List of cross-canon references

This article contains fan speculation. There is no solid evidence for or against some parts of this article.

The Pokémon series is noted for having multiple, distinctly different canons. They often will make references to one another.

List of references

Game references

To anime

• Pokémon Yellow is a direct tribute to the anime.
• Pokémon Puzzle League is also heavily based on the anime, with Ash Ketchum being the player character and all other characters coming from the anime.
• When Red was battled in Mt. Silver in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Pikachu's moves were changed from the original moves in Generation II to reflect Ash's Pikachu's moves in the Diamond & Pearl series.
• In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Clair has a Gyarados in her team, much like in the anime.
• The Jigglypuff with a marker appears in Pokémon Snap.
• Pokémon Channel uses the anime voices of Pokémon, including Maddie Blaustein's Meowth. It also features an episode exclusive to the game: Pichu Bros. in Party Panic.
• In the Japanese versions of Diamond and Pearl, one of the default names for Barry is Shigeru. In the English versions, one of the default names for Lucas is Ash.
• Riley appears to be based on Sir Aaron, a character that appeared in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. Riley has a Lucario, a Pokémon Aaron also had, and they both are capable of using the Aura. However, he appeared later in the anime.
• The mysterious GS Ball, a key item in Pokémon Crystal, was introduced during the Orange Islands arc.
• The Generation II games said that Cinnabar Island was evacuated because of the eruption of a volcano. While the games do not show any volcano, the anime clearly shows Ash fighting against Blaine on the top of a volcano.
• In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal a female NPC near the Lake of Rage makes a reference to the Pink Butterfree. She comments "Come to think of it, I've seen a pink Butterfree."
• In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, an NPC named Luis will sometimes participate in Pokémon Super Contest with his Pikachu, nicknamed Sparky, much like Ritchie's is.
• Route 224 has Ace Trainer Rebecca, a Trainer who analyzes battles using her laptop. She challenges the player with her Metagross. However, this cameo was not recognized by translators, as English versions call her Jamie (in Japanese version her name is ヒトミ Hitomi, like in the movie).
• Also, the two Ace Trainers that appear on the southernmost part of Route 229 have their teams based on those of Butler and Diane in Jirachi: Wish Maker. In the Japanese version, as well, they are named as Butler and Diane, but, as with Rebecca, the English translation team did not notice the relation to the movie characters.
• Swimmer Katelyn on Sinnoh Route 220 is based on Lizabeth from Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. Her Japanese name matches that of Lizabeth, but the relation was missed by the English dubbers of the game.
• The most important of the Super Contest judges is named Dexter, much like Ash's Pokédex was during the anime's early seasons.
• In Pokémon Stadium, Brock's team includes a Vulpix and Giovanni's team includes a Persian. In Pokémon Stadium 2, Misty's team includes a Togetic while Red's team contains a Tauros and the evolved forms of the three Johto starters.
• In Pokémon Snap, Mew uses a bubble with acts like a shield. In Mewtwo Strikes Back, Mew were seen to create bubbles with it inside for the seemingly same reasons.
• The movie event Pikachu-colored Pichu and the Spiky-eared Pichu appear in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
• When the starter Pokémon is chosen in HeartGold and SoulSilver, the desk will appear in 3D on the Touch Screen, resembling Professor Oak's desk with the starter Pokémon seen in Pokémon - I Choose You!.
• After getting his phone number, Brock may offer to trade a Rhyhorn that knows Thunder Fang in exchange for a player's Bonsly.
• When a player enters Cerulean Gym with a Togepi following him or her, it will start crying softly.
• In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, wild Stunfisk appear in Striaton City at night.
• The Super Smash Bros. series has various references.
  • All Pokémon are depicted with their anime voices, though the English language release of Melee keeps Mewtwo's Japanese voice.
  • The Misty trophy depicts her in her original series clothes.
  • The Meowth trophy depicts Team Rocket's Meowth with the guitar from Meowth's Party.
  • The Pokémon Stadium stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee has four different terrain effects, corresponding to four different types: Fire, Water, Grass, and Rock, while the one in Brawl has a new set of four different terrain effects: Ice, Ground, Flying, and Electric. These reference the four fields of the Indigo League Conference.
  • In Melee's 44th Event Match, Mewtwo Strikes!, Mewtwo uses Princess Zelda to beat the player in the Battlefield, a stage that has a star background. The name, the fact that Mewtwo uses Zelda, and the stage setting are clearly based on Mewtwo Strikes Back.
  • In Brawl's 25th event Match, "The Aura Is With Me", the player battles as Lucario against Ness and Sheik on Spear Pillar. This is a clear reference to Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, where Lucario was an ancient Pokémon that had slept in hundreds of years, and Ash Ketchum himself even said "The aura is with me!" when in the Tree of Beginning.
  • In all three games, Mew, upon being summoned, immediately flies away in a bubble. In Mewtwo Strikes Back, Mew was seen to create bubbles with itself inside, seemingly for protection.
• In the Japanese version of Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, Rand has a line in which he notes that "someone said that dreams will someday become reality."
• A downloadable tournament has been made available for the Pokémon World Tournament based on the anime's Vertress Conference.

To manga

• Two Pokémon, Fearow and Rapidash, with the special move Pay Day were available through the Pokémon Stamp campaign in an issue of Shogakukan magazine. These Pokémon are the Kanto Pokémon Fan Club Chairman's two favorite Pokémon that he mentions in the games, and also made their appearance in The Coming of Slowpoke (Eventually) in Pokémon Adventures. Like in the manga, they both know Pay Day.

To TCG

• Template:Card GB and Template:Card GB 2 are directly based off the TCG.
• In Colosseum and XD, the Shadow Pokémon (known as Dark Pokémon in Japanese) are similar to the Dark Pokémon from the TCG, including the fact that most Shadow Pokémon are evolved forms.
• The beta versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee's Pokémon Stadium stage originally featured the Fire, Grass and Water Energy symbols. The reason for their removal was likely because there are also Normal and Rock variations, and no Energy symbol that represents the Rock type.
• In Pokémon X and Y, the artwork from the cards Town Volunteers, Mr. Briney's Compassion, Forest Guardian, and Fossil Excavator appear as paintings in the Lumiose Museum.

Anime references

To games

Original sketch of Silver

• All anime canon is based on the world and events of the main game series.
• Ash's original clothes are almost identical to the original clothes of Red, while Gary's outfit is taken directly from Blue's; the Generation I one during the original series, as well as the Generation III clothes during the Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl series. Ritchie, in spirit of being designed to bear a resemblance to Ash, who was based on Red, also has clothes that are somewhat similar to Red's Generation I clothing.
• The beginning of Pokémon - I Choose You! was based on the intro of Red and Green.
• Todd Snap, the protagonist in Pokémon Snap, has accompanied Ash for two short periods of time, though this was before the game was released.
• In the episode The Battle of the Badge, Mewtwo's sprite from Japanese Blue can be seen on the wall of Giovanni's office.
• The special Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters out of the Gate! is based directly off Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Another episode was produced for the game's sequel.
• Green Guardian, Pokémon Ranger - Deoxys Crisis! Parts One and Two, Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, and Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu! Parts One and Two are based on Pokémon Ranger, with Solana playing a large role in the two AG episodes and making a cameo in the movie and DP episodes, and Kellyn playing a large role in the DP episodes. The plot of each is based on a mission from the games.
• Several similarities between Paul and Silver have been noted, such as Paul's positioning in his stock art being almost identical to Ken Sugimori's original sketch of Silver. The character of Trip also bears similarities to Cheren.
• In Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, Meowth states that "diamond" and "pearl" would be great names for games. He is scolded to wait until next season.
• In The Brockster Is In!, when Team Rocket see what seems to be treasure, they reference every game from Gold and Silver to Black and White, only missing Emerald and Crystal. However, James references Black and White, though only in the dub.

To manga

• The episode Lights, Camerupt, Action! shows a clip of a movie based off the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga.
• In the episode Our Cup Runneth Over, Wallace was confirmed to be a Contest master, a title achieved by him in the latter part of the Ruby & Sapphire arc of Pokémon Adventures.

To TCG

• James, known for his collecting habits, identifies Pokémon using cards instead of a Pokédex. Dark Primeape appears in James's possession in the Japanese version of Bad to the Bone.
• Lawrence III has an Ancient Mew card.
• The Energy symbols were featured on a poster for the Indigo League in Showdown in Pewter City and are used to demonstrate the various terrain effects during the Indigo Plateau Conference. They also make appearances in Showdown at the Po-ké Corral and Showdown at the Oak Corral.
  • Additionally, the first Japanese opening theme Aim to Be a Pokémon Master shows the seven (at the time) Energy symbols circling the Pocket Monsters logo.

Manga references

Pokémon Adventures references

To games

• This series is based off the world and events of the main game series.
• Pokémon Pinball appears in the Goldenrod Game Corner.
• Surfing and Flying Pikachu appear, both of which are derived from Pokémon Yellow.
• A disguised Grimsley is seen playing card flip with Workers in the Desert Resort.

To anime

• Red's French (Sacha), German (Ash), Korean (지우 Jiu) and Chinese (小智 Xiǎo Zhì) names are the same as Ash Ketchum's names in the same languages.
• Misty's crush on Red is similar to the one the anime's version of the character has been suspected to have on Ash.
• Red's Pikachu also acts in a similar fashion to Ash's Pikachu from the anime.
• Armored Mewtwo appears in the fifth chapter. However, the armor (called "M2 Bind" in this canon) was designed in order to restrain Mewtwo, rather than concentrate its power, though it could be argued that Giovanni's statement to Mewtwo was a lie.
• Latias has a human form who looks a lot like the one from the fifth movie.
• A Jirachi is used to summon a fake Groudon in the sixth movie, while a Jirachi is used to summon a fake Kyogre in the Emerald arc.
• Deoxys has an ability to duplicate itself, much like in the seventh movie. The duplicates look like those from anime.
• Johanna appears in a Pokémon Super Contest video where she has a Glameow.

To TCG

• Sabrina's Kadabra disguises itself as Professor Oak and looks like Impostor Professor Oak.
• The Pokémon Trading Card Game appears in the Goldenrod Game Corner.

The Electric Tale of Pikachu references

To games

• Gary's sister's existence (in the anime he was never revealed to have one).
• May gives Ash a town map, much like her game counterpart does to Red.
• TMs (which come from games and have never appeared in the anime) are shown in this manga.

To anime

• This series is loosely based off the anime.

Pokémon Zensho references

To games

• This manga is the most direct adaptation of Generation I games. It shows some events from games, which were omitted in other canons (e.g. Brock having a Jr. Trainer♂ as an apprentice, S.S. Anne's captain's sea sickness, the hunt for the Safari Zone Warden's dentures).
• The main characters' names are Satoshi and Shigeru, rather than Red and Green, however it's likely that these names are directly taken from optional names of the game characters, rather than the anime.
• When Brock's apprentice mentions the Elite Four, they appear as shadows in the same poses they had in their Generation I sprites.

To anime

• Satoshi without his hat looks a lot like Ash.
• Satoshi has a Pikachu, it however doesn't seem to be an intended reference, as this one wasn't Satoshi's starter and it eventually evolved.
• The Cerulean Gym building has a picture of Dewgong on the outside wall.
• Satoshi gets the Rainbow Badge from Erika, rather than winning it in the battle.

To other manga

• This manga adapted several things from Pokémon Adventures (see-through Poké Balls and Mr. Fuji's appearance).
• Bill's last name being Sonezaki was also mentioned in The Electric Tale of Pikachu. (This only occurs in the Japanese variation.)

Magical Pokémon Journey references

To anime

• Several bonus chapters feature Ash, Misty, Brock, and Tracey visiting the MPJ universe.

To other manga

• Pokémon Chamo-Chamo ☆ Pretty ♪ is written by the same author and set in the same world.

Pokémon Chamo-Chamo ☆ Pretty ♪ references

To other manga

• Magical Pokémon Journey is written by the same author and set in the same world.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters references

To games

• This series is based off the world and events of the main game series.

Aim to Be a Card Master!! references

To TCG

• The main goal for the manga's main character Kenta Minamii is to become a great TCG player.

TCG references

To games

• Many locations and characters from the games appear on different cards, particularly Trainer cards.
• Many backgrounds for Pokémon cards are closely based on game locations, especially in the BW era.

To anime

• Several anime characters, such as Jessie and James, appear on different cards, particularly Trainer cards.
• The pairing of Rayquaza and Deoxys on Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND (Undaunted 89) may be a reference to the movie Destiny Deoxys.

TFG references

To games

• All Trainer figures are based directly off game characters.

To TCG

• This game uses the same rarities as the TCG, with the exception of extra rare figures.
• This game has Trainer cards like those in the TCG, though their incorporation and usage is different.

Related articles

• List of cross-generational references
• List of references to Pulseman
• Cross-canon counterparts