Magikarp salesman
The Magikarp salesman (Japanese: コイキング売り Koiking-uri) 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 English. He seems to be a reference to the infamous man in the Mt. Moon Pokémon Center in Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen, who would sell the player an ordinary Magikarp for $500 (but of course, Magikarp is the most common Pokémon while fishing). However, the games' Magikarp salesman did serve some purpose, because a player could use him to get a Magikarp before receiving a rod, so they could get a Gyarados early on.
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. Later he would trade his Weepinbell for James's Victreebel. He has also appeared in Hoenn, selling Hoppip disguised as Chimecho when James was searching for a Chimecho, and also selling Magikarp disguised as a Feebas for a Spoink's 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.
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. 4Kids may have changed this because they may have felt that he may have been portraying Hispanic-Americans in a negative way. However, after Pokémon USA took over the dubbing, his Hispanic accent returned in Ya See We Want an Evolution.
External links
- Koiking-uri's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
