Surprise mid-week bonus post? Yes, yes it is. It’s also a massive length post, so go grab yourself some popcorn or lunch and get settled in.

I recently had a discussion with a fellow Pokemon blogger, Lola, regarding our experience with Pokemon. In a post she wrote in late August, she talked about how one of her Pokemon Go friends refers to her as Nicknamer due to the number of Pokemon she gives nicknames too. This led to a discussion about how I do this too, almost to ridiculous levels. Both Lola and I decided we should write a post about the nicknames we give our Pokemon in Pokemon Go. This lead to me reviewing my Pokemon Go box and realizing that I have a ton of Pokemon I’ve nicknamed.

You should go read Lola’s post here: https://poketravellerlola.wordpress.com/2019/08/28/explaining-my-pokemon-go-nicknames/

How best to go about this then? I’ve decided to share all of my Pokemon Go nicknames here, albeit with a few parameters.

• I’ve excluded nicknames that are labels for ease of searching for the most part. For example, I name all of my Pokemon I save to trade for distance with a left parenthesis, that way I can find them quickly. There are two exceptions to this rule.
  • All Pokemon I use to quickly drop in gyms I pass have an asterisk at the start of their nickname. When I refer to them in this post, I’ll use the nickname without the asterisk unless it’s part of the name.
  • All Pokemon with perfect IVs¹aka perfect stats have names that begin with and accented e at the beginning (é). As with the last point, I’ll refer to them by the nickname without the extra character unless it’s part of the name.
  • Prior to lucky Pokemon being searchable, I preceded all lucky Pokemon names with an L with a stroke (Ł). While I removed this from most Pokemon once that search came out, if it made sense in the name, I kept it.
• I’m also excluding Pokemon whose nicknames are solely informational, such as:
  • I have a Pokemon currently called Evolve Me. This is so I don’t forget to evolve it at some point.
  • Any Pokemon whose IVs/stats are part of the name.

I’ll add in a few pictures here and there, but not very many, otherwise this list would be even longer than it’s already going to be. There are also SO. MANY. links out, as some of these references are obscure. The list that follows will be in national dex order. Pokemon whose names are in bold and italics are my perfect IV Pokemon

Generation I

• Venusaur – Way back in July of 2016 when I started playing Pokemon Go, I made an effort to theme some of my nicknames. All of my Gen I starters I caught had names of Greek or Roman philosophers, causing me to have a Venusaur named Socrates. Also, within hours of posting this, I caught my second perfect shadow Pokemon, this time a Bulbasaur. Its name is Aristotle.
• Charizard – My only named Charizard is called Overrated. I’ve talked about this before.
• Blastoise – As was the case with Venusaur, I have a philosopher starter here, this one named Parmenides.
• Beedrill – You’ll find as I go through this list there’s a lot of music jokes. Beedrill is Bug Dentist because…TO BE BUG DENNNNNTISSST
• Rattata – Both my perfect Rattata and shiny Rattata are named Rat God as a play on Eminem’s song Rap God. I’d also like to note that I once had a Pidgey named Tim Horton. I called it this just so I could trade it to my wife, who had not (at that point) been to Tim Horton’s. It ended up being her best Pidgey by a mile.
• Fearow – In what might be the longest running joke in my Pokemon nicknames, I have a Fearow named Circle. When playing Pokemon Blue on the bus to a wrestling meet in high school, I asked someone to name my Fearow. They said A Circle. It stuck.
  
• Arbok – It is Also Snek. There’s also Snek, but it’s later in this list.
• Nidoqueen – Nidoran And….Nidoran and…Nidoran and…
• Nidoking – When I finally got a lucky Nidoking, it immediately got named George III. He was pretty lucky for the US.
• Clefable – Much like the Minions, Clefairy is annoying and obsessed with the moon. So when I got a perfect one, it got named ThaMooooooon!
• Ninetales – I love me some Ninetales. All of them have Fire Emblem nicknames. The Kantoian ones are named Selkie²I understand that Selkie is the only Ninetales name that isn’t a reference to Fire Emblem: Awakening. That said, it’s also the only perfect Ninetales I had, so I had to differentiate it somehow., Luna, and Sol, while the Alolan ones are named Lucina, Chrom, and Aether.
• Parasect – I’m not saying I’m annoyed Leech Life isn’t in the game, but I did name a Parasect after the move.
• Venomoth – The dragonslayer lives. All hail the ATV.
• Dugtrio – My very first lucky trade ever netted me an Alolan Diglett. Upon evolving, the Dugtrio’s headbobs timed out really well to the song I was listening to at that time, Le Disko by Shiny Toy Guns. So it’s LeDisko.
• Persian – Alolan Persian is fat. I got a perfect one, so it’s just Bigglesworth.
• Golduck – In the SUPER early days of gym battling, Golduck was annoying as hell to deal with, winning far more battles than it reasonably should have as a defender. Considering how often it was victorious, I chose to pay homage to the Glorious Bomb by naming it Glorious.
• Primeape – In the anime, Primeape steals Ash’s hat. So…AshHatThief.
• Poliwrath – Ivan Drago seemed like a good choice to shout out with a punching Pokemon. It’s Drago.
• Alazakam – Two Spoon. Because this video. This series comes up again.
• Machamp – My favorite throwaway joke from an episode of Family Guy netted me two different Machamp nicknames, Reagan and Sleepy.
• Victreebel – Nothing says sexual tension like a Bellsprout wiggling its hips. Hence how this became Allureabel.
• Golem – There’s a few Tolkien jokes here, as I have Kantonian Golem named JRR and Precious. That said, I also have a perfect Alolan Golem named Magnet Rock. It’s not a great name, but it fits.
• Rapidash – I am…Photo Finish.
• Dodrio – You’re familiar with the cerberus, right? You know, three headed dog that guards Hades? Well, this is Cerbirbus.
• Shellder – The very first shiny I ever caught in a main series Pokemon game was a bright orange Shellder I named Scallop. Thus, once I found a shiny Shellder in Pokemon Go, it became Scallop II.
  
• Hypno – I have a Hypno named Biggie. I just love his flashy ways.
• Kingler – I get that Kingler is not a lobster. But considering mine has perfect IVs, it is JIBBERS CRABST. Yes, the all caps is necessary.
• Hitmonlee – Both of my Hitmonlee are named after wrestlers who love to kick, Funaki and Tajiri.
• Hitmonchan – Meanwhile, my two Hitmonchan I’ve nicknamed have been named based on female MMA fighters, named Tate and Kowalkiewicz, respectively.
• Weezing – Oh how I wish Galarian Weezing was out for this. That said, it’s Trump’s EPA. Their track record speaks for itself.
  
• Seaking – One of the few times I wished Pokemon allowed curse words, I’m referencing a VERY old meme when I call this MF Seaking.
• Magikarp – If you ever see my CP 10 shiny Magikarp in a gym, know that its name is Gym Shame and that I’ve placed it in a gym after kicking out someone who annoys me. I have a Meditite with the same name and CP. I also have a Magikarp named LivedOn1HP, as a shoutout to my favorite Poketuber.
• Lapras – I actually have three named Lapras, all with completely different name sources. The first is named Tree Fiddy, as Lapras looks an awful lot like the Loch Ness Monster. Second, we have one named White Rose, because while Bumbleby is finally a thing, the OTP in RWBY will always be White Rose in my mind. Finally, my shiny Lapras is Liopleurdon, because Charlie needs to see this magical creature.
• Kabutops – My two Kabutops are named Coheed and Cambria. It’s the Cambrian explosion! Well, plus a Coheed reference.
• Snorlax – Calling Snorlax fat is too easy. Calling it a Michael Jackson parody (or MJ Parody for short) is at least thinly veiled.
• Zapdos – Zapdos was the first legendary Pokemon I caught in Pokemon Go³I went 0 for my first 22 attempts at catching a legendary Pokemon in a raid, including 0 for 18 on my favorite Pokemon ever, Articuno. Of course, I caught four of the first five Zapdos I saw. — and I got a near perfect one at that. Said Zapdos was named Electric Fried Chicken, or EFC for short. Then, once we got Zapdos raid day with Thunder Shock as a special move, one of the Zapdos I caught on that day became Wichita St. No, I don’t care that it’s not the same kind of shocker.
• Dragonite – In recognizing two of the move-based nicknames I’ve given, my Outrage knowing Dragonite is oRATM⁴(out)Rage Against The Machine, while my Draco Meteor knowing one is Malfoy.
• Mew – When you go to catch Mew as part of the special research reward in Pokemon Go, you go into AR mode. Mew will disappear on your screen intermittently, making it one of the more annoying catches in the game. Because it becomes invisible, its name is…
  

Generation II

• Ariados – I’m not saying I’m annoyed Ariados can’t learn Sing in any Pokemon game, but I did name one Missing Sing.
• Crobat – In what might be super obscure reference, my Crobat is named Vlad because you wouldn’t hit a bat with glasses on, would you?
• Igglybuff – The most recent perfect IV Pokemon on my list gets to use the accented e as part of its nickname, as its floaty nature lends itself to the nickname éLium.
• Ampharos – My lone Community Day Ampharos is named Glorious Hair because have you seen Mega Ampharos. I also have an Ampharos named Philip because…well, you know.
• Azumarill – My perfect bunny Pokemon is named Crimson as a shoutout to a rabbit named Clover owned by one of my friends.
  
• Politoed – In easily the most surprising perfect IV Pokemon I’ve ever encountered, I caught a perfect shadow Poliwag recently. I purified it out of principle, but because of its perfection and purification, it seemed like it needed a holy name. Since I already have a perfect Poliwrath, it was only natural to make this one a Politod, hence the named Toadsus.
• Espeon – Much like Lapras, I have three named Espeon⁵This is a trend with certain Pokemon in Go for me. It started with Espeon, but it’s since expanded.. My Community Day Espeon is named Papa Roach on the account of knowing Last Resort. My shiny one also has a musical reference, having the name LoveTheAlien due to its green coloration. Finally, I have an Espeon named Magic Bounce as a nod to its ability in the main games. I’d like to think Magic Bounce’s theme song is Magic Stick, however according to my wife, I’m the only person who still likes that song.
• Umbreon – My shiny Umbreon is named InGaN, which is the chemical notation for Indium Gallium Nitride. It’s the stuff that makes your LED lights glow blue.
• Murkrow – More music references, as my perfect Murkrow is named éPro, which is a nod to the Beck song by the same name. Said Murkrow is also called The Murkrow of Death, as it’s a PvP monster.
• Steelix – Oh hey! I told you Snek would show up later.
• Shuckle – More sadness from the Cursing is Banned in Pokemon Department, as everyone knows you cannot fuckle with Shuckle. Since I like to drop Shuckle in gyms, the asterisk serves a double purpose here, as my main one is named *le.
• Delibird – Santa Birb. This one is obvious.
• Houndour – My shiny Houndour is named Huckleberry, both as a nod to Huckleberry Hound, as well as to Doc Holiday.
• Kingdra – I have Kingdra and Queendra. Not much explanation necessary here.
• Donphan – It’s an elephant. With what looks like tank treads on it. So it’s Treadaphant. Again, not a complicated one.
• Hitmontop – I can’t be the only one who thinks Hitmontop looks like a teenage version of Groot. Right? Right. This is Teen Groot.
  
• Blissey – Never have I been so pissed off about Pokemon Go as I was when I finally had enough candy to evolve my Chansey into a Blissey, only for Niantic to nerf Blissey the very next day. Not even when Smeargle almost made me quit the game. Blissey will always remain named Stupid Nerf for that reason.
• Tyranitar – Pretty simple really. Mine is called Dark Dragon because it’s a Dark-type that’s also a drago…what? Tryranitar is Rock/Dark? Who thought this up? Next you’re going to tell me Psyduck isn’t Psychic type⁶For the few unaware, Psyduck is a pure Water type for reasons that literally no one has ever been able to explain adequately.

Generation III

• Blaziken – My perfect IV Blaziken is named Col. Sanders. Because it’s a Fire type chicken. Fried chicken.
• Linoone – This nickname is sadly a relic of the pre-CP rebalance days. My wife and I were sitting in our apartment catching weather boosted Pokemon when a CP 69 Zigzagoon popped up. I make the joke that all CP 69s were perfect, which she scoffed at…but then this Zigzagoon actually was. Sadly, its CP change with the rebalance, but I kept its nickname, Nice.
• Dustox – Dust Devils are tornado like things that appear in the desert Southwest and are one of my favorite natural phenomena. Considering my Dustox knows Silver Wind, I found DustDevil to be a fitting name.
• Shifty – Finding a perfect Seedot is ridiculous. So is giving it a corny nickname. It’s named énroc, which is a play on the word corny being spelled backwards.
• Taillow – Earlier this year, I was job hunting hard and had gone through the interview process for a job I really wanted. I had waited longer than I expected for word to come back on said job. I was walking around my old work parking lot, stressing about my work situation, all while playing Pokemon Go to mindlessly pass the time. I caught a Taillow and named it Hope because hope is the thing with feathers. About an hour later, I got a call offering me the job I was looking for. It’s a garbage Taillow, but I keep it anyway.
  
• Gardevoir – Though my Murkrow has the “of Death” appending to their nickname informally, my perfect Ralts (now Gardevoir) got it as part of her name, as I dubbed it DressODeath. It’s clearly a combat skirt.
• Breloom – As someone who used to travel a decent amount for work, FlightAware was my best friend. When I caught a good Breloom with double Fighting moves in an airport, it obviously had to be named FightAware.
• Slaking – There’s a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. It looks like fun, as they have baby sloths. When I got my first perfect sloth, it got named Costa Rica.
• Hariyama – Yokozuna and E.Honda seemed like good names to give to these massive behemoths of destruction.
• Delcatty – Did you know Tacocat is Tacocat spelled backwards? I love my Delcatty, even if it isn’t as trolly as I want it to be.
• Mawile – Mawile can eat you with its hair. Nom Hair is its name.
• Medicham – Want to know one of my least favorite Pokemon designs? It’s the Medicham line. The whole line. That said, I clearly had to keep the perfect one I hatched. It’s name? ILookDumb.
• Manectric – Manectric has entrance music, just like a pro wrestler. That song? “I Am Electric” by Heaven’s Basement. Only it sings its name, IAmManectric.
• Swalot – Swalot looks like a gumdrop. A toxic one. But Gumdrop it is.
• Wailord and Kyogre – I’m combining these two as both of their nicknames have the same origin story. After catching my first Kyogre, I named it Lord Whale, as Kyogre is the guardian of the sea or something like that. My wife misheard me and thought I called it Wailord, which confused her, as I was still 100 or so candy from being able to evolve my Wailmer into a Wailord. A couple of weeks later, I got my candy and evolved Wailmer into Wailord. I named it Kyogre. I also may or may not have told a friend of mine that this was the release of shiny Kyogre.
  
• Flygon – If only Flygon had gotten a mega evolution. Then I wouldn’t have to call my perfect Flygon by the name of NonMega.
• Altaria – My Altaria is named Swabby. Not all of these are good names.
• Seviper – My Seviper is CP 404. As such, its name is SnekNotFound.
  
• Whiscash – A perfect mustache on a perfect IV Pokemon deserves the name Rollie, as an ode to one of the greatest mustaches to ever live.
• Milotic – Pokemon Go has really made me hate Feebas. Imagine my annoyance with the recent Jirachi special research had a task to evolve a Feebas. Thus, my Feebas, eventually Milotic, got renamed IHateFeebas.
• Castform – One of my favorite things to do is to put Snowy Castform in gyms in Ohio. It legit makes people mad. I just have an army of Snow Castform named Snow1, Snow 2, Snow3, etc. I also have a rainy Castform aptly named H2O.
• Banette – All of my perfect Pokemon get names, regardless of what they are or how good of a name I can think of for them. That’s now my perfect Banette got the name Zippers.
• Wynaut – I considered naming my Wynaut Why. Why? Wynaut.
  
• Metagross – All of my Metagross that I use in battle are members of the Wu-Tang Clan. Currently, I have RZA, ODB⁷ODB started this, as it was originally short for Ol’ Dirty Beldum., Method Man, and Raekwon.
• Latios – I am not a fan of the Latis. After my fifth consecutive research reward Latios, I named it Trashios. I then proceeded to get another one the next week.
• Groudon – We can all agree that Primal Groudon looks like something out of the Power Rangers universe, yes? Good. Then you understand why this is Megazord.

Generation IV

• Bidoof – Bidoof is Rusty. Bidoof will always be Rusty until they release the shiny version.
• Roserade – My wife used to label Pokemon she wanted to trade with the name Zz. When she made a trade with me that netted me a lucky, shiny Roselia, this lead to me naming the Pokemon RoZzelia. This changed to RoZzrade once its evolution was released.
• Drifblim – A while back, I did a challenge wherein my goal was to beat the Pokemon Sun Elite Four using only a Caterpie to attack. This strategy was full of Baton Pass shenanigans, which involved a Drifblim passing Minimize and Stockpile boosts. Thus my Drifblim in Go got the name Minimize.
• Honchkrow – I was traded a shiny Murkrow. It was lucky before lucky trades existed. It’s thusly named The Purpkrow. I still refuse to believe shiny Murkrow can be found in the wild⁸I said this to my wife once. She then tapped on a Murkrow and it was shiny. DURING THE CONVERSATION WHERE I WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT IT. That’s some Tim McCarver level bullshit..
• Bonsly – Sudowoodo is introduced to players in Pokemon Gold/Silver by faking being a tree. Hence my shiny Bonsly’s name TotallyATree.
• Munchlax – I hatched two perfect Munchlax in the span of 30 days. Their names are éatAllThings and éatMoreThing, respectively.
• Lucario – Oh look. Something for me to wreck in Smash. As a Lucina main, I consider Lucario to be SmashFodder.
• Abomasnow – Abomasnow. Obama in snow. President Snow.
• Rhyperior – Both of my Rhyperior are references to Dwayne Johnson, being named RockBottom and Dwayne, respectively.
• Tangrowth – Look. If you had. One shot. To name a Tangrowth anything you ever wanted. Would you capture it? Or just let it slip?⁹Also, Tangela should be pronounced tan-gel-a from here on out. Don’t ask why. Just do it.
  
• Electivire – I caught a perfect Electabuzz in a raid, only for Rock Me Amadeus to come on the raid very shortly afterward. Hence my Electivire getting the name Ohmadayus.
• Togekiss – Birb. Just birb.
• Leafeon – I am a leaf on the wind…except that’s too many characters for Pokemon Go, so it’s just LeafOnTheWin.
• Glaceon – My favorite frozen dessert? Ice cream. But my second favorite? Italian Ice. Since this Glaceon is perfect, we get a small bastardization of that name, as it became étalianIce¹⁰I’ll still accept this pronunciation for Italian over people who insist on pronouncing it “eye-tal-yan”. I know, and am related to, at least two people who do this. It’s cringey..
• Mamoswine – Did you know Ray Romano is a really good actor in things that aren’t Everybody Loves Raymond? Like Ice Age. It’s a good reason to name a Mamoswine after him.
• Porygon Z – Porygon is a duck. It’s also made from code. A digital duck, if you will. Digital duck. Digiduck.
• Gallade – My Gallade is named Arm Blades because…well…have you seen Gallade’s arms?
• Probopass – Nosepass and Probopass look like dollar store Easter Island heads. Hence the nickname I’ve giving mine, Łeaster.
• Meltan – Prior to Meltan being officially announced, Niantic gave us a sneak peek of it by having Ditto disguise itself as Meltan for a brief amount of time. Since there wasn’t any information about this Pokemon out there, the Pokemon community started giving it placeholder names. My favorite of these was Nutto. I’ve kept the first Meltan I ever caught, along with its initial nickname — Nutto.