Magikarp salesman
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The Magikarp salesman (Japanese: コイキング売り Koiking salesman) is a tricky man who is always getting James to buy one of his Pokémon. He is voiced by 石塚運昇 Unshō Ishizuka in Japanese and by Eric Stuart in the English Template:4Kids dub.
His first appearance in the anime was on the St. Anne in Battle Aboard the St. Anne selling Magikarp to anyone foolish enough to buy one. He would tell them that they would reproduce and make the buyer rich. James was foolish enough to buy one which later evolved into a Gyarados. Some time after he appeared with the same "selling strategy" in Tricks of the Trade and Doin' What Comes Natu-rally. Later, in Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid, he would trade his Weepinbell for James's Victreebel. He has also appeared in Hoenn, selling a Hoppip disguised as Chimecho when James was searching for a Chimecho, and also selling Magikarp disguised as a Feebas for a Spoink pearl which Team Rocket stole. Both of them were successfully sold to Team Rocket.
He tried his golden Magikarp scam on Tracey in Showdown at the Oak Corral claiming that the Magikarp could lay golden eggs. However, unlike Team Rocket, Tracey was too smart to fall for this trick. The Magikarp Salesman ran off when he discovered that it was Professor Oak's laboratory.
He made a cameo when Ash captured Aipom in Channeling the Battle Zone.
His latest appearance was in Ya See We Want an Evolution. He sold an Evolution machine/Mecha-bot to Team Rocket. While he did inform Team Rocket that the machine must warm up for at least a week before use, Team Rocket forgot to follow his instructions, which resulted in failure in evolving Pokémon and sustaining its Mecha-bot form. it is therefore unknown if this was another one of his scams, or if the machine would truly have worked. However, considering he ran off after telling them, it may have been another lie to keep them from following him.
Pokémon
On hand
 Magikarp (many, some disguised as Feebas) |
 Hoppip (many, disguised as Chimecho) |
Sold
Magikarp |
Magikarp (disguised as a Feebas) |
Hoppip (disguised as a Chimecho) |
Traded away
 Weepinbell |
Released
 Victreebel |
In the games
In Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, as well as the remakes Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, the Magikarp salesman appears in Route 4's Pokémon center and sells the player a Magikarp for $500. He does not offer a refund. While this may seem something of a ripoff, it is actually worthwhile to raise a Magikarp from such an early point in the game, allowing the player to own a Gyarados earlier than if they had not bought the Magikarp.
Trivia
- The Magikarp salesman was given a Hispanic accent in all of the dubbed episodes except for Showdown at the Oak Corral where he speaks without an accent. This may have been an oversight of the Pokémon Chronicles production team, as after Pokémon USA took over the dubbing, his Hispanic accent returned in Ya See We Want an Evolution. Some have even seen the salesman's accent and actions as a form of an unintentional Hispanic stereotype.
External links
- Koiking-uri's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
