Why Doesnt the Anime use Nicknames?

[Red and Blue]

So I just realized that outside of a few times trainers in the anime don't use nicknames for their Pokemon. Which is a shame since I would have liked to have seen Ash and some of his companions give unique names to their Pokemon

Any thoughts?

 

[Mega Altaria]

It may have been due to the translating to dubs process, which in some events, it can be hard to think of a creative nickname similar to the original Japanese nickname.

 

[Bguy7]

Personally I absolutely hate those few trainers that use nicknames. I find it to be incredibly annoying. It doesn't help that the names used are normally overly-simplistic and silly. I like Pokemon being called by their names. It simple, efficient, and doesn't need to be done any other way.

 

[Skylander Sylveon]

personally I think it'd be nice to give them nicknames because let's face it if you pit two Damanitan against each other and their trainer's yell their name's it gets old. xD but when i do see nicknames, however rarely, they have rare names like Sparkles or Flipper for a Golduck. xP It's terrible and tacky but either way im fine with it. i still woulda liked it if Ash names his snivy 'annoying tsundere girl' or something lmao.

 

[Dephender]

The fairly obvious answer is that referring to the Pokemon in the series by their actual name rather than some anime-exclusive nickname makes for a much better promotional tool. Toys and other merchandise are based on Pokemon species, not the very specific instance of that species that appears in the anime.

 

[MattySadler]

What Dephender said.

 

[Cometstarlight]

I feel like a read a more official explanation once. It was mainly that they didn't want to confuse newcomers to the series or just children in general. So for the most part, they try to stick to the names of the Pokemon themselves.

 

[Royal_Qeca]

Marketing reasons. Calling a Pokémon from the main cast like for example Pikachu as "Uberchu" would be an awful decision in the long run for the franchise itself. A confusing product is something to avoid.

 

[Red and Blue]

I think kids in Japan and other countires could tell the difference between a nickname and the name of the species of Pokemon

 

[Pikachu52]

Personally I absolutely hate those few trainers that use nicknames. I find it to be incredibly annoying. It doesn't help that the names used are normally overly-simplistic and silly. I like Pokemon being called by their names. It simple, efficient, and doesn't need to be done any other way.

To be fair in the Electric Tail of Pikachu, Ash did give his Pokémon nicknames, although he only used them in one chapter. I sort of agree with you, using the Pokémon name is probably preferable. Although I wouldn't have a problem with his Pokémon having names if they were actual names and not gimmicks or play on words. The benefit of giving a Pokémon a name is that it would give the Pokémon more individuality.

 

[keepitsimple]

I think kids in Japan and other countires could tell the difference between a nickname and the name of the species of Pokemon

This. I'd like to see more nicknames used in the anime honestly. Just... better ones than what we've seen please.

 

[Aduro]

The fairly obvious answer is that referring to the Pokemon in the series by their actual name rather than some anime-exclusive nickname makes for a much better promotional tool. Toys and other merchandise are based on Pokemon species, not the very specific instance of that species that appears in the anime.

True, its easier for kids to remember and talk about a pokemon if there's only one name for it.

 

[Jangobadass]

Dephendor hit the nail on the head.

Plus, multiple Pokémon of the same species being around doesn't happen often enough to be very confusing, and they usually give one with a role a certain trait to help it stand out.

And has also been said, the nicknames don't translate well and end up becoming almost painfully simplistic & punny in various dubs, or at least the English one. Like the female Charizard from Johto being called "Charla"; or how Manon's Pokémon ended up being Chespie the Chespin and Bebe the Flabebe. And you're gonna be that lazy, you may as well not even bother...

 

[Aduro]

Dephendor hit the nail on the head.

Plus, multiple Pokémon of the same species being around doesn't happen often enough to be very confusing, and they usually give one with a role a certain trait to help it stand out.

And has also been said, the nicknames don't translate well and end up becoming almost painfully simplistic & punny in various dubs, or at least the English one. Like the female Charizard from Johto being called "Charla"; or how Manon's Pokémon ended up being Chespie the Chespin and Bebe the Flabebe.

Yeah, the pokemon adventures manga has a similar thing, all of Red's pokemon for example have been shortened, and some of the others have suffixes or honorifics which don't translate at all like Crystals Megapyon or Gold's Polibo. Nicknames are more fun when you name them based on the pokemon's characteristics or reference some similar, like calling a Jynx "Minaj", the anime can't do that for obvious reasons.

 

[Fluffy The Sylveon]

I literally nickname all my Pokémon. You don't call your pet cat "Cat", do you? Which is my point. I honestly hate that nobody nicknames their Pokémon. It's weird to be honest. And god forbid they call them "its". I absolutely cannot stand that either.

 

[Bguy7]

I literally nickname all my Pokémon. You don't call your pet cat "Cat", do you? Which is my point. I honestly hate that nobody nicknames their Pokémon. It's weird to be honest. And god forbid they call them "its". I absolutely cannot stand that either.

The logic is a little different in Pokemon. Pikachu is both the name of the Pokemon species, and an individual. It's not the same as calling your cat Cat. Think of it this way, we don't call them names, we call them nicknames. A nickname is a name you call someone instead of their real name. That infers that while we nickname a Pokemon, we don't change its real name. Sparky's name is still Pikachu, regardless of what Richie calls him (I didn't use the word "it" just for you). In my opinion, I hate it when people do nickname their Pokemon. The real name is also the species name, and that's the way I like it.

 

[uncutpokemon]

Some of the characters have used nicknames, but like in the games, most of them don't. The real question is why doesn't Professor Oak ask Ash to remind him of his grandsons name?

 

[munchlaxboy]

The fairly obvious answer is that referring to the Pokemon in the series by their actual name rather than some anime-exclusive nickname makes for a much better promotional tool. Toys and other merchandise are based on Pokemon species, not the very specific instance of that species that appears in the anime.

This.

Kids would probably be pretty confused if Ash kept calling his Charizard "Flamey" or "Burnie" or something like that. How can you sell a product when your audience doesn't even know the actual name of the product? Using the Pokemon's actual name also helps educate the parents, who are the those doing all the buying for their kids anyway.

 

[RedJirachi]

It's easier. Not necessarily to remember, but for the voice actors to do their job. Though I do think that Ash's Tauros should have nicknames, considering there's thirty of them and it'd be the only way to identify them.

Going meta, do most kids(target demographic) playing Pokemon nickname their Pokemon? No, I don't think so. Well, I certainly didn't. And since Ash is an audience surrogate...

 

[Vlazamal]

For remembrance would probably be the best answer. There are those who don't play the games (я). Also convenient for the writers.

On a non-4th wall side, it adds to the point that Pokemon are similar in cultural respect to the way a human respects one another. They are put in a position of workers, friends, etc. and not named by their trainers like they're dogs. You are not nicknamed by your boss (i hope, otherwise you need to check your relationship with him). Dana White does not refer to Silva constantly as "The Spider". When the President gets elected, the people don't vote to give him a nickname and refer to him as such. Pokемon's relationships with humans are like huмans.