Pokémon may be known for its collaborative play, beautiful effects, and an intimidating genre accessible, but the franchise also has a long history of creative and interesting articles.
The series is teeming with technology. The original Pokédex in the game was clearly inspired by early Palm Pilot-like devices, for example. And if you think about it, pokéballs are technological miracles: they somehow turn living things into particles that can be transported all over the world (and in the TV show, the pokéballs can even shrink). So it is not so surprising that there were many Pokémon-themed toys and hardware.
We have collected only a few of the many memorable collectibles Pokémon gadgets in honor of the series’ 25th anniversary. The IRL devices range from game pedometers to personal video game consoles to real pokéball replicas (though it may not yet turn living things into particles). There is a lot of equipment you can get if you want to catch them all.
A real pokédex
Tiger Electronics and Hasbro released a toy pokédex in the late 90’s, and I still consider it one of my favorite toys of all time. It’s based on Ash’s Pokédex from the first season of the TV series, but with a few different features to make it really function like a real toy. It has a keyboard and a number pad for searching information, a small screen that shows the pokémon you were looking at, and can show information about each pokémon, such as its height, weight, type, and some attacks it could learn. It made me feel like I was a bona fide pokémon trainer, and I remember reading different pokémon for hours with my pokédex.
Pokémon Pikachu
My Pokémon Pikachu was a staple of my childhood. It was released in 1998, and it was a pocket-sized format that looked like a Tamagotchi, except you took care of a digital Pikachu. But it also has a built-in pedometer that you can activate by simply shaking the device up and down. (Or, as in the ads above, jump.)
That shakiness meant I was constantly reflects the small device to earn a currency called watts. You can give watts to Pikachu, or, oddly enough, gamble it away on a slot machine. You can learn more about it at this beautiful Nintendo Japan website that is still available.
Nintendo released an upgraded model, the Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS, in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in North America and Europe, according to Bulbapedia. It has a color screen and can be connected to Pokémon Gold, Silver, en Crystal via the infrared port of the Game Boy Color, which allows you to trade watts for items.
A Pokémon-themed camera
Just look at this aim-and-shoot camera. It has a giant Pikachu on one side, two poké balls holding the flash and the lens, and a cute Diglett is the shutter button. According to the manual, the camera shot a 35mm film and each photo also has a pokemon-themed border. (You can see the frontier in which Pikachu, Meowth, Squirtle, and Blastoise appear in this album.) A few eBay listings set the 1999 release date.
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Hey you, Pikachu’s Voice Recognition Unit
Hi there, Pikachu was a Nintendo 64 game that you could talk to Pikachu using the Voice Recognition Unit, or VRU, that came with the game. It was released in 1998 in Japan and 2000 in North America.
You can see the VRU in the photo above – users clipped a large microphone to their controller, and connected it in a special module (which stored Pikachu’s 256-word vocabulary according to Popular science), and then plugged in that module in the Nintendo 64 itself.
And speaking of hardware with a Pikachu theme …
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The Nintendo 64 with the Pikachu theme
The Pikachu-themed Nintendo 64, released in 2000, took a fun turn on the console’s design by making the on-off switch a poké ball and Pikachu’s right foot the reset button. I like how gigantic Pikachu is – it dominates almost half of the console. And while I can not remember ever using one of them myself, I think it must have been very satisfying to press on Pikachu’s foot to repair a game.
Pokémon mini
The Pokémon mini was a small handheld console specifically designed to play Pokémon-themed games from cartridges. It was released in 2001 in North America and Japan and in 2002 in Europe. It was 74 mm x 58 mm x 23 mm – described on the still active Pokémon mini Nintendo UK website as ‘far below half the size’ of Nintendo’s iconic Game Boy Advance – and came in three colors. It even had motion detection and drone built-in.
Pokéwalker
The Pokémon Pikachu devices were followed in 2009 by the Ball-themed Pokéwalker in 2009, which came with each copy of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Like the Pokémon Pikachu, the Pokéwalker was a pedometer that allowed you to accumulate watts and allow you to take care of Pokémon. But unlike the Pokémon Pikachu, you can transfer the Pokémon back and forth from the Pokéwalker, which means you are not forced to care only for Pikachu. You can also find new wild Pokémon and items directly on your Pokéwalker by spending watts to play mini-games.
Nintendo has uploaded the Pokéwalker tutorial online to learn more about it.
Poké Ball Plus
Nintendo released another poké-ball-themed device in 2018 Pokémon: Let’s go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!: the Poké Ball Plus, an actual, functional game controller compatible with the Nintendo Switch. You can play both games with the controller and catch pokémon by making a throwing motion with your arm. Similar to the Pokéwalker, you can also store pokémon in the Poké Ball Plus, and they even cry from within when you shake them around. The controller is also compatible with the big mobile hit Pokémon Go.
This Poké Ball replica that “should never be thrown”
It hardly counts as a device, but I had to include it. Last November, The Pokémon Company International and The Wand Company announced this $ 99.99-cast replica of the Poké Ball. As realistic as it looks, do not throw it at your cat as a joke; it weighs 10.5 oz, which is double the weight of a baseball. And in fact, The Wand Company says that it “should never be thrown” and that “throwing the Poké Ball will damage it and injure someone.”
But if you ever wanted to hold a poké ball, it might be the closest thing to buying one of these. It even glows.