Pokémon Dollar

File:XD PDA open.jpg

Michael starts off with $10,000

Pokémon Dollar (Japanese: ポケドル Pokédollar) is the currency used in all known regions of the Pokémon world. Its symbol is $, a P with a double strikethrough, similar to the ¥ symbol used for Japanese yen, with the P symbol referring to Pokémon. Pokémon Dollars are acquired primarily by defeating Pokémon Trainers in battle, or by selling certain items at a Poké Mart that were found on the ground. Pokémon Dollars can also be acquired by using the move Pay Day in battle, at the rate of either 2 or 5 times the level of the Pokémon using it, depending on the generation.

The cost of simple items runs in the hundreds - indeed, most items have prices that are multiples of 100 or 1000, which is not unlike the Japanese yen.

In the handheld Pokémon games before Pokémon Black and White, a player's wallet can hold only up to $999,999. This may cause frustration when trying to save up for the advertised price of a Bicycle in Generation I (and its Generation III remakes) or a Slowpoketail on Route 32 in Generation II (and its Generation IV remakes), since both are advertised for $1 more than the player can carry. The GameCube games and Pokémon Black and White allow players to carry seven-digit figures of money, most likely due to the addition of highly valuable relic items.

Other names that fans have come up with for the monetary note over the years have been "Poké Dollars", "Credits", "PokéMoney", "Pocket Money", "Zenny", "PokéYen", "Pen" or "Pyen". Most fans simply refer to them as "dollars". However, according to Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD, the official name for them is Pokémon Dollars. For some odd reason, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon refers to the currency as "Poké", although this may well be another currency, as it is used by Pokémon, not by humans, and the currency is never referred to by the $ symbol. Pokémon Battle Revolution also uses different currency, namely PokéCoupons.

However, the Pokémon Dollar and its symbol were both created for the English translation of the games. In the original Japanese versions (except for Colosseum and XD), the currency used is yen and the symbol used is 円, the kanji for yen. Similarly, Pokémon Dollars are not used or seen in the Pokémon anime, whether the original or the English dub, although money has been mentioned throughout the anime and the yen symbol (changed to a dollar symbol in the dub) appears on a restaurant bill in an early episode.

Trivia

• The symbol for $ resembles an unofficial but often-used symbol for the Russian ruble currency - the Cyrillic letter Р with a horizontal stroke and an extended curved line.
• In Wartortle Wars, from the second volume of Pokémon Adventures, it is revealed that the currency is called "smackers"; the word was written in a speech bubble.

In other languages

Language Title French Pokédollar German Pokédollar Italian Dollari Pokémon Spanish Pokécuarto