From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Revision as of 15:23, 17 September 2024 by Landfish7(talk | contribs)(Text replacement - "{{DL|Trade|Pokémon that evolve when traded|traded}}" to "traded")
Kadabra is a primarily yellow, slightly humanoidPokémon with mammalian features. It has two long, pointed ears on top of its head, a red star on its forehead, narrow, deep-set eyes, and wide cheeks leading down to a thin snout. Extending from each side of its snout are two mustache-like tufts of fur; a male will have a longer mustache than a female. Kadabra's torso is segmented with bulky shoulders, a thick, brown chest, and a small abdomen marked by three red, wavy lines. Attached to the Pokémon's abdomen is a large, thick tail encircled with a brown band near its base. Its arms are thin with brown elbows and end in three-fingered hands with white claws. Its legs have prominent knees and large, three-toed feet, also ending in white claws. Two of its toes face forward and one backward. Kadabra is always seen carrying a silver spoon, which amplifies its telekinetic powers. A gold spoon does not work as an amplifier and Kadabra is only half as strong without a spoon.
Kadabra emits alpha waves strong enough to induce headaches, and can even cause clocks to run backward, machines to malfunction, and delicate devices to cease functioning altogether. The waves increase further in strength the more danger Kadabra faces. By closing its eyes, it can double the number of alpha particles it emits. When it has a headache, the alpha waves become unusual. All of Kadabra's brain cells work in unison while it uses its powers. It sleeps while levitating, using its springy tail like a pillow. It can store up psychic energy inside its star in preparation for its evolution. There is a theory that Kadabra was born from a transformed human child who could not control his powers. Kadabra lives in urban areas.
It possesses strong spiritual power. The more danger it faces, the stronger its psychic power. (Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) If it uses its abilities, it emits special alpha waves that cause machines to malfunction. (Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
Kadabra emits a peculiar alpha wave if it develops a headache. Only those people with a particularly strong psyche can hope to become a Trainer of this Pokémon.
Kadabra holds a silver spoon in its hand. The spoon is used to amplify the alpha waves in its brain. Without the spoon, the Pokémon is said to be limited to half the usual amount of its telekinetic powers.
Kadabra emits a peculiar alpha wave if it develops a headache. Only those people with a particularly strong psyche can hope to become a Trainer of this Pokémon.
Kadabra holds a silver spoon in its hand. The spoon is used to amplify the alpha waves in its brain. Without the spoon, the Pokémon is said to be limited to half the usual amount of its telekinetic powers.
There are rumors that a child with mystical powers became a Kadabra; however, this remains unverified. I suspect that the spoon Kadabra holds enhances its brain waves.
Evolves from Abra when its Attack is 83 or higher Evolves into Alakazam when it has a link of 55% or higher, after knocking out a Warrior's Pokémon in a manner that allows recruitment
In Pokémon Crystal, a bug causes the capture formula for the Heavy Ball to incorrectly retrieve this Pokémon's weight, giving it a +40 catch rate modifier. This also affects Tauros and Sunflora.
If a Kadabra holds an Everstone from Generation III onwards while traded, the Everstone will not take effect and the Kadabra will still evolve into Alakazam. While it shares this trait with Machoke, Graveler and Haunter in Generation III due to a glitch, Kadabra keeps this trait in Generation IV onwards while the other three do not.
For 20 years, Kadabra was not printed as a TCG card since the English Skyridge expansion in 2003. This was likely the result of Nintendo and Pokémon Card Laboratories' desire to avoid further litigation from illusionist Uri Geller, who claimed that Kadabra is a parody of him and attempted to sue Nintendo over the notion. However, on November 28, 2020, Geller released an apology on Twitter, announcing that he would allow Nintendo to print cards featuring Kadabra again. The first Kadabra card released since Uri Geller's dismissal of his lawsuit is included in the Japanese Pokémon Card 151 subset, released on June 16, 2023; and the English 151 expansion, released on September 22, 2023.
Due to the now-lifted limitation, very few Abra were printed, with the sole example, the Abra in Mysterious Treasures, having the ability to evolve directly into Alakazam via the Ultra Evolutionattack. Alakazam cards also saw fewer than normal printings, but snuck into sets using a number of mechanics that allow for it to be printed as a Basic Pokémon that does not evolve from Kadabra. Examples include Alakazam, Alakazam, and Radiant Alakazam.
For possibly the same reason, Kadabra had not made any animated appearances since Fear Factor Phony aired in the United States in 2006, except for a small cameo in the "World of Pokémon" opening of Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice. Kadabra finally made its media reappearance in the Pokémon Evolutions episode The Show, its first animated appearance in over 16 years, excluding its cameo in the aforementioned movie. Notably, when Ash and his friends met Mira in Pokémon the Series, she was seen using an Abra instead of a Kadabra as she does in the games, despite the fact that the other Stat Trainers in the series own the same Pokémon as they do in the games.
Kadabra appears to be based on magicians and spoon benders. It also shares similarities with foxes, animals mythologically tied to magic. Its mustache-like tufts of fur may be an exaggeration of a fox's whiskers. The symbols on Kadabra's forehead and abdomen appear to be references to Zener cards, a small deck of symbols used in experiments to test for extrasensory perception and clairvoyance in the early 1930s. As it created its spoon with its psychic powers, it may be based on the practise of alchemy, an early science that sought to synthesise metals with magic. The "Transformation" novel about Kadabra may be based on Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis or the Ultra Q episode "Kanegon's Cocoon", where a young boy transformed into a strange yellow monster.
Yungerer may be named after Uri Geller, an illusionist famed for his spoon-bending technique. This contributed to Geller suingNintendo for using his likeness in a character.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.