Rumor Guide

Dogasu's Backpack | Features | Rumor Guide

When you have a series as huge as Pocket Monsters it's almost inevitable people will start rumors, good intentioned or otherwise, and then spread those stories far and wide. But when you actually take a closer look at a lot of them you'll find the sources and evidence to support these ideas are, well, not all that great!

The Rumor Guide of Dogasu's Backpack aims to take a look at some of the animated series' most common rumors, one by one, and determine whether or not there's any truth to the viral stories fans spread. Using a combination of cast and staff interviews, Japanese language written materials, and other primary sources, we'll take as comprehensive a look as possible to determine whether or not there's any truth to the questions posted below.

Rumors related to the animated series
	New! Brock left the show because the show was afraid Americans would see him as a racist stereotype Rumor has it Brock got the boot during the Orange Islands because the show's producers were afraid the Pokémon Breeder would be rejected for being a racist stereotype of Japanese people. But is that really the full story?
	Gary Oak can drive Fans swear Gary Oak used to not only ride around the Kanto Region in a red convertible, and that he was the one actually driving. But was this young child actually the one in the driver's seat?
	March 14th is holiday known as "Satoshi Day" Fans have declared March 14th to be "Satoshi Day," but is this actually a real holiday?
	Pikachu was originally going to be able to speak human language Satoshi's Pikachu is only able to say the syllables in its name, but apparently the original plan was to have it speak human language like the Rocket trio's Nyarth...?
	Ash's starter was originally going to be Clefairy, not Pikachu We all know Satoshi's very first Pokémon was Pikachu, but did you know his starter was originally going to be Pippi instead? That's what everybody on the Internet keeps telling us, anyway, but is there actually any truth to this claim?
	Characters curse in the Japanese version of the Pocket Monsters animated series Every now and then there are rumors that the characters in the Japanese version of Pocket Monsters are a bit more foul mouthed than they're depicted in the English dub. But is there any truth to this?

Rumors related to the "Pokémon Shock" incident
	The Japanese government banned the episode "Cyber Soldier Porygon" We all know that TV-Tokyo pulled "Cyber Soldier Porygon" off the air and hasn't aired it since, but did the Japanese government go so far as to ban the episode altogether? And what about the claims the episode's been destroyed...?
	A second wave of victims was caused by news reports' coverage of the incident Did news' reports carelessly replaying the problematic clip cause a second wave of victims?
	4Kids actually did dub "Cyber Soldier Porygon," they just never aired it Some of the voice actors associated with the show say 4Kids did dub it, while others say they have not. Who are we to believe?

Rumors related to the movies
	Mewtwo's blast kills Satoshi at the end of Movie 1 A lot of fans interpret Satoshi getting turned to stone at the end of the first movie as him "dying," but is that what really happens...?
	The Japanese version of the second Pokémon movie confirms Musashi and Kojirou are 25 years old Does dialogue from the second movie confirm the Rocket duo's age? Or is something simply getting lost in translation?

Back to the Features section