Pokemon Names You Pronounce Wrong

[Coronis]

I’m sure this is a common occurrence (especially for those who grew up with the older games) but what are some Pokemon names you’ve pronounced incorrectly in the past or continue to do so despite learning the correct one later?

The recent Pokemon Presents reminded me of this fact - I’ve been pronouncing Diancie as Dee-ancie all these years - not sure if I’ll be able to change. As a child for ages I mispronounced Rattata as Rat-a-tat-a. Even my favourite Pokemon - Suicune - I was convinced for ages it was Soo-i-cune rather than Swi-cune. 2/3 mascots in Gen 3 even - which I still mispronounce to this day! Groo-don (rather than Grow-don) and Ray-qwaza (rather than Ray-kwayza).

Even watching this presents I found out I’ve been pronouncing Paldea wrong so far! (Pal-dee-a rather than Pal-day-a).

Would love to hear some of your experiences - I’m sure there’re many I can’t recall now or some I may not even know of yet!

 

[SturdyShedinja]

Even though I’m fairly sure it’s incorrect, I pronounce Arceus with a soft c just because it rolls off the tongue better imo.

I also still have no idea how Yvetal and Zacian are officially pronounced. For the latter, I use zay-she-an an zah-she-an almost interchangeably.

Lastly, I’ve pronounced vivillon as viv-lee-on for years and only realized that I’ve misread the name a week or two ago when I evolved one for a nuzlocke.

 

[Jungle cruiser]

I once read feraligatr's name wrong in a book as felatigatr (putting the l in the place of the first r and putting a t in the l's former place) and promptly wrote and pronounced it like that.

Frankly, I have no idea what my logic there was, and considering I never saw any anime episode with it, I only rly noticed until about a year ago when looking at them alongside meganium and typhlosion, and man did I feel stupid for not deducing it...

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I also still have no idea how Yvetal and Zacian are officially pronounced. For the latter, I use zay-she-an an zah-she-an almost interchangeably.

The former I always thought was "ee-vell-tall", and the latter I opt toward pronouncing as "zash-eye-anne" because allegedly Zacian is supposed to be a homonym for the cyan, with Zamazenta correspondingly being the magenta.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

I also still have no idea how Yvetal and Zacian are officially pronounced. For the latter, I use zay-she-an an zah-she-an almost interchangeably.

Yveltal is "ee-VEHL-tahl". The Y is pronounced like an E, as in Yvonne. The first part also sounds like "evil".

Zacian is "zah-shee-an", ie the latter.

Both pronunciations are used in the anime, and the latter was used in a Presents talking about Sword and Shield way back then in June 2019.

 

[khlaylav]

I think every single time I say Arceus it's with a different pronunciation.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I think every single time I say Arceus it's with a different pronunciation.

Ark-ee-uss
Arr-say-uss
Arr-see-uss
Arr-kay-oos
Arr-zay-uss
Arr-oo-zay-uss

 

[Coronis]

Ark-ee-uss
Arr-say-uss
Arr-see-uss
Arr-kay-oos
Arr-zay-uss
Arr-oo-zay-uss

There is only one correct pronunciation and no amount of censorship will ever change my mind.

All I can picture for the last pronunciation you typed:

 

[R_N]

With Arceus everyone should get a pass because it likely was meant to be pronounced with a soft c (while Stadium and PBR announcers are not always the most accurate, I feel it was intentional with the Arceus announcer), but then they probably realized wait hold one we can't have a pokemon where we say "Arse" every time.

 

[ant4456]

I say Arceus with an s sound because IMO it works better

 

[BIG ASHLEY]

i said arceus's name with the hard k for years until the internet beat me into submission......now i'm a hardcore soft c main and wouldn't have it any other way........

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I feel like if you pronounce it "Arr-say-uss", the "arse" sound isn't quite so blatant. It's obviously still there, but less so than if you call it "arse-ee-uss".

 

[Pikachu315111]

I think every single time I say Arceus it's with a different pronunciation.

Well if you want the probably most official way of saying it, just remember Silvally's Ability: RKS System.

Also works for those who prefer the softer c: RCS (and, as QuentinQuonce noted, pronouncing it like that does skirt around the "arse" word which is still there but less defined).

I'll also post this here

JWittz's video on his dive into Pokemon pronounciations:

 

[A Welcome Guest]

I pronounce quaquaval as qua-quay-vuhl

Zacian is "zah-shee-an", ie the latter.

I always pronounced it as zah-chee-an

also i say ark-ee-us

 

[Esserise]

It’s Ark-ee-us for me, because I think the hard C resonates with the words “arc” (like the shape of Arceus’s golden adornments) and “arch” (as in archangel, archon, etc.) and, as Pikachu315111 pointed out, it’s consistent with the RKS System ability. And to be honest… yeah, ever since someone pointed out the “arse” thing to me, I kinda can’t unhear it. :/

On a wider note, I went through a video of Pokédex 3D Pro’s pronunciations in order to compare which names I say differently from what I presume are all the official pronunciations for everything from Gen 1-5. The ones that stood out as the biggest differences were:

The Nido family: P3DP seemed to pronounce the I as a long E sound, whereas I say it as a short I sound. Nih, like in “knitting.”

Omanyte and Omastar: This pair was kind of funny. I do say Omanyte the official way, as a homophone of ammonite. But with Omastar, even though it’s inconsistent, I feel more drawn to pronouncing it with a long O sound, as Oh-muh-star.

Chinchou: I seem to flip-flop on this one. Sometimes I say the official Chin-chow, other times I say it as Chin-cho.

Yanma and Yanmega: I say the first syllable as “Yahn” (sort of like “yawn”) instead of “Yan” (rhymes with can)

Nincada: I pronounce it as Nin-KAY-duh, as opposed to Nin-KAH-duh. Frankly, I’m confused by the official pronunciation on this one. Perhaps it’s a regional thing, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say “cicada” with anything other than a long A in the middle.

Aron: I say Ahr-on instead of Air-on.

Roserade: I say this with three syllables rather than two. Officially, it’s Roze-rade, but I say it more like Ro-zer-ade.

Wormadam: I pronounce it like “madam,” as in, the formal mode of address for a woman. I’m kind of surprised that isn’t the official way of saying it (instead of Wur-muh-dam), seeing as how Wormadam can only be female.

Mismagius: I pronounce the middle part like “mage,” and I firmly believe that’s how it should be said, because the official pronunciation is atrocious.

Gabite and Gallade: I put much more emphasis on the first syllable than the second for these two, saying GAB-ite and GAL-ade instead of guh-BITE and guh-LADE.

Carracosta: I flip-flop a lot when it comes to that O sound. Sometimes I say it like “cost,” other times I say it like “coast.” I dunno which I really prefer. Also, on a related note, it kinda bugs me when I compare this one with how I say Karrablast. Naturally, I pronounce the first syllable in Carracosta as “Kahr,” and the first syllable in Karrablast as “Care.” But if I stop to think about it, I feel like it should be the other way around; the one that starts with C should have the “Care” sound, and the one that starts with K should have the “Kahr” sound.

Druddigon and Hydreigon: The official pronunciations seem to say the last syllable like the word “gun,” but I say it more like the word “gone.”

There were a handful of others where my pronunciation drifted slightly from that P3DP was saying, but I didn’t think those were significant enough to mention.

As for Gens 6-9, I’m not actually aware of how all of those names are pronounced. I’m familiar with a few from various anime clips, though, so I’ll at least point those ones out.

Skiddo: The official pronunciation with its 23 skidoo nonsense is cursed and I hate it. I say it like Skih-doh, as in, “skid” + “kiddo.”

Furfrou: I say it as Fur-froh instead of Fur-froo.

Diancie: I actually only realized this the other day when watching the Pokémon Presents video, lol. I guess officially it’s Di-AHN-see, but I say it as Di-ANN-see, like the name Diane.

Dewpider: The official pronunciation I’ve heard sounds kind of like the word “Jupiter”? That feels really weird to me. Doo-PYE-derr, rhyming with “spider,” is surely more intuitive?

Silvally: Whereas in contrast to Dewpider, while the official pronunciation here makes more logical sense (the last part is pronounced like the word “ally”), I’ve been saying the last part like “alley” for so long now that it feels much more organic to me that way.

Solgaleo: I say this one like Sol-GAY-lee-oh, rather than Sol-guh-LAY-oh. I can see an argument for either case; my version was certainly derived more from the “leo” part, like the astrological sign, whereas the official pronunciation has a fitting resonance with the name “Galileo.”

Zacian: I say this like Zah-see-an rather than Zah-shee-an.

Regidrago: IIRC the anime pronunciation said the third syllable as “dray,” but I say it as “drah.”

 

[Ironmage]

Nincada: I pronounce it as Nin-KAY-duh, as opposed to Nin-KAH-duh. Frankly, I’m confused by the official pronunciation on this one. Perhaps it’s a regional thing, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say “cicada” with anything other than a long A in the middle.

I think of Nincada as being pronounced similar to 'cadet,' owing to its designation as the Trainee Pokemon.

 

[RocketSurgery]

One which I am adamant the localizers are wrong on is . Who in their right mind looks at "Ferrothorn," which comes from "ferro" and "thorn", and decides it should be pronounced "Fair-oth-orn"?! I think they might have relented on this one because I remember the VGC casters were always pronouncing it the official way and always getting lambasted about it in chat, and I vaguely recall at some point hearing them say it the sensible way.

The other is just my personal pet peeve, but I can't stand the official pronunciation for : "Ursheeeefoo". Shifu, Chinese for master, is pronounced like "shuh foo" not "shee foo", and my ears bleed when people say it that way. (Addendum: I am informed that in Cantonese it does sound like Shee-foo, so I guess the official pronunciation is justifiable, but I still think it sounds more shrill and annoying than shuh-foo!)

 

[Coronis]

Nincada: I pronounce it as Nin-KAY-duh, as opposed to Nin-KAH-duh. Frankly, I’m confused by the official pronunciation on this one. Perhaps it’s a regional thing, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say “cicada” with anything other than a long A in the middle.

Must be, the only time I’ve heard cicada pronounced with a long a is in certain American movies.

As an Australian at least we all say si car da - naturally I pronounce Nincada the same way.

Aron: I say Ahr-on instead of Air-on.

Its official pronunciation is Airon?! I mean I guess it makes sense when you put it alongside Lairon - but yeah no that just sounds wrong to me A A ron

Roserade: I say this with three syllables rather than two. Officially, it’s Roze-rade, but I say it more like Ro-zer-ade.

Yep I’ve always pronounced it this way - I’m fine with it being wrong - it just flows much better imo. Similarly, I might have the pronunciations for the prevos wrong too - but I’m not changing em. Roselia - I pronounce it Rose-el-ia, but looking at Rose-raid I could see it being listed as Rose-lia. Never thought about Budew much until now - I’ve always pronounced it Boo-do. However looking at it its clearly based on a flower bud so its probably Bud-ew.

Mismagius: I pronounce the middle part like “mage,” and I firmly believe that’s how it should be said, because the official pronunciation is atrocious.

You couldn’t have said it any better.

 

[Esserise]

Must be, the only time I’ve heard cicada pronounced with a long a is in certain American movies.

As an Australian at least we all say si car da - naturally I pronounce Nincada the same way.

Interesting! That makes a lot of sense, then.

Its official pronunciation is Airon?!

At least according to Pokédex 3D Pro. But yeah, it kind of bugs me because, while it does line up with how Lairon is pronounced, the inconsistency in spelling becomes more apparent — if it’s said the same way, then why isn’t it actually spelled Airon? You’d even have the word “iron” tucked in there visually.

Yep I’ve always pronounced it this way - I’m fine with it being wrong - it just flows much better imo. Similarly, I might have the pronunciations for the prevos wrong too - but I’m not changing em. Roselia - I pronounce it Rose-el-ia, but looking at Rose-raid I could see it being listed as Rose-lia. Never thought about Budew much until now - I’ve always pronounced it Boo-do. However looking at it its clearly based on a flower bud so its probably Bud-ew.

Funny enough, 3D Pro has Roselia being pronounced the way you have it (which is also the way I say it). It does indeed have Budew pronounced like “bud,” though.

 

[cornmilk]

The one I always get wrong is Phanpy, everytime I pronounce it like it is named Phanphy (fan fee) when it should be like fan pee. I hope I'm not the only one making this mistake haha

 

[thornAvery]

I think Jih-rah-keye is a somewhat common one, but pronouncing Suicune as "Sway-soon" seems less so

 

[Pikachu315111]

I think Jih-rah-keye is a somewhat common one

Jirachi?

 

[Esserise]

When I was a kid, I didn’t realize that Chimecho was based on a wind chime, so in trying to parse what its name was going for, I figured it looked similar to “chemical,” and therefore ended up pronouncing it “Kim-ih-koh” for many years.

 

[thornAvery]

Jirachi?

Yeah just with the 'chi' making a 'ky' sound

 

[Coronis]

When I was a kid, I didn’t realize that Chimecho was based on a wind chime, so in trying to parse what its name was going for, I figured it looked similar to “chemical,” and therefore ended up pronouncing it “Kim-ih-koh” for many years.

Oh can’t believe I forgot this - I called it Chime-cho at first.