Translation: 5 Pokemon Developer Secrets

Written by Dr Lava • December 26, 2020

This “bonus article” was originally published in the July 2000 edition of (Japanese publication) Nintendo Online Magazine, a few months after Gold & Silver launched in Japan. It was published alongside a much longer developer interview covering the creation of Gen 1, along with some history on Gen 2. If you wanna read that full-length interview, click here. Okay so without further adieu, here’s the trivia translation.

Bonus Article: Pokemon Secrets

“We asked the creators about backstories and little known facts and compiled them here!”

1. Mew Was Born from a Programmer’s Prank

“Mew’s creator was programmer Shigeki Morimoto. When development was finished, there was just a tiny bit of space left on the cartridge, so he secretly added his creation Mew. At first he thought, ‘If no one finds it, Mew will be just for us developers to enjoy.’ But Mew ended up drawing lots of attention as the 151st Pokemon, much to Morimoto’s surprise.”

Dr Lava’s notes: This story’s been told countless times since the 90’s, in varying levels of detail. According to Junichi Masuda, when development of Red & Green was finished, there was only 2 bytes of cartridge space left over. But after the debug features were removed (a program used to find and remove bugs), Morimoto used that space to squeeze Mew into the game. They initially thought fans might never find out Mew existed, but word eventually got around and the hype surrounding the mysterious 151st Pokemon reignited sales and helped Pokemon become the megaseries it is today. It’s because of this whole escapade that Morimoto says Mew is his favorite Pokemon.

2. The Secret Origin of Sudowoodo

“Sudowoodo was created by art director Ken Sugimori. He was sketching several Pokemon and ended up drawing Sudowoodo. To make full use of its features, he asked the planners to add a part in the story where a Pokemon block the road. It appears that sometimes the story is influenced by the Pokemon designs themselves.”

Dr Lava’s notes: Based on the interview that preceded this trivia in Nintendo Online Magazine, it seems Snorlax was created to block a path in Red & Green. On the other hand, a path in Gold & Silver was created so Sudowoodo could block it. In other words, these two path-blocking Pokemon’s development were complete opposites — Kanto’s story influenced Snorlax, while Sudowoodo influenced Johto’s story.

3. Pikachu Wasn’t There at First?!

“Some Pokemon were created to represent particular elemental types, including Pikachu. It was designed to represent the Electric type and symbolize thunder. Now a Pokemon that boasts worldwide popularity, Pikachu didn’t exist in the early stages of development.”

Dr Lava’s notes: Pikachu was created by Atsuko Nishida, the series’ most prolific Pokemon designer after Ken Sugimori. Like many Gen 1 Pokemon, Pikachu was designed on-computer as a sprite before pencil ever touched paper. As explained here, Pikachu was created after the concept of types came about mid-development, as an embodiment of Electricity itself. Within Gen 1’s internal data, Pikachu’s index number is #84 — these index numbers give us a rough idea what order they were inserted into the game, so it appears Pikachu was born somewhere around the halfway mark.

4. Pokemon Voices Change?!

“Have you noticed that Pokemon cries change as they evolve? Just as human voices change as we grow older, so do Pokemon’s! After evolving, a Pokemon’s cry should sound deeper and more piercing than when it was young. Listen closely.”

Dr Lava’s notes: Everyone knows Pokemon all have unique cries, but it’s not as well-known that Pokemon in the same family have cries that build on top of one another. Simply put, they get deeper and more menacing as they evolve. The video embedded above includes the cries of Kanto’s starter families, which makes it clear what the developers were going for.

5. What’s the Difference? The Mystery of the Save Sound

In Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow the save sound is slightly different in each version. This was secretly added by Junichi Masuda, who was in charge of the sound effects. Can you say… obsessed?!

Dr Lava’s notes: Except for Green, the differences between the other versions’ save sounds are pretty difficult to tell the difference between. But they are in fact slightly different — sort of a weird easter egg for Masuda to include. By the way, thanks to archivist SatoMew for providing those Japanese save sound effects.

Closing Comments

This was just a short translation, but if you’d like to read the full developer interview published alongside these random bits of trivia, click here. And if you’d like to read lots more Pokemon translations, check out this site’s homepage, or choose from some recommended translations linked below. Thanks for reading.

Read More Pokemon Translations:

• Interview: Tajiri and Ishihara discuss Game Freak before Pokemon

• Developer Blog: Pokemon Anime Was Written Under the Influence

• Interview: How Game Freak Creates Pokemon

Videos About Pokemon History:

• Translation: Sugimori Explains Gen 5 Beta Pokemon

• Cut Content: Gen 4 and 5’s Scrapped Lock Capsule Event

• Cut Content: Gen 4’s Internal Data and Cut Content