Cry

A Pokémon's cry is the sound it makes. In most of the franchise's interpretations, this is only its name and various phrases derived from its name. However, there are several instances of talking Pokémon.

In the games

When a Pokémon is released from its Poké Ball, it will call out its cry. It will also cry out when using certain moves, such as Growl and Hyper Voice. If the Pokémon faints or comes into battle when injured during Generation III and Generation IV, the cry will sound, but it will be altered slightly. Pokémon with evolutionary relations to each other (such as Charmander and Charmeleon) will have notably similar cries.

In the wild, cries of the Pokémon found in the player's current location can occasionally be heard in the Generation III Hoenn- and Kanto-based games. Also, if the player's first Pokémon in his or her party has the ability Swarm, then these cries will be more common than before.

In the anime

Most Pokémon will only say their names, and will communicate using those syllables. For example, Ash's Pikachu has been known to use the three syllables in the word "Pikachu" in various combinations to refer to several characters, including Ash (Pikapi), Misty (PiKachupi), Brock (PikaChu), Togepi (Pipipi), Team Rocket (Pipikachu), and "My name is Pikachu" (PikaPikachu).

Due to Pokémon being dubbed, sometimes, the original cry of a Pokémon is preserved in the anime, more often than not if the name is either similar or the same in Japanese and English. An example of this would be Charizard, which can, if listened to closely enough, be heard to cry out Lizardon instead. Likewise, all Onix can be heard to cry out Iwark.

Some Pokemon, such as Victreebel, cries are unrelated to their names at all. Per example, Victreebel makes a screeching sound.

Trivia

• Two pairs of Generation I Pokémon share the same cry, despite not being related by evolution.
  • Charizard and Rhyhorn share the same cry.
  • Poliwag and Ditto share the same cry.

• Pikachu is the only Pokémon to have its cry changed. In Pokémon Yellow, Pikachu's cry is actually provided by Ikue Ohtani. This is also the case if the starter Pikachu from Yellow is brought to battle in Pokémon Stadium or Pokémon Stadium 2.

• From Generation II onwards, possibly due to improved technology, very few Pokémon were released with cries similar to another; those that do have similar cries are usually related by evolution as they were in Generation I. As the generations continue to pass, the calls of new Pokémon seem much cleaner and more refined, while the cries of Pokémon released in previous generations sound more like the electronic beeps they are. In particular, the cries of new Pokémon in Generation IV are mostly recognizable digitized sounds, such as birds chirping for Starly or a xylophone being played for Kricketot.

• In Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2, the Pokémon are given similar, but not identical, cries to their Game Boy counterparts, so as to sound more advanced and realistic. However, this was not revisited for Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, or Pokémon Battle Revolution, and the Pokémon's cries in those games are the same as they are in the handhelds.

• One of the cries of a glitched Pokémon in the first generation games sounds very similar to Crobat's cry. This shows that Game Freak may have already been considering an evolution of Golbat.