizard X. Whatever move is used it is used on a random person in California.
    • SCP-5254 is a phenomenon that causes people that cosplay as pokemons to transform into said pokemons in real life.

    Web Videos 

    Western Animation 
  • Centaurworld: In "My Tummy, Your Hurts", Waterbaby throws a rutabaga like a Poké Ball. Even the accompanying music resembles Main Series Games' soundtrack.
  • In The Crumpets episode "50 nuances de Cassie", Larry shows off his Pikachu ears hat and red round cheeks to his friends.
  • Family Guy:
    • In the second segment of "Three Directors" parodying Wes Anderson's movies, Peter is stated to have died offscreen after getting hit by a car playing Pokémon GO.
    • In "Baby Stewie", one of Brian's attempts to get Stewie back to normal after he turned himself into a regular baby results in him turning into Stewiechu.
  • Episodes 99 and 100 of Kaeloo (both parts of a Multi-Part Episode) have Kaeloo and her friends wear costumes of well-known video game characters. Mr. Cat's costume is a mix between Pikachu and Kirby.
  • When Hooty is trying to help King learn his particular breed of demon in The Owl House, his checklist includes an entry for "Pocket Monster"; King is checked off under "?".
  • In one episode of The Powerpuff Girls (1998), The Mayor had a Jigglypuff watch.
  • The Simpsons:
    • "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" had the audacity to parody the Epileptic Flashing Lights incident from "Electric Soldier Porygon" when the family watches an anime called Battling Seizure Robots.
    • In "Children Of A Lesser Clod" Homer watches Kids Say the Darndest Things while babysitting Rod and Todd. The kid is asked by Bill Cosby what his favorite game is. The kid replies "Pokemon." causing Cosby to blather on gibberish about Pokemon.
    • At one point in "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", Bart hallucinates that all of his classmates are characters from television shows. One of them is Pikachu.
    • The Couch Gag for "Tis the Fifteenth Season" has the Simpsons as anime characters, with Maggie as Pikachu.
    • In "Postcards from the Wedge", Bart watches a parody of the Pokémon anime (with Ash Ketchum and Pikachu appearing on the TV screen) and wonders how did the show stay so fresh.
    • At the end of "Treehouse of Horror XXV", the family comes across various alternate versions of themselves. One of the alternate Simpsons families is modeled after various anime/manga series, with the anime version of Maggie once again looking like Pikachu.
    • In "Chief of Hearts" a kid says Battle Balls (the episode's Bakugan parody) "makes Digimon look like Pokemon".
    • In "Let's Go Fly A Coot" Milhouse is annoyed the cheese at his birthday party is cut in the shape of Muppets characters, when he wanted it cut in the shape of Pokemon.
  • Sonic Boom: In "Where Have All The Sonics Gone?", Morpho tries to convince everyone that he is the real Sonic by saying various catchphrases that Sonic himself never said, one of them being "Gotta catch 'em all!".

    Other 
  • Several Pokémon names serve as inspiration for scientific names:
    • A genus of pterosaur first described in 2014 is named Aerodactylus, after the pterosaur-like Pokémon, Aerodactyl. The name was chosen because the genus has features resembling various pterosaurs, much like how Aerodactyl is a mish-mash of various pterosaurs and depictions of dragons.
    • Three Australian beetle species of the Binburrum genus were named Binburrum articuno, Binburrum zapdos, and Binburrum moltres. The species were first described in 2020, and were named after the legendary birds due to their rarity.
    • Bulbasaurus phylloxyron is a species of dicynodont (precursors to early mammals) discovered in January 2017. Although officially named after the bulbous shape of its nose rather than Bulbasaur, the scientist who named the species made several references to Pokémon on Twitter while presenting it, noting that the similarity in name "may not be entirely coincidental." Also, phylloxyron literally means "Razor Leaf", a Pokémon move.
    • A species of stem-nesting bee is named Chilicola charizard, after Charizard, the draconic Fire/Flying Pokémon.
    • Pikachurin is a protein discovered by Japanese researches in 2008, which helps carry electrical impulses from the eyes to the brain. It was named after Pikachu because the protein exhibits "lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects".
    • "Pokemon" (short for "POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic factor") was the former name of the cancer-proliferating gene Zbtb7. It was renamed to its current name thanks to The Pokémon Company threatening legal action, who didn't want to be associated with something cancer-related.
    • Stentorceps weedlei is a species of wasp, named after the wasp larva Pokémon, Weedle, because the species has a spike in the middle of its head.

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