Fake Pokémon

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Fake Pokémon, known commonly in the fandom as Fakemon or Fakémon (Japanese: オリポケ Oripoké, from original Pokémon), are non-official Pokémon. There are several ways in which one can be created and enter mainstream knowledge.

Venustoise, a fake Pokémon that appeared in the anime

Assumptions of real Pokémon

Sometimes before the release of a new generation of Pokémon games, a silhouette of a new Pokémon is released, with the picture shown later. In that timeframe, sometimes fans will guess what the Pokémon will look like and draw up their assumptions. Others interpret these assumptions as the actual Pokémon.

In other instances, a false name or evolution of a Pokémon may be invented by a fan before any official release. Other fans, again, interpret these assumptions as fact.

Notable assumed Pokémon include:

 
A fake sprite for Shellbro, by artist DigiX101[1]
  • Regigigas's Sky Forme, a forme that was assumed to belong to either Regigigas or Shaymin before its official unveiling. This assumption may derive from the fact that both Regigigas and Shaymin were scheduled to appear in the eleventh movie.
  • Assumed evolutions of Porygon2, often named Porygon3, have been assumed to be less erratic branched evolution of Porygon2, due to the Dubious Disc's dubious origin.
  • Shellbro, the assumed evolution of Shellder (usage of a Slowpoke Tail)
  • Kangaschan or Kanga, the assumed name of Kangaskhan's baby, which could evolve into a male or female Kangaskhan depending on gender.
  • A common pre-evolution of Tauros and Miltank.

Fake items, with accompanying "methods of obtaining", were invented to evolve regular Pokémon into fake Pokémon. For example, in Generation I, a false item known as the "Mist Stone" circulated around the Internet, and claimed to be able to evolve every single Pokémon.

Mewthree

 
Mewthree in Pokémon ChaosBlack

A common example of a well-known fake Pokémon is Mewthree. It appears commonly in fake cheats and fan fiction.

Rumors of Mewthree's existence within the Pokémon games have circulated since the first generation. Many fake methods were created, that were often impossible to perform or resulted in the player deleting their save file. These stories have led to a number of ROM hacks focusing on this unofficial Pokémon. The most notable of these is Pokémon Chaos Black, in which Mewthree can evolve into another fake Pokémon, Mewthree X, similar to, by name, Mega Mewtwo X.

Mewthree was also one of the names given to the silhouette of Lucario early after its release on many internet forums because it appeared strikingly similar to Mewtwo, as well as to Mega Mewtwo Y before it was revealed to be a Mega Evolution of Mewtwo.

Although it was a fake Pokémon, it was given an official mention in Mewtwo Strikes Back, where the scientists responsible for creating Mewtwo, commenting on the success of its creation, decided to start making Mewthree. However, the plans never got beyond this due to Mewtwo's destruction of the lab on New Island.

It was also mentioned in Bring Down the Strongest Pokémon!! of Pokémon Pocket Monsters where Clefairy called himself Mewthree after receiving Mewtwo's DNA.

April Fools' Pokémon

Commonly for April Fools' Day pranks, Pokémon-related websites will create fake Pokémon and attempt to pass them off as recently revealed new Pokémon. These often include some of the commonly assumed fake Pokémon.

Some April Fools' Pokémon include:

  • Korechu, supposedly created for a DS version of Hey You, Pikachu!, which coincidentally looks strikingly similar to Shinx.
  • Cell-phone Rotom, a supposed new Rotom form created by WTPT - Pokémon Radio (from podcast episode 57). Coincidentally, the concept of a Rotom Phone would debut officially years later.
  • Yoshi, claimed to be the evolution of Dragonite by an issue of Expert Gamer.
  • Chance, claimed to be a Pokémon that would evolve into Chansey. Coincidentally, Happiny, which evolves into Chansey, would later debut officially.
  • Luigi, claimed to be the evolution of Lickitung by the official Nintendo website.[2] Coincidentally, Lickitung's supposed evolution method requiring the console to be turned upside down would later be used for Inkay.

Other prank Pokémon

 
A fake sprite for the Sky Forme

With the leak of Shaymin's Sky Forme in name but without images to back the claim up, PurpleKecleon, a well-known Pokémon artist, created a fake version of this alternate form. Many in the fandom jumped to conclusions about its veracity,[3] as the trademark on the terms "Land Forme" and "Sky Forme" had already been verified, while there was heavy evidence that Shaymin would be getting an alternate form. PurpleKecleon, however, announced the next day in her deviantART journal that she had created the fake Sky Forme Shaymin. The real one was leaked some time later in artwork on drink cups from Pokémon Festa.

Kaenchu[4] (Japanese: カエンチュ Kaenchu), supposedly a Fire-type Pokémon, gained notoriety shortly after the announcement of Pokémon X and Y. Kaenchu's name derives from the Japanese words 火炎 kaen (meaning "flame" or "blaze") and チューチュー chūchū (the sound of squeaking). It was purported to be an evolution of Pikachu, capable of generating thermal power and unloading hydrogen explosions. At one point, it ascended to the fourth position of the daily trending topics of the website Yahoo! Japan and was retweeted thousands of times on Twitter before being discovered to be part of a hoax.

Fanmade Pokémon

It is not unusual for fans to create their own fake Pokémon for pure amusement, often creating new types (such as Sound and Light) and moves as well. These are usually openly displayed, usually on fanart websites or in ROM hacks, and are intended by their creators to be seen as unofficial. Sometimes, however, one may be assumed to be a real Pokémon by another fan, depending upon the skill of the artist and the gullibility of the fan.

See also

External links

Several fansites have arisen with a focus on fan-made Pokémon.

References


  This article is a part of Project Fandom, a Bulbapedia Project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every aspect of the Pokémon Fandom.