One of the most iconic towns in the Pokémon universe is Pallet Town. It is a place where many journeys have begun. Many Pokémon fans can connect this small town to the thought of a new adventure. It is undoubtedly a nostalgic place. Many tales have started here, but what else is there to know about Pallet Town? It seems like a fairly quiet place, surrounded by trees and nature. It's so small that every nook and cranny must've already been explored.
Although it may not seem like it, there is more to Pallet Town than meets the eye. Here are ten facts that may still surprise a few Pokémon fans.
10 Smallest Town
Pallet Town has always been the smallest town in all of Kanto. There are only two houses and the professor's lab. The town is surrounded by nature. There are trees all around it and a body of water.
The town itself lacks a gym and a Pokémon Center. This. as well as the fact that it's not close to the center of Kanto, might be why it has never been developed beyond what it is. The eight residents are: the main character's mother, the Professor, his three assistants, Daisy the rival's sister, and two NPCs.
9 Based On Machida, Tokyo
Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of the Pokémon franchise, based Pallet Town on his hometown, Machida. It was in Machida, Tokyo that Satoshi Tajiri grew up. Machida was a rural place, where Tajiri could freely enjoy his favorite hobby of insect collecting. However, with time, the small town grew and there were more and more urban areas, causing the bugs to leave the area.
This made him want to create a place that reminded him of what his hometown used to be. And so Pallet Town was born.
8 Name Origins
The town's name has a very interesting story behind it. Although in the English version of the games it is called Pallet Town, in the Japanese version it is named Masara Town. Masara either comes from the word Massara, meaning "brand new", or the word Masshiro, meaning "pure white."
Either way, it aims at the thought of a new beginning, a new adventure. And although in Gen I and Gen VII games the town's slogan was "Shades of your journey away", the slogan for Gen IV was "A pure white beginning", related to its Japanese name.
7 Team Rocket's Nearby Hideout
In the original anime, Team Rocket HQ is thought to be located not too far away from Pallet Town, due to the noticeable greenery surrounding the building.
This means that Team Rocket had been controlling their evil operations right next to the Professor's lab. Team Rocket's original Headquarters building is eventually destroyed by Mewtwo as it escapes the base. After its destruction, they relocate somewhere else, somewhere surrounded by rocky terrain instead. However, this new location is only seen in Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire.
6 Deoxys' First Appearance
It was back in Pallet Town that one of the Mythical Pokémon Twins made its debut in the Pokémon Adventures manga series. These twins were originally floating space viruses, but then they were exposed to radiation and began to mutate. They are known as Organism No. 1 and Organism No. 2.
Organism No. 1 first appeared as an invisible enemy in Return to Pallet Town. Red and Blue were back in town and Organism No. 1 attacked their Pokémon. The Pokémon were unable to successfully defeat it.
5 Stand By Me Reference
In Generation I, if the player interacts with the TV on the first floor of their house, a movie will be playing and the text will read "There's a movie on TV. Four boys are walking on railroad tracks". It is believed that this is a reference to the movie Stand by Me. The same interaction will happen in Gen III and VII, but only if the main character is male.
In September, there was a collaboration between the Japanese rock band, Bump of Chicken, and Pokémon. A promotional video aired during the Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass Updates!, the anime music video also referenced this moment as it started with four boys walking down a set of railroad tracks.
4 Wizard Of Oz Reference
In Generations III and VII, the player's house in Pallet Town will still display a message on the TV. However, if the player opts to play as a female character, the TV will show a different message.
When interacting with the first-floor television, the text will say "The scene is showing a girl with her hair in pigtails walking up a brick road..." This is thought to be a reference to the classic movie Wizard of Oz, the girl mentioned being Dorothy Gale, the main protagonist.
3 Town Was Kidnapped
Team Rocket are notorious villains in this series. Every Pokémon fan can recognize their name. As one of their many evil plans, there is one time in the Pokémon Adventures manga that they manage to kidnap everyone in Pallet Town. They create an illusion of an active town while holding its inhabitants hostage in Silph Co. headquarters in Saffron City.
As usual, Team Rocket does not succeed and the heroes manage to save everyone and return them to the safety of Pallet Town once again.
2 Console Changes
Throughout the different Generations, the player's home has had a series of different consoles. This is a small detail so it may often go unnoticed. In all the games that start off in Pallet Town, there have been three different Nintendo Consoles.
In the first games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, the player's room has a SNES connected to the TV. In Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, the player no longer has a SNES, but now owns a NES instead. And lastly, in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokémon Let's Go Eevee, the player has a Nintendo Switch Console.
1 Pallet Town's Restaurant
Although the anime and the Pokémon games have some similarities, there are still quite a few differences.
Takeshi Shudō's interpretation of the series gives more information on this small town. According to Shudō, Pallet Town isn't actually as small as it is in the video games and it has its own restaurant. Delia Ketchum is the owner of the restaurant, Pallet House. Delia, Ash's mother, inherited it from her own mother and decided to run it once Ash was born, giving up on becoming a model and a Pokémon trainer.