Nickname: Difference between revisions

A nickname is a name given to a Pokémon by its Original Trainer.

Players are given the option to nickname their Pokémon immediately after receiving them in any manner, such as receiving it from an NPC, hatching from an egg, or capturing in a Poké Ball. After this time, players may rename their Pokémon if they are taken to a name rater.

If the Pokémon is traded or transferred to another game, its nickname cannot be changed unless it is traded back to its Original Trainer. This is because the nickname cannot be changed by a game whose Original Trainer name, Trainer ID number and secret ID number do not match the data on the Pokémon itself (which happens extremely rarely without cheating). With Generation IV's Global Trade Station, some unfortunate naming issues may arise; primarily receiving Pokémon with nicknames in a foreign language or those that are threatening, inappropriate, racist, vulgar or pointless (for example, a name consisting of random characters).

In Pokémon Colosseum and XD, a Shadow Pokémon cannot be nicknamed if it has not been purified. Immediately after this happens, the option will be given. Wild Pokémon caught from a Poké Spot in XD can be nicknamed as they are normally in the main series.

Trivia

• In the Generation I and II games, if a player were to nickname their Pokémon there was a chance that it would slightly change its color either becoming lighter or darker when seen in Pokémon Stadium or Pokémon Stadium 2. For example, a Charmander that is normally orange can be red-orange once given a nickname. In all console battle games released during and after Generation III, this no longer happens.
• NPC nicknamed Pokémon are somewhat rare, and almost never encountered in battles. However, all Pokémon acquired from in-game trades have nicknames, as well as all Pokémon used by NPC Coordinators. Likely to emphasize the color change effect, most of the Pokémon encountered in Stadium also have nicknames.