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Are Pokédex entries exaggerated?

Do you think the Pokédex entries are exaggerated?

  • Yes

    Votes: 9 47.4%
  • Kind of?

    Votes: 10 52.6%
  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    19

NovaBrunswick

Canada Connoisseur
The Pokédex contains many seemingly unbelievable "facts" about Pokémon, such as Magcargo being hotter than the surface of the sun, Arcanine being able to run 6,200 miles in a day without stopping, and Raichu being able to knock out an Indian elephant with its Electric attacks. It's likely that the Pokédex doesn't generate the entries itself, but that they're written by a person (possibly the professors) or, in the Gen 7 and 8 games, by Rotom. So do you think the Dex entries are solid fact, or do they exaggerate certain traits and abilities of Pokémon in a fantastical way? My personal opinion is that it's a bit of a mix.
 

Aduro

Mt.BtlMaster
Yes, the pokedex is too impossible to be true.
The pokedex in on a planet that hasn't been completely ruined by a species of lava monsters that are twice as hot as the surface of the sun. So Magcargo's is presumably exaggerated.
Also there are nowhere near enough mountains to sustain the populations of the Tyranitar line.

Cubone's is also not really feasible. Supposedly every one of them wears that skull of its deceased mother. But each female marowak can only produce one cubone, since it only dies and provides a skull once. Male marowaks cannot breed cubones without female marowaks or ditto. And I'm not sure that dittos can die then provide its
So the population would be cut severely every generation even if every cubone got old enough and bred, and every mother happened to die producing the skull for a baby.
Also, we can breed cubones in day care without the mother's skull falling out.
 

RedJirachi

Veteran member
There's some in-universe evidence for this, even if you ignore game mechanics. The Galarian fossils treat them as if they were living creatures in the past, but we know for a fact that they're not natural and instead these chimeras that are supposed to represent old fossil inaccuracies. The implication is that the Pokedex is being written to cover the fact they aren't natural. It more or less confirms that in-universe, the Pokedex is not wholly reliable, even when we don't include the game mechanics contradicting the narrative(ie: Solgaleo and Lunala not being able to breed in a daycare when we actually see them produce a Cosmog for us in Gen VII, being able to breed a Kangaskhan with its baby still there)

The Indian elephant thing is more accurate than it seems, though. Though I doubt they had the idea on the backburner long enough the entry with Raichu is intentional, the Cufant line are based on Indian elephants and can actually be hit by an Electric type attack
 

NovaBrunswick

Canada Connoisseur
There's some in-universe evidence for this, even if you ignore game mechanics.

And to some extent in the anime as well; the episode with Slowpoke and Slowbro had a professor basically admit that he wrote the Dex entries, and exaggerated some of them. The anime-verse isn't necessarily the same as the game-verse, though.
 

Aduro

Mt.BtlMaster
The Indian elephant thing is more accurate than it seems, though. Though I doubt they had the idea on the backburner long enough the entry with Raichu is intentional, the Cufant line are based on Indian elephants and can actually be hit by an Electric type attack
There's still the issue that India exists in the pokemon universe. Which is weird since the Kanto and Johto regions are clearly versions of parts of Japan but Japan itself is not mentioned.
 

RedJirachi

Veteran member
It's like how Lt Surge is the Lightning American. I wouldn't say it's an exaggeration, just one of those weird early things where the Pokemon world was more like the real world. Kind of like how real animals showed up in the first season of the anime
 

NovaBrunswick

Canada Connoisseur
All the entries talking about real world countries are exaggerated

Like the one that says Arcanine is a legendary Pokémon in China?

It's like how Lt Surge is the Lightning American. I wouldn't say it's an exaggeration, just one of those weird early things where the Pokemon world was more like the real world. Kind of like how real animals showed up in the first season of the anime

There was also an episode where Misty fantasized about being in France. Obviously Kalos wasn't even thought of at the time. And speaking of France, I seem to recall a Dex entry for Blaziken saying it could jump over the Eiffel Tower in one go.
 

RedJirachi

Veteran member
And speaking of France, I seem to recall a Dex entry for Blaziken saying it could jump over the Eiffel Tower in one go.
If Blaziken shows up in a new Pokedex entry they can just change it to jumping over the Prism Tower
 

NovaBrunswick

Canada Connoisseur
If Blaziken shows up in a new Pokedex entry they can just change it to jumping over the Prism Tower

That's the Pokémon version of the Eiffel Tower, right? I also recall a Dex entry for Rapidash that said it could jump over Ayers Rock (now called Uluru) in one go. Maybe if we get a region based on Australia in a future gen, they might change it to whatever is going to be that region's equivalent of Uluru.
 

FloatzieDPPT

playing Version X
Like the one that says Arcanine is a legendary Pokémon in China?



There was also an episode where Misty fantasized about being in France. Obviously Kalos wasn't even thought of at the time. And speaking of France, I seem to recall a Dex entry for Blaziken saying it could jump over the Eiffel Tower in one go.
Like the one when they mention indian elephants
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
I have a theory that the Dexes that contain Rotom have really messed up entries are actually the result of Rotom messing with us. I mean it does like to play tricks on humans and nothing is stopping it from tampering with the data inside the Dex as Rotom’s body is primarily comprised of pure electricity.
 

Storm the Lycanroc

Oshawott Squad
Maybe the Pokedex is their in-universe version of Wikipedia? So that means entries could be changed by anyone and information could vary from time to time aka generation to generation.
 
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NovaBrunswick

Canada Connoisseur
Like the one when they mention indian elephants

Yeah, that was the Raichu one that I mentioned. Maybe since Cufant and Copperajah are now a thing, that reference might get changed if those Dex entries are ever rewritten.

Maybe the Pokedex is there universe version of Wikipedia? So that means entries could be changed by anyone and information Could vary from time to time aka generation to generation.

If this headcanon is true, then... Pokémon beat Wikipedia to it by five years. :p
 

Auraninja

Eh, ragazzo!
Some Pokedex entries are either exaggerated, based on word of mouth (This Pokemon is said to...), has some legend behind it not confirmed, or is probably actually true because it isn't too hard to believe in the Pokemon world. There may be a bit of "suspension of disbelief" in Pokedex entries. Can Pidgeot fly Mach 2 speed? I don't know, let's just say it does because it lives in a fantasy realm.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
Some such as Kadabra really being some kid who turned into a Pokémon sound more like rumors that got spread around rather than being based on facts. There are a few that do seem to be true as more than one entry mentions some things such as the eternal rivalry of Zangoose and Seviper.
 

Luthor

Well-Known Member
I have a theory that the Dexes that contain Rotom have really messed up entries are actually the result of Rotom messing with us. I mean it does like to play tricks on humans and nothing is stopping it from tampering with the data inside the Dex as Rotom’s body is primarily comprised of pure electricity.

That would explain why Gengar's pokedex entries keep becoming creepier. Maybe Rotom is either scared of Gengar or just messing with us.
 

NovaBrunswick

Canada Connoisseur
Pokedex says that Magcargo is more hot that the sun 18.000.... but the sun is 5778k. Magcargo could easily destroy it the earth with that heat.

Or everyone who's used a Magcargo would melt instantly.
 
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