Pokémon Games Have Always Been Mean To Magikarp, Proves Player

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A Pokémon player has proven to other fans that the Pokémon games have always described Magikarp negatively. For a franchise that has been around for over two decades and spawned many video games over the years, it's not surprising that fans have discovered or realized a couple of subtle details about Nintendo's Pokémon series. This can be from the English localization of the pocket monsters' names to more physical attributes, like how one fan discovered that the Pokémon Porygon is made up of 50 polygons. Now it seems one fan has discovered another detail about the Pokémon Magikarp.

Magikarp has become well-known in the Pokémon franchise as a lovable, yet weak Pokémon. This Water-type Pokémon comes with a disappointing move called Splash. When used in battle, the move is always followed by the frustrating message, «but nothing happened.» Other than using this move, Magikarp will flop around even in the heat of a battle. Of course, as most fans know, Magikarp eventually evolves into Gyarados, an extremely powerful Pokémon. But thanks to Magikarp's weak characteristics, the Pokémon can come across as undesirable in its unevolved state. More recent games in the Pokémon franchise have attempted to change that, at least slightly. 2016's Pokémon Sun & Moon introduced Z-Moves, powered-up moves that a Pokémon can do if it is equipped with a specific crystal. With this new game feature, Magikarp's signature move became Z-Splash--a move that raised Magikarp's Attack stat by three stages.

Related: How to Find (& Catch) Shiny Magikarp in Pokémon GO

Despite the addition of Z-moves in some games, a Pokémon fan has argued that the Pokémon video games have always been mean to Magikarp. A Reddit user that goes by the name theleeman14