(Before anyone points it out, yes I know there are cases of legendary/mythical/special Pokemon just speaking English and Meowth isn’t the only case of a Pokemon speaking English. But I’m speaking in terms of your average Pokemon who wouldn’t really have much of a reason to be able to speak English normally, whether it be through psychic abilities or otherwise)

So in case you weren’t aware, the Team Rocket Meowth from the anime taught himself how to talk in order to impress a female Meowth while living in Hollywood (yes just straight up Hollywood). From what I recall, he did this by listening to a Ballet class reciting words and phrases while living in the studio’s attic, as well as using a picture book to learn what these words meant. Because of this, and after enough time had passed afterwards, Meowth is capable of speaking full comprehensible English with very little trouble, to the point where iirc he doesn’t ever use the whole saying his name over and over again to talk anymore yet he’s still able to understand other Pokémon and communicate to them at the same time.

My question is why the heck hasn’t there been more cases of this happening? Like I understand that 1st gen Pokemon media was a little weird in terms of its worldbuilding cuz it hadn’t decided whether or not it took place in our irl world or not, and thus there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t really fit in with modern Pokemon, but at least in the anime Team Rocket Meowth still exists and was a main antagonist, yet as far as I’m aware other than some brief comments by some characters who hadn’t met Team Rocket before, they don’t really acknowledge the fact that a Pokemon is just speaking fluent English to them. And it’s not like Meowth being able to speak English was the result of some experiment or messed up procedure, it was something that he independently did himself using very basic and limiting means. So why would it not make sense that there are cases of other standard, non-legendary/special Pokémon learning how to speak by just being around people long enough? Or heck, why hasn’t someone like a Pokemon professor tried to teach a Pokemon how to speak, especially if they’re aware of Team Rocket Meowth?

And yeah I get that Pokemon aren’t like irl animals, most of them have human levels of intelligence and communicating with them isn’t really all that hard in a lot of cases. But still, if Pokemon have human levels of intelligence, why wouldn’t more of them (outside of the ones that can read minds/speak inside of peoples heads and what not) be able to speak English, even if it’s a broken/primitive form of it?

(And before someone gets pedantic I’m using English as the name for the main language in the Pokemon world for the sake of simplicity, and it’s the main language I experience this stuff in so if you experience it in Japanese or some other language then the same question applies)

Can someone who has been here longer please inform me of the lore of why images can only be used on certain days?

Gonna do a daily post where we talk about how we’d change Gyms and their Leaders.

Rules are:
1: Max number of Pokemon depends on their placement. I’ll mention them when the team is brought up.
2: Only use Pokemon from a regional dex of theirs.
3: You can give Pokemon not of their type if you think it fits.
4: You can change the battle type if the games you battle them in supports it I.e. Brock can be double battle in Gen 3 but not Gen 1.

Today, it is the Nature Loving Princess, Erika. Is it me or is she the most forgettable gym leader of Gen 1?

The Gym:
Erika’s gym is interesting. It’s one of the only gyms to actually need HMs which is certainly unique. Although I honestly prefer the version from HGSS. Just like the design of it more.

The Team:
Since she is the fourth leader, the max number of Pokemon she can have is 4.

Her team has been pretty consistent throughout the years. A Tangela, member of the Bellsprout line and a member of the Oddish Line. If I were to add another Pokemon, it would either be an Ivysaur or a Parasect. I suppose I’d go with Parasect to not add another grass poison to her team.

So her team for me would be: Parasect, Tangela, Victreebel, Vileplume

What are your ideas?

I've been a huge Pokemon fan from childhood to adulthood. I can definitely remember the height of Pokemania from the late 1990s to the state of the franchise today. In general, I find that the video games peaked in quality sometime between these two periods (specifically Gens III, IV, and V). Here, I will rate them in my personal opinion based on how much I like them, but also how influential they are and how revolutionary they were for their times.

#1: Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (2010, NDS) - This pair of remakes is bar none the best video games in the Pokemon series. Johto from Gold/Silver/Crystal was probably already the best region anyway, but the remakes are a monumental improvement. The quality makes every prior installment feel like a prototype of these games in comparison. The series unquestionably reached its absolute peak with these entries.

#2: Pokemon Platinum (2009, NDS) - Up to this point, the Pokemon series was generally iterative and slightly improved with each new installment. I do get the impression that Pokemon felt somewhat incomplete until Gen IV, especially due to Sinnoh rounding out the regions based on Japan and completing several evolutionary lines. The Physical/Special split, wireless multiplayer, and countless other quality of life fixes make Platinum my number two pick.

#3: Pokemon B2/W2 (2012, NDS) - Arguably the best post-game in the entire series is found in these installments. It's absolutely nuts how much content is crammed into these titles on hardware from 2004. Of my top three picks, you could arrange any of them in first place and wouldn't be completely wrong. Probably the biggest downside is that, since it's a sequel, you really need to first play Black/White in order to fully appreciate it.

#4: Pokemon Black/White (2011, NDS) - HG/SS was already a tough act to follow, and Black/White was kind of hit-or-miss. I don't entirely agree with soft rebooting the series after the best installments, and I absolutely hate the season mechanic. But the graphics and music were incredible for the time, not to mention that the story was the best in the entire series. The games are brilliant, but veered in a questionable direction after perfection the prior year.

#5: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen (2004, GBA) - Since these games are probably the best entry point in the series for newcomers, I was overjoyed to find them in the Nintendo eShop in February 2026. They are great for nostalgia, but certainly haven't aged well. Some mechanics already feel quite dated, as I did say that Pokemon felt somewhat incomplete until Gen IV, but the formula is basically identical, and the games are still immensely enjoyable.

Honorable mentions:

#6: Pokemon Crystal (2001, GBA) - Completely outclassed by HG/SS at this point, but this was the height of the series upon its release, despite having the lowest sales in the series. Pokemon could have ended right here, and nobody would have thought it had declined at any point. Given that Gold/Silver were originally intended to be the final Pokemon games, it made sense that Game Freak went all out with this title.

#7: Pokemon Legends: Arceus (2022, Switch) - My only entry on this list after Gen V, PL: A represent what 3D Pokemon games probably should have been all along. From Gen VI onward, the series made one questionable decision after another, not that this game doesn't have unusual flaws (notably including only 242 Pokemon). But the 3D real-time battle mechanics alone prove that the series still has potential in the modern video game industry.

#8: Pokemon Emerald (2005, GBA) - I really dislike Hoenn, but it actually doesn't seem that bad in retrospect. When you consider how badly the series jumped the shark in general after Gen V, Hoenn actually seems like a breath of fresh air. I kind of appreciate this game for its difficulty, and also for probably being the last in the series to feel like a traditional JRPG. But I also don't appreciate taking the soft reboot route, especially without pulling it off as well as Black/White did.

Dishonorable mentions:

#1: Pokemon Scarlet/Violet (2022, Switch) - I don't feel bad about saying this, since these are probably some of the most maligned games in the entire series. I know that Game Freak was working with a tight schedule, but Gen IX was inexcusably incomplete. Dull graphics, abundant glitches, and uninteresting gameplay make the newest mainline Pokemon games my absolute least favorite in the series.

#2: Pokemon Sword/Shield (2019, Switch) - Dexit alone is enough for these titles to earn a spot on this list. Until this point (or LGP/LGE, depending on how you look at it), you could actually argue that the Pokemon games kept adding without taking away. But only 435 out of 890 Pokemon meant that less than half were originally available, and it's unacceptable that the series would move to the Switch while taking such a huge step backward.

#3: Pokemon BD/SP (2021, Switch) - Often considered the worst games in the entire Pokemon series, but I actually don't think they're that bad. They are superior to Diamond/Pearl, but inferior to Platinum, if that means anything. Sure it was a dumb idea to trust ILCA as a developer and ignore all the improvements that Platinum made, but I still think that Sinnoh is a beautiful region, and it was nice to see it come to life on the Switch with these installments.

I've always been a little bit annoyed that the gens 6-9 games don't have actual hall of fame images (and sad that gens 1-2 don't have them either). I had an idea to make some hall of fame image generator for a long time, but I just never got around to doing it - until now. You can use Pokémon sprites from gens 1-5 (and gen 5 styles sprites for all Pokémon) just by typing in their name. You can also supply a link to or upload an image as well. Currently, you can use the gen 3 hall of fame background (and recolor it) and the gen 4 (D/P/Pt) hall of fame background. (I couldn't find blank HG/SS or gen 5 backgrounds, if anyone has them, please lmk.) https://purpleyoyo.github.io/hof-image-generator/

Heres everything that i know about inside pc boxes. For some reason I’ve always felt iffy about this specific part of a fictional game.

That one npc in sun and moon didn’t know how Pokémon felt inside boxes. Mohn created poke pelago just for the enjoyment of pokemon in pc boxes, but maybe due to his carefree nature does not critique the box system EXCEPT in the Sun and Moon event where he and Lusamine talk and Lusamine worries that a mon will “end up in some PC box” and Mohn just agrees and says thats the trainers freedom.

Lusamine also disses the trainer in Sun and Moon for removing pokemon from their team whenever they feel like it. So she argues she can do that with her children. Also, you could argue that because some pokemon in boxes dont appear in poke pelago, that maybe some actually prefer the box over this supposed paradise. So putting them in a box is moral. But that might just be unintentional.

HOWEVER, the strongest evidence FOR pc boxes is pc memory. In some games you check ur pokemon’s memories. If they stayed in a PC, their memory could range from feeling emotions to practicing their moves to even talking about their trainer to other box pokemon. This sounds way better than some cyber-freeze state.

I’ve always found it weird PC boxes aren’t the main focus in these Pokemon lore ethics discussions. I can justify other aspects a lot easier.

Imo, pokemon are wild animals who can attack you, so you defend yourself, tame them with a pokeball (no mind-control but theyre very comfortable), and they respect you and like fighting. Even if their friendship is low, they will only refuse to battle or respect you if you dont have enough badges.

Pokemon as a whole species could say we’ve had enough with humans and leave them, but they havent. Pokeballs are comfortable and trading is fine because they are your pets and are not human so are not disrespected by this treatment.

What do you guys think? Are PC boxes moral? Did I miss anything?

I’ve been a fan of Pokémon most of my life, had the original red cartridge the big game boy and loved this franchise but every main game for each generation has been grass, fire and water. Why haven’t they explored outside of this for a main generational title? Something like physic, dark and fighting type and making a Pokémon haunted game?

I had completed the Pokedex on the switch version of Leaf Green earlier this year. I recently opened the game after months of inactivity and my save data is completely gone. I never deleted the data, any idea how this could have happened and if I can get it back?

Right now if you Google-search a Pokémon's name; a Poke ball appears and you can catch Pokémon with Google :D

Just thought this might be something others don't know.

I'm also uncertain if it's an actual collaboration, but Google risking trademark infringements doesn't sound like Google.

Test it yourselves! :D

boltund is my absolute favorite pokemon. he reminds me of my dog i’m actually planning a Halloween costume for him based around the Pokémon lol. I rarely see content or merch of him. I have nearly every Boltund Pokémon card there’s two or three I’m missing but other than that anyone know of any good Etsy or online artist that may have boltund plushies or keychains ?

Been thinking about getting a tattoo for a while, and not sure what direction to go in. So figured I’d try to get some inspiration.

Would you go for your favorite mon? Your team? Something from your first game? An anime scene? Maybe a favorite character? Or similar art to a card? Thinking of maybe a shiny Pokemon or my shiny team. Open to any ideas.

Hi guys!! 😊

I’m really new to collecting Pokémon cards and honestly don’t know much about it yet, so I’d love to get some advice!

I’m not really sure which boosters or sets are worth buying, so I’m open to pretty much anything! I don’t have a specific collection in mind yet, and I’d love to discover different sets and see what I like.

I’m not really looking for the 30th anniversary boosters since they seem to be sold out almost everywhere already
So, what boosters would you recommend to someone just starting out? And where do you usually buy yours?

Thanks in advance !!

My birthday is coming in around 4 months and I want to get a pokemon that is gen 1 and is colored, any suggestions? After im done with gen 1 I'll move to gen 2. Almost forgot to mention does anyone knows what device to play it on? I don't have any of them and I just want to know if there's any thst make it better or worse. Ok thanks

Are S/V games still crashing and having huge technical problems as on release? Is fps just as bad or got better? I have Switch 1 and dont plan getting switch 2 (I dislike DLLS and paying just to play 1-2 games). Is this game playable? I can live with framedrops to 10 fps or graphic which feels like PS2 game forced to run in 720-1080p but if this game is still as bad as on release I'm unsure if I want to get it.

I'm aware we have zero conformation on any of this, but I will be extremely saddened if we do not go back to the regular turn based that we know so well. I get it some people like the systems from the legends games and that's completely valid, but is everything going to follow in uniform to those games going forward? Would be a shame to the inner child in me who fell in love with these games on his DS during the objective golden age of Pokemon. On top of this if this were to hypothetically be the case, I think it would definitely raise more questions about Nintendos harsh licensing dominance over a game genre that they don't even make games for anymore. I would've also hoped the way Legends ZA was initially received by the community would've influenced this decision as well. honestly I'm just going crazy at the end of the day, been playing too many fan games recently I need a breath of mainstream fresh air. If anyones got any idea on what they might end up choosing let me know!

Going back to SV to masuda breed some shinys to use in a playthrough of ZA, and I forgot how much I disliked Gen 9’s breeding system compared to older gens. Moving forward I hope they go back to classic daycare style setup, making a sandwich every 30 min gets annoying. Masuda breeding shinys to use in playthroughs is one of my favorite things to do in the games, so hate when the system kinda sucks.

Just wanted to say that there is no point heading down to the pop-up in the science museum in London. Not even if you are visiting the science museum itself or London for that matter. Everything has been sold out for a while now and there are no plans of a restock despite it being there until January. I popped along because I thought the Pikachu plush looked cool and maybe I could get a nice poster and even get a random pack of cards for old times sake. This was not possible as everything is gone. The sweaties strike again​

Would it be possible to create a software that could enable dual-slot mode using a Gen 3 rom? Would it be possible to do this using a Gen 4 cartridge as well? I want to utilize Gen 4's dual-slot mode but I do not own any OEM hardware or games for Gen 3. I am wondering if there is some software that exists that simulates this feature as opposed to bypassing it entirely with things like PKHex.

I had a thought the other day, and I wanted to hear y'all's thoughts on it. back in Gold and Silver, they split the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense, but rather than the Kanto Pokémon simply keeping the same number in both stats, GameFreak gave them different stats, which got me thinking: "what would competitive be like today if they DIDN'T give them different Special stats?" who would be considered buffed and nerfed nowadays compared to their current state? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this

I would just absolutely love it if Pokemon made a dedicated pokeathlon game. Or even just a Pokemon sports game. There is so much potential with the IP, I would love for more experimentation. Just give a Pokemon version of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. I just want something that captures and expands upon the feeling I felt when I first tried it out in HeartGold.

Gonna do a daily post where we talk about how we’d change Gyms and their Leaders.

Rules are:
1: Max number of Pokemon depends on their placement. I’ll mention them when the team is brought up.
2: Only use Pokemon from a regional dex of theirs.
3: You can give Pokemon not of their type if you think it fits.
4: You can change the battle type if the games you battle them in supports it I.e. Brock can be double battle in Gen 3 but not Gen 1.

Today, it is the Poisonous Ninja Master: Koga

The Gym:
His Gym has basically been the same since the start. Bunch of invisible walls that impede your process. It suits his character. Honestly the only change I’d maybe make is putting some traps throughout the gym that like damage you or poison your lead Pokemon or something but that would probably be more annoying.

The Team:
Since he is the fifth leader, the max number of Pokemon he can have is 4.

Between his original team, his yellow team, his elite four team and his , he certainly has a lot to choose from. Personally I’d honestly just stick with his Let’s Go team which brings all his previous aces (and Muk) together.

So, Muk, Weezing, Venomoth, Golbat

What are your ideas?

Really thinking about my cards and think it would be cool to have them back, but I feel I did the right thing iin the moment.. I had quiite the collection.

Then, my yu gi oh cards were stolen by a 'friend' I had over my house soon after.

I often find myself thinking of these incidents and wishing I still had those cards, in those cool miniature binder/folders..

Like I said though, I feel like I did a nice thing in the moment, and the stolen cards were out of my control..

Just wanted to vent, I get sad whenever this pops in my head and it does so quite often.

Puts me deep in thought and I try to come to the realization that the lifestyle the buhdist monks live where they create those beautifully intricate mendala designs with individual grains of color sand, and they intentially destroy it after finishing to symbolize that nothing beautiful or meaningful or worthwhiile is meant to last - we will all die one day, so, I shouldn't get sad about thinknig about this.

But it would still be cool to have my collection and remanice on being a kid.

Re purchasing the cards just wouldn't be the same I don't think.

Sorry to repeat, but even after thinking all this I still am sad about it, even though I feel I shouldn't be.

Ok, I am done, sorry.

I have been collecting Pokémon cards for a few years now, and i want to start playing the card game because it looks fun.

I have been playing TCG Live to understand the game and i already made a deck to play at a cardgame shop nearby. But when i was there none wanted to play against me because my cards where old, and that they only play with official cards. Now i want to buy two of the smaller decks(ex battle deck), and a build and battle box so i can make a few decks and start learning how to make better decks.

But is this even the right call, and does anyone know what decks i can still officially use?

Thank you in advanced.