Forgotten Dex – Among curiosities and secrets of the Pokémon world #4

Millenari, we are pleased to introduce you to our new column: Forgotten Dex – Among Curiosities and Secrets of the Pokémon world, where we will share many curiosities about the universe of pocket monsters. This product is the result of a collaboration with our colleagues at Pokéos, so, before we start, we invite you to visit their official website, a real goldmine for all fans.

Thanks to Pokéos and @FedeFadePSK, the initiative Forgotten Dex aims at bringing back into vogue the official (but forgotten) forms of many Pokémon using models similar to those of Pokémon HOME. Forgetti, a nice Rotom Pokédex (designed by @shellyeah_art) who loves to collect data on the curiosities of the Pokémon world, will be accompanying you through the Forgotten Dex.

In this fourth episode, Forgetti is ready to show us five new curiosities about the world of our favorite creatures: we are in your hands, Forgetti! Are you ready to discover some of the Pokémon that are exclusively found within the pages of the manga?

God Venusaur

When we think of the Pokémon world, some iconic creatures immediately come to mind for many reasons. Pikachu is surely one of them, given its pivotal commercial role, but even the famous first partner Pokémon (unofficially called “starter Pokémon”) occupy a special role in our hearts. Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur are some of the most memorable creatures that The Pokémon Company ever created.

We decided to start this episode with one of these three starter Pokémon from Kanto: Venusaur, the Seed Pokémon, given the big flower on its back. It lives in perfect harmony with nature, and relentlessly transforms solar rays into energy. What you probably don’t know about this Grass/Poison creature is that this deep connection with nature is highlighted in the “I’m Your Venusaur” chapter of the Pokémon manga, which recounts a legend about the mysterious Venusaur Tree.

The legend narrates the story of a powerful Venusaur who defended its people in a forgotten past. It is said that a giant tree was born from its body and its heroic spirit resides inside of it. Both the tree and the Venusaur are, therefore, considered such a unified symbol of protection for the village that they are considered divinities. Hence, the name of this divine entity became Venusaur Tree or Venusaur God.

The Artistic Side of Arbok

Arbok became one of the most famous Pokémon thanks to the Pokémon anime series, where it takes the role of Jessie‘s partner and Team Rocket grunt with James and Meowth. The big snake presents a peculiar characteristic, namely the symbols on its belly.

According to the official Pokédex, the shape of these symbols depends on many factors, such as the habitat or Arbok’s abilities. Basing its narrative on the different abilities, the Pokémon manga “Pokémon Adventures” presented many different forms of Arbok.

Most of these forms are presented in the fourteenth chapter, called “VS Arbok“, where the Cobra Pokémon, owned by the Elite Four Agatha, showcases four different variants: standard, power-speed, power-attack, and invulnerability.

More variants from the manga world come from the “Ash and Pikachu” series, where Jessie’s Arbok obtains a unique pattern, or from “Electric Pikachu Boogaloo“, where a rare Arbok with a drawing in its back shocks the protagonists. Moreover, the variant with the heart-shaped drawing comes from the anime Pokémon, created by Jessie inside one of her dreams. Naturally, all of Arbok’s forms are illustrated in the Forgotten Dex page of Pokéos.

Psyduck Zombie

We remain in the Kanto region for a dark story that takes place in the spooky Lavender Town. Best known for its Pokémon Tower, a giant cemetery where Pokémon can rest, this location is renowned as a source of terrible stories about ghosts.

In this creepy atmosphere takes place the “VS Psyduck” chapter of the “Pokémon Adventures manga“, which shows a macabre event: the protagonist Red enters the Pokémon Tower and a group of Pokémon attacks him. These Pokémon are a zombie form of Psyduck, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Lickitung and Tangela, which have been brought back to life by a spiteful Gastly.

During the battle against Red, these Pokémon show their undead nature: their eyes become empty and they disappear completely, and their skin begins to fall, thus revealing the skeleton of these poor creatures. Such frightening zombie Pokémon were never included in the official Pokémon games. Any player would have been too shocked by them!

The Dark Side of the Clefairy

Pink Floyd taught us that the dark side of the Moon is crucial. How does this apply to the Pokémon world? One could argue that even those Pokémon that come from the Moon have a negative side. We refer here to the chapter of the “Pokémon Pocket Monsters” series called “Clefairy Transforms“. During their adventures, Red and his Clefairy face some existentialist events.

Clefairy, also called “Pippi“, was introduced in the first chapters of this manga and is considered Pikachu’s cousin, a kind of second mascotte. However, compared to the yellow mouse, it is a more complicated creature. Indeed, Red’s Clefairy shows many different sides of its personality through the adventure, portraying a complex picture of a Pokémon capable also of negative actions.

It is precisely in this chapter that Clefairy faces directly its negative elements. Due to Dr. Takeda‘s technological machine, the negative side of Clefairy is separated from the original Pokémon, thus creating an evil alter-ego that you can see thanks to Pokéos and its Forgotten Dex.

In the course of the chapter, Red’s Clefairy and the personification of its evil side face each other in a battle. This becomes a perfect occasion for the Moon Pokémon to understand the source of its negative actions more deeply. Unfortunately, this evil version of Clefairy has never been officialized in any anime or videogame. But since hope springs eternal, would you like to see a regional variant of Clefairy in a future game? Maybe with the Dark/Fairy type combination?

Besides these hypotheses, Pippi obtained many different forms through the various chapters. It was able to transform into many surprising objects, such as a plane and a robot, and to see these forms we suggest again to have a look at the official Forgotten Dex. Another curiosity: it is said that Gengar is a ghost variant of Clefairy; a plausible hypothesis given the numerous similarities between the two creatures. Maybe this dark side of Clefairy represents the middle point between the two Pokémon? The purple colors suggest a positive answer…

Confusing Fusions

We conclude the episode with some unofficial Pokémon forms, shown in the manga but never officialized in the main Pokémon games. The source here is the Pokémon manga “Pokémon Pocket Monsters“, more specifically chapter five of volume one, called “Searching for the Mirage Pokémon Mew“.

As the title suggests, in this chapter Red is searching for the mythical Pokémon Mew inside a structure that, at first sight, resembles a windmill. However, as the characters progress inside the building, they find a hidden laboratory, where the famous researcher Bill used to carry out some research concerning Pokémon fusions.

Scientific notes, videogames, and screens in the laboratory all show the hybrid Pokémon, obtained through Bill’s experiments. Four of these capture the attention of Red and his friends. What is the nature of these four Pokémon? Are they Bill’s creations or simply unclassified Pokémon? The answer is way more simple: they are dolls!

Thanks to @shellyeah_art, these four mysterious creatures have received a funny illustration. Maybe we will never see these creatures in the future videogames of the main series, but they could represent a useful source of inspiration for the next generations!

Well done, Forgetti! Now go and discover new curiosities for our fans. We are all waiting for the new episode to discover new forgotten secrets of the Pokémon world!