It’s official. Pokémon GO has taken over everyone’s lives. It’s been 21 years since Pokémon was born, but you’ll be surprised you didn’t know these facts about today’s greatest game ever.
1. Pokemon was inspired by bugs and wild creatures
According to Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon, the game was inspired by his hobby as a bug collector when he was just a child. Tajiri later found his love for videogames, and later on conceptualized a game that involved small monster-like bugs, Pokémon!
2. The first Pokémon games were somewhat of a flow
The first two Pokémon games — Red and Green –only gained “modest sales” in 1996, Japan. It was never popular until gamers found a secret Pokemon, Mew. A Japanese magazine then announced a deal to distribute Mew, the 151st Pokémon on the Pokedex, to twenty lucky contest winners. It gained 78,000 entrants, translated to higher sales, and led to the launch of the third franchise: Pokémon Blue.
3. People in the Pokémon Universe eat Pokemon
You might have forgotten, but in the anime series, we’ve seen characters eating and also fantasizing about eating Pokemon. Magikarp is eaten both fried and partially alive, a Japanese culinary style known as Ikizukuri.
4. The first Pokemon ever created (game-wise) was Rhydon.
Nope, it’s not Pikachu, Bulbasur, Charmander, or Squirtle. This is according to Ken Sugimori, one of the original designers of the first generation of Pokémon titles.
5. Billy Crawford sang a version of the Pokémon Theme Song
Pokémon: The First Movie released in 1998 came with an original motion picture soundtrack (OST) and the album, featuring a remix cover sung by Filipino-American singer-songwriter Billy Crawford.
6. Ash actually isn’t that good of a Pokémon trainer
Think your progress with Pokémon GO is slow? Ash doesn’t get through to the semi-finals of the Pokémon league for 14 years and 14 seasons. Although to be fair, we can also credit this to the show’s slow timeline of events.
7. There’s a Pokémon that lures children and makes them vanish
The seemingly calm and peaceful Drifloon, a balloon-looking ghost-flying type Pokemon, is known to be the “Signpost for Wandering Spirits.” According to the Pokedex, children holding Drifloon, which is formed by the spirits of people and Pokémon, “sometimes vanish.” Scary right?
8. Eevee is the Pokémon with the most evolution stages
Eevee can evolve into eight different species. Next to Ditto, Eevee might be the second most flexible Pokemon, with eight types of evolutions. In the first generation of Pokemon, Eevee can evolve into Vaporeon (water type), Jolteon (electric type), and Flareon (fire type). In the second generation, Eevee can evolve into Espeon (psychic type) or Umbreon (dark type) using a sun or moon shard. Leafeon (grass type) and Glaceon (ice type) were introduced in the fourth generation, and Sylveon (fairy type) during the sixth.
9. Pokémon GO would have nearly doubled the net worth of the owner of Nintendo if he were alive
According to Forbes, Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi, who died in 2013, would have nearly doubled his net worth to $3.5 billion from $2.1 billion if he were still living. Nintendo stocks have been soaring since July due to the popularity of the game.
10. You can pay PokéCoins for Pokémon GO without a credit card.
While Pokémon GO is a free game, it requires in-app purchases using PokéCoins to buy premium items. These items include Lucky Eggs, Egg Incubators, Incense, Bag Upgrades, and Pokemon Storages (Tip: Power players have been using Lucky Eggs and Incense especially to level up faster and get ahead of the game). Prices range from P44 for 100 PokeCoins to P4,440 for 14,500 PokeCoins. You’ll need a credit card or operator billing—charged to your postpaid or prepaid bill— to buy one. For those without a credit card or who don’t want to get surprised by charges on to their mobile phone load or subscription, just use PayMaya–a free app that lets you pay online and track your purchases so you can spend worry-free! (Read: How to buy PokéCoins with PayMaya)
*All GIF credits go to Giphy.com
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