The PokéGods
The PokéGods
During a time when the internet wasn't as accessible as it is today, rumours of new Pokémon beyond the initial 151 we call PokéGods circulated in playgrounds and online forums.
In the early days of Pokémon, one thing I loved to do was explore fan websites and online communities and read all about Pokémon, whether that was for information on upcoming products or meeting other fans in online chatrooms. One of the more memorable encounters were PokéGods, and anyone who grew up playing Red & Blue and had an internet connection almost certainly remembers these weird and wonderful creatures. I wanted to write something to reintroduce them to fans who grew up in that era or educate those younger fans who may not be familiar with them at all.
The term ‘PokéGod’ was coined in the late 90s and early 2000s to describe fake Pokémon which were born from rumours or created deliberately in order to mislead others. Many of these PokéGods had no basis and were purely fictitious, and some were based on real Pokémon that hadn’t been officially announced or shown in media, adding some authenticity to the hoax. There was even an example of a PokéGod that was mentioned by official sources!
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when PokéGods started to appear online, but the vast majority of them appeared between the North American releases of Pokémon Red & Blue and Pokémon Gold & Silver. Talk circulated across school playgrounds and the internet of brand new Pokémon that existed outside the first generation of monsters, which caused Pokémon fan websites and message boards to spread these rumours even further.
Social media as we know it today didn’t exist; it was easy for information on PokéGods to spread and harder to fact-check it. Due to Pokémon fan websites and forums closing down throughout the years, we may never know the true source of the PokéGods, as that information appears to be lost to time.
One of the most famous PokéGod rumours, and potentially the very first to appear online, was that Mew could be found under the truck in Vermillion City when playing a first generation game. Mew, of course, is a legitimate Pokémon, but it was never intended to be obtainable in any Generation I title, available only via an official distribution event. Despite this, some people believed that this was a legitimate way to obtain the 151st Pokémon, most likely due to it being known to exist as a real Pokémon thanks to official distributions and its appearance in the first Pokémon movie. The fact that the truck was actually possible to reach legitimately using the Surf ability to cross the water from the pier certainly helped this rumour gain popularity. Despite the truck sprite being there, fans would never be able to obtain the mythical Pokémon this way.
Many years later, in 2002, a legitimate method of obtaining Mew was discovered by following very specific instructions in order to trick the game into encountering a Mew. Details on the Mew glitch can be found here.
Misleading instructions for obtaining PokéGods were almost always a long, convoluted and near-impossible challenge. Usually it involved obtaining hard-to-get Pokémon and placing them in your party in a certain order, beating the Elite Four, and speaking to specific characters multiple times, or when using elemental stones. Many of these methods insisted on using a cheat device such as a GameShark or encountering MissingNo.. Anyone foolish enough to believe them would waste many hours of their time trying to obtain something that never existed.
Before their official announcement, some Generation II Pokémon made their debut in media such as the anime, movies, and magazines. For a time, rumours circulated about the origin of these creatures, and unofficial names were given. Pikablu, which eventually got announced as Marill, was said to be a Water-type evolution of Raichu. Bruno was an unofficial name given to Snubbull, and the PokéGods Lunareon and Solareon were eventually realised as Espeon and Umbreon respectively.
Speaking of Raichu, if you visit the Cinnabar Island lab in Red and Blue and trade one with a specific trainer for an Electrode, there is translation oversight that states once the trade is complete, he will say, "The RAICHU you traded to me went and evolved!". Obviously there is no official evolution of Raichu, and this was a mistake. This may have been the source of some rumours for a Raichu evolution. Interestingly, many years later it was confirmed that a third evolution of Pikachu was supposed to exist called Gorochu which was scrapped from the original games.
Speculation of other Pokémon began as far back as the first episode of the anime series, where a majestic rainbow-coloured Pokémon flew in the sky above Ash Ketchum as he started his journey. At the time, no one knew who or what this mysterious bird was, and it was the source of many hoaxes. When Generation II was around the corner, the name Houou appeared online which was revealed to be the legendary rainbow Pokémon Ho-Oh.
While some PokéGods had a logical basis due to official appearances, some were works of fiction. The three starter evolutions were said to have evolutions called Charcolt (Charizard), Rainer (Blastoise), and Sapusaur (Venusaur). Outside of the starters, Nidogod was speculated to be an evolution of Nidoking, and speculations ran wild with Raichu evolutions. Pikabud was suggested to be a Grass-type Raichu evolution, likely born from the Pikablu/Marill rumours of a similar nature, and Pikaflare and Flarechu were both speculated Fire-type Raichu evolutions. One of the most well known fake PokéGods was Mewthree, which was an evolved form of Mewtwo, likely born from armoured Mewtwo in the anime and first Pokémon movie.
There were even PokéGods that had zero connection to any previously released Pokémon. Millenium, Anthrax, Doomsday and many other fictitious Pokémon were nothing but inventions fuelled by Pokémon fans who demanded more from the monsters they were already familiar with. A fan community called Pokémon Factory used to share Pokédex entries featuring fan-created sprites, rendering them even more believable.
While a significant number of PokéGods were nothing more than hearsay, one in particular was highlighted by official sources. On April 1st, 1999, Nintendo Power announced that the 160th Pokémon was Luigi, an official Nintendo character! The article, which was published on the official Nintendo website at the time, stated that Luigi was a Plumber type, with attacks that included Wrench, Mustache Slap, and Family Reunion. In order to obtain Luigi, it was stated that you had to have a Lickitung in your party that must have been caught inside an Ultra Ball. With Lickitung in your party, it was claimed you would need to stand in the same spot as Snorlax was resting on the bridge outside of Vermillion City and then turn your Game Boy upside down and use a Rare Candy to level it up. The article even suggested shaking your Game Boy if it didn’t work!
Of course, Luigi was nothing more than an April Fools' joke, but it was interesting to know that Nintendo Power contributed to the PokéGod rumours. In the years that followed, the 160th Pokémon was officially revealed as Feraligatr, Lickitung got an official evolution (Lickilicky), and more interestingly, a Pokémon that could evolve when a device was held upside down was released (Inkay into Malamar).
Another PokéGod that appeared in printed media was in issue 58 (April 1999) of Expert Gamer. A reader credited as J. Ester submitted a method of obtaining Yoshi, a PokéGod that could evolve from Dragonite by beating the game and obtaining all 150 Pokémon. A copy of Red and Blue was required to trade Dratini back and forth and evolve it into Dragonite. Then, the player would need to head to the Unknown Dungeon and stand where Mewtwo originally was. Finally, the player would need to use a Fire Stone on the Dragonite and it would evolve into Yoshi.
Given the popularity of magazines at the time, these PokéGods would likely have reached a significant number of people. I have to wonder how many people took it seriously and attempted these convoluted methods to try and obtain them…
The Mist Stone was an invented item, said to evolve any Pokémon, including PokéGods. One rumour I remember reading was that it could be found in the Seafoam Islands once you had collected every single item there. I wonder how many people were tempted by such a powerful item?
A prime location where PokéGods were meant to exist was behind Bill’s house on Route 25, where rumours said he had a secret garden. This rumour may have tempted others due to a tiny strip of land that can be seen behind his house and only accessed via unconventional methods, but it lacks any Pokémon whatsoever. Some reported that every single PokéGod could be found there. There was also talk that all three Kanto starters could be found in Bill’s secret garden and in an area that was known as Pallet Fields, which is the grassy area to the east of Pallet Town. Both of these rumours likely predated the release of Pokémon Yellow, where all three starters could be obtained easily.
Some time after the release of Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, and before the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, PokéGods were becoming a thing of the past. This is likely due to the source of many rumours being focused on unrevealed Generation II Pokémon; once those were released, people moved on. It could also be due to the growing popularity of social media and the internet in general, where it became easier to disprove hoaxes.
PokéGods highlighted the creativity, excitement and enthusiasm of Pokémon fans around the world. While it was surely disappointing for anyone who attempted to obtain them, these weird and wonderful creations continue to be a memory that I associate strongly with the early days of Pokémon, and they represent a unique time that I hope will continue to be remembered.
Special thanks to Steven Applebaum for clarifying some of these PokéGod rumours with me. I reached out to Steven after I saw how deeply he had researched PokéGods throughout the years, and he was the perfect person to assist me in this task.