11 Facts You (Probably) Didn’t Know About the Original Pokemon Games

One of the Japanese Version’s Rival Names References Miyamoto

Did you know that one of the optional rival names in the Japanese games is Shigeru, which is a reference to the creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto.

According to DidYouKnowGaming?, the story behind this reference dates back to when Game Freak’s Satoshi Tajiri pitched the idea of Pokemon to Nintendo, Miyamoto took an interest to the idea despite Nintendo not being interested at the time. Miyamoto became sort of like a mentor to Satoshi, so he included Miyamoto’s first name into the game for the rival trainer as a tribute. Satoshi’s own name meanwhile was one of the optional names for the protagonist.