Franchise: Pokémon

When Paras evolves into Parasect, it's actually being engulfed by the fungi growing on its back. It takes over the Pokemon's body and does all the thinking. This essentially leave the Pokemon zombified and lifeless, as illustrated by its lack of pupils.

In the Japanese releases, the normal type move "Self Destruct" is called "Suicide Bombing".

Magikarp and Gyarados are based on a Chinese mythological story where a "Dragon's Gate" is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. The few carp that manage to leap over th gate are transformed into powerful dragons. This legend is directly referenced in Pokemon Snap when the player must knock Magikarp into a waterfall to evolve it into a Gyarados.

There's an old Japanese idiom that says, "A duck comes along carrying a leek". It means a happy convenience, as duck with leek is a popular meal. The Pokemon Farfetch'd is based on this saying. The anime also states they are rare due to them being delicious. It seems that Farfetch'd were designed to be eaten from the very beginning. Any notion of them being used as food was later toned down or dropped. Along with the word "leek", which is now called a stick or a stalk.

It's rumored that the Pokemon Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf represent the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda, as they are the Knowledge (Wisdom), Emotion (Courage) and Will-Power (Power) Pokemon. They were also created by the God Pokemon Arceus, and the Triforce was created by the Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore.

In the Japanese versions of Pokemon, the attack "Night Slash" is called "Blade Testing". This is a reference to an old practice that some immoral samurai held to test their new swords. They would wait alongside a road at night for a random passer-by, then attack them with the intention to kill. Night Slash also has a higher than average critical hit rate, which could be another nod to the story, as the passer by would be defenseless.

There is a gene in the human body that was originally named "Pokemon", but was renamed to "ZBTB7". The name change was sparked by The Pokemon Company threatening legal action against the center that discovered ZBTB7, as it is a cancer-causing gene.