The Pokémon franchise has been littered with references to other series since the very beginning. Pokémon itself would later be heavily referenced and parodied after it became a success, such as with South Park dedicating an entire episode to lampooning the baffling popularity of the show.

It can be hard to pinpoint all of the hidden references and messages in the Pokémon series. This is partly due to the fact that the Pokémon anime and games are made by a Japanese company for a Japanese audience, which is then edited and translated to appeal to audiences that come from different cultures. As such, the English localizers have been given a lot of freedom when it comes to the references that they are allowed to make and include within their versions of the Pokémon video games.

We are here today to look at the secret references and messages that Game Freak (and the English localization team) hid in the Pokémon series. From the movie on Red's TV, to the robot anime reference that you have to bring out through battle.

Here are Fifteen Hidden Messages In Pokémon Red, Blue, And Yellow They Don’t Think You’ll Notice!

15 The Sleep Trade

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One of the recurring characters in the Pokémon anime was a Jigglypuff who followed Ash and his companions on their Pokémon journey, as it wanted to find someone who could listen to its full song without falling asleep. Jigglypuff eventually disappeared from the show, though it has recently returned during the new season set in Alola.

If you visit the Pokémon Center in Pewter City in Pokémon Yellow, you will encounter a Jigglypuff that has similar abilities to the one in the show. If you talk to this Jigglypuff, then it will start to sing. You won't be able to do anything with your Pikachu, as Jigglypuff's song has knocked it out. This includes not being able to transfer him into the Pokémon Storage System.

14 No Man Floorplan

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The Celadon City Gym is staffed entirely by women, as the dirty old man who stands outside will attest to. This has actually happened a couple of times in the Pokémon franchise, as Whitney's Gym and Jasmine's Gym in Gold & Silver also only had female trainers. This forced Ash to dress up in drag, as he had previously offended the staff of the Gym and they barred him entering, so he had to disguise himself as a girl in order to challenge the Gym Leader.

It seems that the architect of the Celadon City Gym was also aware of how it was only going to be staffed by ladies. If you look closely at the floor plan of the Gym in each of its iterations (save for HeartGold & SoulSilver) then you will notice that it carries the female symbol within its design.

13 The Anime Safari Zone

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This might come as a surprise to learn, but the three best non-Legendary Pokémon in Red & Blue were Normal-types. One of these was Snorlax, of which you only had two chances to catch, and the other two were Chansey and Tauros, which had an incredibly low chance of encountering in the Safari Zone. Even if you met one, you had to contend with the dumb catching mechanics of the Safari Zone.

The creators of the anime were clearly trolling the fans when Ash caught a bunch of Tauros easily. In order to reflect the events of this episode (which was one of the infamous banned episodes that never left Japan), the Safari Zone was changed in Pokémon Yellow. You now had a 10% chance of encountering a Tauros in the Safari Zone, instead of the 1-4% chance you had in Red & Blue. 

12 Talkin' Bout Those Night Shade Moves

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The Pokémon franchise isn't above making subtle adult jokes or referencing dirty things, as most kids probably wouldn't notice them. These include the affectionate couple who use an Onix and a Cloyster in a battle that is not intended to be a reference to people's private areas in the slightest.

One of the trainers on Route 8 in Pokémon Red & Blue references the song "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" by Bob Seger. This is a reference that is doubly inappropriate. The lyrics that the trainer quotes reference gambling, which was actually removed in Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen. If anyone actually did a Google Image Search for the cover of the "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" single, then they would be treated to a woman who's a little too into herself in the artwork.

11 The MOTHER Of Mewtwo

The Pokémon franchise has its origins tied to the cult classic RPG series known as EarthBound, which is also called MOTHER in Japan. The first two EarthBound/MOTHER games feature a lot of similar elements, such as similar looking protagonists. A lot of the people who worked on the first two EarthBound/MOTHER games went on to produce Pokémon Red & Blue.

The most obvious connection between the two franchises is something that could not be appreciated by English-speaking fans until recently, as it involves the original MOTHER, which only saw an English port in the past few years.

The end boss of MOTHER is a psychic alien called Giygas, who resembles a twisted grey cat. The original design of Giygas would later inspire the creation of Mewtwo in Pokémon Red & Blue. 

10 Pretty Fly For A Pokémon White Guy

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The idea of two Pokémon fusing together into a new creature is something fans (especially those who also like Dragon Ball Z) have been clamoring for since the early days of the Pokémon franchise. Game Freak will likely relent one of these days, though we are stuck with Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves for the time being.

Bill is one of the most important people in the Pokémon world, as he created the Pokémon Storage System. He also isn't the brightest bulb in the batch, as he accidentally fused with a Pokémon during one of his experiments. It is up to the player to free him.

Bill's fusion experiment that went awry is a reference to the movie The Fly, which involved a man accidentally fusing with a fly.

9 The Return Of A.J.

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Ash has encountered many different Pokémon trainers who he has promised to meet again and have a rematch with. It seems that he will never get around to accomplishing this goal, as Ash rarely revisits a region and the cyclical nature of the show means that the writers aren't likely to bring back a character who no one in the audience remembers.

One of Ash's earliest opponents was a trainer named A.J. who used a Sandshrew that he trained in a harsh manner. A.J. had been battling trainers until he could complete his 100-win streak, which would convince him to begin his Pokémon journey.

In Pokémon Yellow, it is possible to battle a trainer who is based off A.J. on Route 9. He uses a Sandshrew which possesses the same abilities as its anime counterpart. When you defeat him, he mentions having to restart his 100-win streak.

8 The Gym Leader Naming Themes

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The world of Pokémon is one based on appropriate naming puns. It seems like a lot of characters have a name that relates to the type of Pokémon that they specialize in. It's either that or everyone in the Pokémon world is just using their stripper name and they all actually have regular names. The Gym Leaders of the Kanto region have names that relate to the type that their Gym represents.

Brock is the Rock-type leader. Misty comes from mist, which is created by water. Lt. Surge comes from an electrical surge. Erika is similar to Erica, which is a genus of plants. Sabrina has the word brain in her name, which is important to Psychic-types. Koga is also the name of a school of ninjutsu, called Koga-ryu. Blaine is a mixture of blaze and flame. Giovanni's name includes the word Geo, which has multiple meanings relating to the ground.

7 The Mario & Wario Cameo

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Game Freak spends most of their time working on the Pokémon series for Nintendo systems. This is because they like money and Pokémon has been printing it for them since the late '90s.

There was a time when Game Freak worked on other Nintendo games, as they were trying to acquire the funds needed to work on Pokémon. One of these games was a Japan-exclusive title for the Super Nintendo, called Mario & Wario. Mario & Wario was a game that required the use of the Super Famicom Mouse. Wario drops a bucket on Mario's head, which means that you need to guide him through levels and protect him from harm.

You can find a Super Nintendo with Mario & Wario in Pokémon Red & Blue. The TV will even describe Mario running around with a bucket on his head.

6 The Rule Of Rocket

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The Team Rocket Grunts that you battle throughout Pokémon Red & Blue show a shocking lack of diversity in their choice of Pokémon. Even if you take into account the fact there were only 151 Pokémon at this point in the series, they still pick from the same small pool.

In Pokémon Red & Blue, the vast majority of Team Rocket Grunts use Poison-type Pokémon, which include the likes of Ekans, Koffing, and Zubat. There is actually a reason for this. Giovanni specializes in Ground-type Pokémon, to the point where he founded a Gym that uses them. The reason the Team Rocket Grunts are given Poison-types is that Giovanni's Ground-type Pokémon will have a type advantage against them. This protects him from any unruly subordinates who might want to try and usurp Giovanni's position.

5 The Ditto Experiment

There is a prominent fan theory that suggests that Ditto is somehow linked to Mew or the experiments performed on Mew that were used to create Mewtwo. Ditto and Mew share the same color palette, which includes their shiny variants. They are the only Pokémon that can learn Transform, which is linked to the fact that Mew is considered to be the forebear of all Pokémon.

Pokémon Yellow changed the locations where you can encounter a wild Ditto in such a way as to encourage this theory. You can now find Ditto in the Pokémon Mansion, where Mew was experimented on by Mr. Fuji and Mewtwo was born. You can also find Ditto in the Cerulean Cave, where Mewtwo awaits...

4 The Pokébag Of Holding

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Like a lot of RPGs, the Pokémon world is filled with useful items that have just been dumped on the ground by careless strangers. Ever since Pokémon Red & Blue, these items have been represented by Pokéballs, which have been dropped on every corner of the land.

The recent Pokémon games still use Pokéballs as a means of showing items on the world map. The reason for this could be that people store items in Pokéballs in the same way that they store Pokémon. For all we know, the technology that Pokéballs use might be applicable to other items, which means that it would be simple to shrink down potions and TMs rather than having to carry them all the time.

This answer also helps to explain how a young child is able to carry so many items around with them at once.

3 Pokémon Wing

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It isn't unusual for the Pokémon video games to reference other popular video game series. This also stretches to anime, as there is a good chance that a fan of the Pokémon video games is also a fan of anime, so the target audience will probably understand the references. These references have included one of the Psychics in Pokémon Sun & Moon claiming that the level of your team is "over 9000" which is a nod to Dragon Ball Z and a scene that inspired many memes.

Pokémon Red & Blue also included an anime reference, though you need to defeat one of the Poké Maniacs in the Rock Tunnel to see it. One of the Poké Maniacs says "Pokémon Fight! Ready, Go!" when you battle him. This is a reference to the popular Gundam franchise. In Mobile Fight G Gundam, the pilots would say "Gundam Fight! Ready, Go!" before engaging in battle.

2 Stand By Red & Blue

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Pokémon Red & Blue took all of five seconds to create an anachronism, as the main character has a Super Nintendo hooked up to the TV in his bedroom. This is despite the fact that Nintendo does not exist in the Pokémon world, or at least it doesn't outside of children's bedrooms.

If you go downstairs and click on the TV, you will get a message describing the movie Stand By Me, which might seem like an odd choice at first, considering it is about a group of kids traveling, rather than just one on their own.

In Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen, the female player character will instead see The Wizard of Oz on the TV. This suggests that the reason the two movies were chosen is that the companions of the lead characters are meant to be their Pokémon, rather than other human children.

1 Pokémon Is A Battlefield

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The recent Pokémon games have taken to referencing Internet memes in the pre/post-battle quotes of the random trainers that you battle in the world. This even includes memes based on the older Pokémon games, with at least three characters now referencing the "shorts are comfy and easy to wear" line from Pokémon Red & Blue.

The Pokémon games also used to like referencing songs a lot. They sometimes went with obscure tracks that would go over the heads of their target audience.

One of the first examples of this can be found in the Rock Tunnel in Pokémon Red & Blue & Yellow. One of the Hikers will quote "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar when you battle him.