They do say their names in the Japanese version. And they've ALWAYS said their names since Pokemon Red and Green. Go talk to the Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff, known in Japan as Purin, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Jigglypuff first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animate…
Pokemon names in Japanese are all in カタカナ (Katakana), however many of these names are a play on words. For example, Charmander is ヒトカゲ (hitokage) – which is a combination of 火 (hi – fire) and トカゲ (tokage – lizard). In other words, the name literally translates to “fire lizard”.
Short answer: no they’re not. Some of them are universal like ‘Pikachu’ but 98% of pokemon have a different name in english than in the original japanese. Example:
It's different with every Pokemon but there are a few things that will make the difference. Japanese puns and word play doesn't make a lot of sense if you don't understand the language. For example, Honchkrow's Japanese name is Donkarasu (romanji).
English isn't universal so a Pokemon could have several names depending on the language so they can make it's name work within the region's word play. Honchkrow hasa differ It's different with every Pokemon but there are a few things that will make the difference.
All of the Pokémon in the animé say their names when they speak. For instance, Pikachu says "Pikachu" or some variation using those sounds ("Pika", "Chu-Pikachu", "Pi-pi-chu", etc). However, there are a few Pokémon, all from Generation 1 as far as I know, that don't say their names: Staryu/Starmie (hiyah!)
Pokémon (an abbreviation for Pocket Monsters in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, a company founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.
Pokemon usually use their name or part of their name when COMMUNICATING, just like when Pikachu says “Pika Pika” or when Bulbasaur says “Bulba bulba”, but for the case of the Legendaries I still think they can, but they usually COMMUNICATE through TELEPATHY (in animes and movies) so it is somehow unnecessary for them ...
Pokémon is short for “Pocket Monsters", the original Japanese name. The franchise has its roots in a gaming magazine in the early 1980s in Japan—Game Freak, started by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. Tajiri was the writer, while Sugimori was the illustrator.
pikapikaAccording to series producer Satoshi Tajiri, the name is derived from a combination of two Japanese onomatopoeia: ピカピカ (pikapika), a sparkling sound, and チュウチュウ (chūchū), a sound a mouse makes. Despite its name's origins, however, Nishida based Pikachu's original design, especially its cheeks, on squirrels.
ミュウツー MewtwoMewtwo (Japanese: ミュウツー Mewtwo) is a Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon introduced in Generation I.
Like most other Pokémon, Pikachu communicates only by saying syllables that are in its own name. Its most common sentence is "Pika-pika". When it wants to talk to Ash it says "Pika-pi," which sounds similar to " Satoshi" (the name of his trainer in the Japanese version).
So Meowth decided to make himself as human as he could. He learned to walk on two legs by watching people practice at a local dance academy, which also just so happened to offer pronunciation lessons. Over time, and with a little help from a picture book, he learned to sound out words.
You know, right now, the 4-move strategy allows the user to be creative and very tactical by chosing the pretty limited amount of 4 moves from the 20+ the pokémon had learned. Suddenly, I thought about the game being easier with 6 moves. But, it also implies that the opponents will have them as well.
The creatures collected were basically small monsters that you could put in your pocket, or, alternatively, pocket monsters (Poketto Monsutā in Japanese). Tajiri couldn't have foreseen that these “monsters” quite literally would make their way into our pockets.
While all three versions were released for the Game Boy console, Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, followed by Pokemon Red and Blue for the United States in 1998.
It's clear that Japan Pokémon is extremely popular in Japan and takes on a much higher prestige than any other country in the world. What's also evident is that even if you aren't a fan of Pokémon, Japan will probably serve it up to you in the form of food, drinks, events, or clothing at least once during your stay.
The fact that say, a Pikachu will say things like "Pi Pi Pi chu, chu, Pika" is usually enough to remind even young toddlers which Pokemon is which. It's stupid to us older fans, but it never bothered me when I was a kid. Since the show is marketed towards children, they tend to design is with children in mind.
They don't say their names, but those are the natural sounds that they make.#N#Humans simply derived the names for a Pokemon from the sound it makes, with some exception.#N#That's my theory.
Nintendo usually has a good idea of what Pokemon they are going to market so giving them a universal name makes it easier to get the word out about them since they don't have to spend as much time coming up with interesting names in every language.
Many Japanese names are based on locations or elements of nature, for example Yamashita (bottom of the mountain), Suzuki (bell tree), Kawaguchi (mouth of the river) etc.
Evolve keeps you rolling between those clean-ups you planned and the ones you just didn't see coming. It's different with every Pokemon but there are a few things that will make the difference. Japanese puns and word play doesn't make a lot of sense if you don't understand the language.
For example, Honchkrow's Japanese name is Donkarasu (romanji). Of course you could pick out the word Don like a mafia boss Don but you would be at a loss for what Karasu meant which is just simply crow. This goes with other languages as well.
Now, I honestly doubt that Japanese for snake is pronounced the same as English. And so, they have to come up with different puns for different languages.
The short answer is that, it is translated from Japanese name, but in a quite messy manner. Even the title Pokemon itself has three translations before the release of official version, which are 口袋妖怪 (Pocket Monster), 神奇宝贝 (Mystical Babies), and 宠物小精灵 (Pet little Fairies).
And due to the different pronunciations of Mandarin and Cantonese, a portion of names for Pokemons are different in HK and the rest. Like Pikachu, whose name around the world are the same by taking transliteration, results in two versions in written Chinese as 皮卡丘 in Mandarin and 皮卡超 in Cantonese.