Franchise: Pokémon

Rhydon was the first Pokémon ever created.

In the Generation I games, the plaque accompanying the space shuttle model reads "Space Shuttle Columbia"; however, in the Generation III remakes the plaque simply reads "Space Shuttle". This is probably due to the fact that on February 1, 2003, the real Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry during its 28th mission, killing all seven crew members. The reference to Space Shuttle Columbia was kept in the Japanese version of the Generation III games.

Togepi and its evolutions are 87.5% more likely to be male.

In Pokemon generations II, III, and IV, the in-game Pokedex designs are based on their corresponding handheld device.

In both personal art work and the American red/blue sprites, Kakuna has arms. It is unknown if this is a mistake or if they originally had arms, but for all other media, the arms are missing.

The Nintendo DS library has the most Pokemon main-series games. In all it has 9: Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black, White, Black 2 and White 2.

In November 2000 the psychic/magician, Uri Geller, sued Nintendo for using his image without his permission. The Pokémon Kadabra (know as Yungerer in Japan), is a psychic type that uses a spoon, which is Uri Geller's trade mark. The character also has a star on its forehead and lighting-bolts on his chest. Because of all this, Kadabra stopped appearing in the Trading Card Game until 2020, when Geller dropped the case following gradual fan requests over the years.

Porygon is the only Pokemon that can evolve at level 1 twice without actually leveling up.

The blue Pokemon mini was modeled after Wooper.

It is actually possible for a female Azurill to evolve into a male Marill. The reason for this is because Azurill and Marill have different gender ratios. Azurill have a 75% chance of being female, while Marill have only a 50% chance. Due to the mechanics that decide gender (a hidden value called the Personality Value) combined with this unique ratio difference, one in three female Azurill will change gender when they evolve.

Lance has two Pokemon with illegal moves. In Red & Blue, his Dragonite uses Barrier and his Aerodactyl uses Rock Slide in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. These Pokemon cannot learn these moves in-game without the use of a cheat device.

The Pokemon 'Drowzee' is based on tapirs, which, in Japan, are said to eat dreams.

The Swirls on Poliwag's stomach are actually based on real life tadpole's intestines.

Until Generation III, the Normal type is the only type to have multiple type-enhancing items.

According to studies carried out by Iowa State University, the Pokéwalker is one of the most accurate pedometers ever.

In some of it's Pokédex entries (namely Yellow and Gold), Slowbro is said to turn back into Slowpoke if the Shellder on its tail comes off. This and most of Exeggutor's entries (which states that if its' heads fall off, they will become an Exeggcute) are the only Pokémon that mention devolution.

The first 4 regions are based on real life Japan.

Pikachu has had four balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The first one (nicknamed "Flying Pikachu") ran from 2001 to 2005. The second one was a redesign that now featured him chasing a Poké Ball balloon and ran from 2006 to 2013. The third was another redesign featuring him wearing a green scarf and holding a small, Pikachu-shaped snowman, ran from 2014 to 2020. In 2021, the fourth balloon was introduced, featuring Pikachu and Eevee riding in a bobsled resembling a Poké Ball.

Pikachu is the second video game character to be featured in the parade after Sonic The Hedgehog in 1993.

The non-damaging and non-effect move Splash is a mistranslation. It's move name in Japan is はねる (haneru) which can be translated as both Splash and Hop (although usually as the latter). This mistranslation was mostly a result from the exclusive usage by Magikarp in Generation I.

This also explains why this move can be learned by non-aquatic Pokémon such as Hopip, Spoink, and Buneary for their nature of hopping and why it is disabled by the move Gravity.

In the english versions of Pokemon, there are the Pokemon "Hitmonlee" and "Hitmonchan". The English names are references to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

In the Japanese version it's "サワムラー" (Sawamular) and "エビワラー" (Ebiwalar). Sawamular is a reference to Tadashi Sawamura, the one of the first kickboxers. Ebiwalar is derived from Hiroyuki Ebihara, a Japanese world-champion boxer.