Language of origin
- Language redirects here. For languages that Pokémon speak, see Pokémon language.
The language of origin, referred to as simply language (Japanese: 言語 language) in Pokémon HOME, is a value in the Pokémon data structure that indicates the language of the game a Pokémon originates from. This value was introduced in Generation III. From Generation VI onward, Pokémon with a different language of origin to the current game have their language shown on the summary screen.
Assignment
From Generation III onward, Pokémon caught in the wild or obtained as a gift have the game they were obtained in set as their language of origin. Pokémon obtained from in-game trades usually have the game they were obtained in set as their language of origin, but some in-game trade Pokémon have a different language of origin. Shedinja retains the Nincada's game of origin upon evolution.
In Generation III, Eggs have the language of origin set upon hatching (not when first obtained). From Generation IV onward, Eggs have their language of origin set to the language of the game in which they were obtained, not the game they were hatched in.
Pokémon from Mystery Gifts usually match the language of the game they are distributed to, but some distributions have a fixed language of origin regardless of the receiving game's language. This is particularly common for distributions of Pokémon that were used in official tournaments, which often match the language of the player who used them.
The Generation I and II games do not track Pokémon's languages of origin, so Pokémon transferred from these Virtual Console games record the language of the game they were transferred from as their language of origin.
Pokémon transferred from Pokémon GO via GO Park use the language of the Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! game they were transferred to as their language of origin; Pokémon transferred from Pokémon GO via GO Transporter use the language that was originally set in the mobile version of Pokémon HOME the first time that the player used it, as their language of origin.
In-game trade Pokémon with different languages of origin
Some in-game trade Pokémon have a different language of origin to the game the trade is conducted in.
- In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl, the Magikarp traded by Meister at Route 226 is German in origin in all languages except German, in which it is Japanese in origin.
- In the English version of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, all other in-game trades are erroneously Japanese in origin (this was corrected in all other languages and in Pokémon Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl).
- In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Pikachu traded by Lt. Surge is French in origin in the English version, and English in origin in all other languages.
Display
From Generation VI onward, a Pokémon's language of origin is displayed on its summary screen if it differs from the save file's language. In Pokémon HOME, the language of origin is always displayed even if it matches Pokémon HOME's language.
The language is displayed as an abbreviation of the language name. The exact abbreviation used depends on the current game's language; for example, in English, Japanese is displayed as "JPN", but in Spanish it is displayed as "JAP".
| Language | Abbreviations |
|---|---|
| Japanese | JPN, J, JAP, JAP., GPN, G |
| English | ENG, E, ANG, ANGL., ING |
| French | FRA, FRE |
| Italian | ITA, ITA. |
| German | GER, ALL, ALL., TED, DEU, DEUT, ALE |
| Spanish Spanish (Spain) |
SPA, ESP, ESP. SP-EU, ES-EU, SPA-E, ES-ES |
| Korean | KOR, COR, CORÉ. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | CHS, CIN-S, CHV |
| Chinese (Traditional) | CHT, CIN-T |
In Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon, due to a bug, the German-language icons displayed on the summary screen for simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese are swapped, being incorrectly displayed as "CHT" and "CHV", respectively.
Function
Generation III
In Western languages, a Pokémon's language of origin determines which font to use to display its name and Original Trainer. This allows the names and Original Trainers of Pokémon from Japanese games to display correctly, including displaying Latin letters as fullwidth characters.
In Japanese, the language of origin is entirely ignored—names are always rendered using the Japanese character set. This causes all names to be truncated to five characters (even though they can be up to 10 characters in Western languages). In some cases, this causes characters to render as mojibake; for example, if the in-game trade Seel from Spanish Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (whose nickname is normally SEELÍN) is traded to a Japanese game, its nickname will be displayed as ＳＥＥＬコ.
In later generations, a multi-byte character encoding is used, allowing all languages to use the same character encoding. As a result, the language of origin is no longer used to determine the character set.
The names of unnicknamed Pokémon remain in their language of origin when traded. Eggs display "Egg" in the language of the current game as their name, rather than "Egg" in their language of origin as in later generations.
Generation IV onward
Outsider Pokémon with a different language of origin to the save file gain 1.7× experience (outsider Pokémon normally gain 1.5× experience).
If two Pokémon are bred that have different languages of origin to each other, Eggs they produce are more likely to be Shiny. This is known as the Masuda method.
If a Pokémon with a different language of origin to the save file is obtained, the player gains access to its Pokédex entry in its language of origin. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, this only applies to 14 specific Pokémon; from Pokémon Platinum onward, this applies to all Pokémon. Korean first became available as a foreign Pokédex entry in Generation V (as the Korean Generation IV games are not compatible with other language games); Traditional and Simplified Chinese first became available as foreign Pokédex entries with their introduction in Generation VII.
The names of unnicknamed Pokémon and Eggs remain in their language of origin when traded. When a Pokémon is hatched or an unnicknamed Pokémon is evolved, its name is updated to its new species name in the save file's language (regardless of its language of origin). When an unnicknamed Pokémon is transferred from a Generation V game to Pokémon Bank via Poké Transporter, its name is reset to its species name in its language of origin.
In Pokémon HOME, Pokémon can be filtered by language of origin.
Possible values
Starting in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the Spanish icon is displayed as "SP-EU" in English, instead of "SPA" as in previous games. This change was later made in Pokémon HOME in version 2.1.0 (mobile) and version 3.0.0 (Switch).
| # | Icon | Language | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XYORAS | SMUSUM | PE | SwShHOME | BDSP | LA | SV | |||
| 1 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Japanese | |
| 2 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
English | |
| 3 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
French | |
| 4 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Italian | |
| 5 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
German | |
| 6 | unused | ||||||||
| 7 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Spanish (Spain) |
| 8 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Korean | |
| 9 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Chinese (Simplified) | ||
| 10 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Chinese (Traditional) | ||
In other languages
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Specific languages
 English
|
 Kana
|
Rōmaji
|
 French
|
 German
|
 Italian
|
 Spanish
|
 Hangul
|
Romanized
|
 Hànzì
|
Romanized
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 日本語 | Nihongo | Japonais | Japanisch | Giapponese | Japonés | 일본어 | Ilboneo | 日文 | Rìwén / Yahtmán |
| English | 英語 | Eigo | Anglais | Englisch | Inglese | Inglés | 영어 | Yeong-eo | 英文 / 英语 | Yīngwén / Yīngyǔ / Yīngmán |
| French | フランス語 | Furansu-go | Français | Französisch | Francese | Francés | 프랑스어 | Peurangseueo | 法文 / 法语 | Fǎwén / Fǎyǔ / Faatmàhn |
| German | ドイツ語 | Doitsu-go | Allemand | Deutsch | Tedesco | Alemán | 독일어 | Dogireo | 德文 / 德语 | Déwén / Déyǔ / Dākmàhn |
| Italian | イタリア語 | Itaria-go | Italien | Italienisch | Italiano | Italiano | 이탈리아어 | Itallia-eo | 義大利文 / 意大利语 | Yìdàlìwén / Yìdàlìyǔ / Yihdaaihleihmàhn |
| Korean | 韓国語 | Kankokugo | Coréen | Koreanisch | Coreano | Coreano | 한국어 | Han-gugeo | 韓文 / 韩语 | Hánwén / Hányǔ / Hòhnmán |
| Spanish Spanish (Spain) |
スペイン語 | Supein-go | Espagnol Espagnol (Espagne) |
Spanisch Spanisch (Spanien) |
Spagnolo Spagnolo (Spagna) |
Español Español (España) |
스페인어 | Seupeineo | 西班牙文 / 西班牙语 | Xībānyáwén / Xībānyáyǔ / Sāibāanngàhmàhn |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 簡体字 | Kantaiji | Chinois simplifié | Chinesisch (vereinfacht) | Cinese (semplificato) | Chino simplificado | 중국어/간체자 | Junggugeo/Gancheja | 簡體中文 / 简体中文 | Jiǎntǐ zhōngwén / Gáantái jūngmàhn |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 繁体字 | Hantaiji | Chinois traditionnel | Chinesisch (traditionell) | Cinese (tradizionale) | Chino tradicional | 중국어/번체자 | Junggugeo/Beoncheja | 繁體中文 / 繁体中文 | Fántǐ zhōngwén / Fàahntái jūngmàhn |
See also
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |