10 Terrifying Secrets Hidden In Pokémon Games

4. Pokémon Breeding Dynamics

Wailord pokemon
Nintendo

This is less scary in a spooky or mysterious sense and more terrifyingly impractical.

Not just battling and training, players can also be Pokémon breeders. When the daycare grew in Gold and Silver to contain the ability to leave two Pokémon and potentially come back to an egg, GameFreak had to figure out how to come up with some kind of algorithm for it. That is to say, what determined the appearance of an egg at the daycare centre?

Shooting for a straight-forward option, they created 14 different “egg groups” and species in each group could only breed with Pokémon from the same group.

However, whilst 14 seems a lot, it's more about type and shape: bug, aquatic, mineral, human-like, monsters and so on. It doesn’t take into account things like size and physiology. The “field” group, as nondescript as that is, features some really weird possible pairings such as the 47 foot long Wailord breeding with the 8” tall Diglett.

Not only does that hurt one’s brain to consider the physical nature of that “breeding session” but furthermore it’s one of the few ways Wailord can learn the devastating OHKO move Fissure so it’s actually well worth it. Sorry, Diglett.

Also, Charizard and Magikarp can breed. Just putting it out there for extra weird.

Contributor

Coming from a content creation background that now spans over two decades, Psy cut her teeth on personal video production and community radio. Originally joining the team as a writer and presenter, she added video editing duties to her responsibilities over time and became the longest-standing editor of the irreverent gaming show Tues Your Own Adventure. Psy has worked on many previews and reviews, long-form editorials (either her own, or supporting as an editor), as a frequent quizmaster and more. Praised for the two-pronged attack of her hard work ethic and light-hearted editing style, Psy is otherwise known as a font of retro video game knowledge which has caused her to rack up many quiz wins. Outside of WhatCulture, Psy runs First Aid Spray Podcast - a long-running channel that focuses on Resident Evil in all of it's forms. You can follow her on BlueSky at http://psywhite.bsky.social and Instagram at http://instagram.com/therealpsywhite