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Many gamers were first introduced to the world of Pokemon all the way back in 1996, when the first games launched. Since then, there have been 6 generations of the creatures released, with the newly announced Pokemon Sun and Moon set to be a part of number 7. There have also been 6 anime series, 25 manga series, and 18 full-length films released for the franchise, with more content coming out every year. But even the most experienced Pokemon fan couldn't know everything there is to know about the creatures - or could they?

With the most recent additions to the Pokedex bringing the total number of catchable monsters up to 722, there is an awful lot to learn about Nintendo's second largest franchise. But if you think you know everything there is to know, why not test yourself against our list of 20 weird facts about Pokemon?

20 #1 - Rhydon Was The First Pokemon Ever Created

Rhydon

Just like how the rhino-esque creature is first on our list, Rhydon was also the first Pokemon that was ever created by Game Freak. This was revealed in an interview with Ken Sugimori, one of the original designers for the first generation of Pokemon titles. Despite its early creation, Rhydon is placed at 112th in the Pokedex.

19 #2 - Professor Oak's Nidorino Has The Cry Of A Nidorina

Pokemon Nidorino

Nidorino is one of the very first Pokemon that a new player ever saw when beginning their Pokemon adventures. During the introduction to the much-loved Pokemon Red/Blue, the Pokemon professor shows off his very own creature - a Nidorino. However, this Pokemon doesn't quite give off the right call, instead giving the cry of the female Nidorina.

18 #3 - Azurill Can Change Gender While Evolving

Azumarill and Marill

Due to Azurill's gender ratio meaning that 75% of the creatures are female, but its evolution Marill containing the regular 50/50 chance when assigning gender, there is actually a 1 in 3 chance that your Azurill will become male when it evolves. Some fans have debated whether this is a reference to some amphibians being able to change their gender, but whether that's true or not, this unique event will only happen prior to Generation 6, suggesting that it may have been unintentional.

17 #4 - Slowbro Is The Only Pokemon That Can Devolve

Slowpoke and Slowbro Pokemon

According to the sometimes less-than-reliable Pokedex entries, Slowbro is unique in its ability to return to its previous evolution Slowpoke. The creature initially evolves when a Shellder latches on to Slowpoke's tail, and it seems like the process is reversed if the shell Pokemon ever lets go.

16 #5 -  Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee Got Their Names From Famous Fighters

Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee

At this point, most Pokefans probably know that these two Fighting types were named after Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee - but this is also true for their Japanese names. Hitmonchan's alternate name (Ebiwalar) is a reference to Japanese world champion boxer Hiroyuki Ebihara, while Hitmonlee's name (Sawamular) is derived from the world's first kick-boxer, Tadashi Sawamura.

15 #6 - Meowth And Pikachu Are Opposite Pokemon

Pikachu and Meowth

In the Pokemon anime series, Pikachu and Meowth are on opposite sites, with the latter belonging to the notorious Team Rocket. However, the opposite theme runs deeper than this alone. Pikachu is number 25 in the Pokedex whereas Meowth is the reversed number 52. There is also the more obvious association of the two being a cat and mouse.

14 #7 - Magneton Weighs A Lot More Than Three Magnemites

Magnemite and Magneton

When Magnemite evolves, it joins with two more of its kind to form Magneton. Logically, as the Pokemon initially has a weight of 13.2 pounds, the evolution should surely weigh about 3 times as much. In fact, Magneton weighs over 10 times the weight of a single Magnemite, stacking up at a whopping 132.3 pounds.

13 #8 - The move 'Splash' Is A Mistranslation Of The Japanese Word For 'Hop'

Pokemon Spash

Splash is the useless Pokemon move that performs almost no action whatsoever and can be learnt by very few creatures, the most obvious of which being Magikarp. However, despite its name, the move is actually a Normal-type, rather than a Water-type move, and can be learnt by Pokemon such as Hoppop, Spoink, and Buneary. This is because the Japanese version of the word was mistranslated and should in fact be called 'Hop', which makes much more sense.

12 #9 - Pikachu Can Talk And Learn Surf In Pokemon Stadium

Surfing Pikachu

Fans of the Nintendo 64 game Pokemon Stadium that also owned a copy of Pokemon Yellow were able to transfer over the game's signature monster from their GameBoy Colours, in order have a Pikachu capable of learning Surf in-game. The Pikachu would also speak with the same Japanese voice actor that still voices Ash's companion in the anime to this day (Ikue Otani). Once Pikachu has learnt surf, gamers can play a Surfing Pikachu mini-game back in Pokemon Yellow.

11 #10 - Arcanine Was Intended To Be A Legendary Pokemon

The fire dog Pokemon Arcanine was originally going to be a legendary creature, alongside the trio of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. In fact, in the Pokemon anime's second episode, Pokemon Emergency!, Ash sees an engraving of Arcanine along with the birds on a stone tablet. The creature's category is also named Legendary Pokemon, despite it being able to be obtained by regular means.

10 #11 - Tangela Originally Couldn't Use Vine Whip

When Tangela is first introduced in episode 26 of the anime, Ash's Pokedex provides the following information: "Tangela, a Vine Pokemon. Its body is wrapped in vines. The rest of its form is hidden beneath these vines." Somehow, despite this, the Grass-type could not use the move Vine Whip in Pokemon Red and Blue. In modern games, Nintendo have corrected this oversight and Tangela now learns Vine Whip at level 7.

9 #12 - Koffing And Weezing Were Going To Be Named After American Cities

Koffing and Weezing Pokemon

The poison-type Pokemon Koffing, as well as it's evolution Weezing, were originally going to have very different names to their current labels. In the Pokemon Red and Blue beta, the names initially laid out for the two were 'Ny' and 'La', in reference to the air pollution in New York City and Los Angeles.

8 #13 - Mewtwo Comes Before Mew In The Pokedex

Mewtwo and Mew

Fan-favorite Pokemon Mewtwo has taken on many forms, but the creature itself is a clone of the secret 151st Pokemon Mew. The creature was a secret that even Nintendo was not initially aware of, programmed in by Shigeki Morimoto two weeks before the original games finished development. Although Mewtwo was created by cloning Mew, the clone actually comes before it in the Pokedex. Mew has only ever been available in events such as Nintendo's current mythical Pokemon distribution.

7 #14 - Ditto Is Most Likely A Failed Attempt At Cloning Mew

Ditto and Mew Pokemon

It's widely believed that Ditto is the result of a failed cloning attempt of the legendary Pokemon Mew. The logic behind the theory comes from the two creatures sharing the same base stats and weight, as well as using a similar color palette both in shiny and non-shiny forms. The two Pokemon both have access to Transform at level 1 and are the only two creatures to learn the move naturally. Ditto can also only be found (at least in the first generation games) in the Pokemon Mansion where Mewtwo was successfully cloned, or in Cerulean Cave where the clone can be fought and captured.

6 #15 - Clefairy Was Almost The Face Of Pokemon

Clefairy Pokemon

The fairy Pokemon Clefairy was originally set to be Ash's starter Pokemon in the anime, instead of Pikachu. Due to a last minute change, Pikachu got the role instead, because of the creature's popularity. This would have made Clefairy the most recognisable Pokemon in existence, rather than the electric mouse. While this would have made the anime closer to the Pocket Monsters manga, Nintendo made the right choice teaming Ash with Pikachu. After all, Detective Clefairy just wouldn't have the same ring to it.

5 #16 - Each Spinda Has A Unique Pattern Of Spots

Spinda Pokemon

All right, so this isn't technically a true fact. As it happens, Spinda does have an incredibly large amount of variations due to its spots forming a random pattern with each encounter and easily deserves its spot on the list of unique Pokemon, but each one is not quite as exclusive as the Pokedex may have you believe. Whereas some of the creature's Pokedex entries claim that there are over 4 billion types of Spinda to catch, there are actually about 4,294,967,295 different variations, not including shinies.

4 #17 - Fishing Is Possible In Pokemon Red And Blue's Gyms

Pokemon Gym Fishing

You've all seen the Rhydon statues that sit just inside the first generation gyms, but what you might not know is that you can fish for Pokemon inside them. In Pokemon Red/Blue, using an Old Rod on any Rhydon statue will cause the player to encounter a Magikarp. In the Cerulean City gym, you can use any of your fishing rods, as well as fish for Pokemon in the gym's water areas. There's no real reason why you'd want to do this but it's an interesting glitch for sure.

3 #18 - Psychic-Type Weaknesses Are Based On Common Fears

Psychic Pokemon

This one is more of a fan theory than a true fact, but it's certainly plausible. Although Psychic-Types were hugely overpowered in the first generation of Pokemon, they do in fact have weaknesses in the form of Ghost, Dark, and Bug-types. These types are all representative of common fears, though if that's the case I'm sure many people that suffer from pyrophobia or aquaphobia may argue the case that Psychic should be weak to Fire and Water-types too.

2 #19 - Wobbuffet's Main Body Is A Decoy

Wobbuffet

Wobbuffet's Pokedex entries seem to suggest that there's more to the blue punching-bag than meets the eye. Many of the entries appear to imply that the Pokemon's main body is simply an inflatable decoy, and while we see the creature speak in the anime series, the real body is the small black tail with eyes that hides behind it. Because of this, Wobbuffet cannot actually attack (other than by using struggle), but instead counters opponent's attacks by bouncing back at them in true punching-bag style.

1 #20 - Smeargle Cannot Use TMs But Can Use Almost Every Move In The Games

Smeargle Pokemon

The Painter Pokemon Smeargle has not been able to make use of any Technical Machines to learn moves since its introduction in Gen 2. It can, however, utilize almost every known move, including signature moves, by using Sketch to copy the last attack used by an opponent. There are exceptions to the rule though; Smeargle cannot use Sketch to copy Chatter or Struggle. Not only can Smeargle keep the copied move forever, the creature can also pass it down to other Pokemon via breeding within its egg group.

As a franchise, Pokemon continues to impress and amaze the fans. Having older titles that still hold up today is part of the reason why Pokemon has managed to sell 200 million copies of just its main series alone. That's without taking into account the success of spin-off titles such as last month's Pokken Tournament and the upcoming Pokemon GOThere's sure to be many new facts to discover when Sun and Moon release later this year, so be sure to stay tuned for information as it is revealed.

How many of our 20 facts did you already know? Are there any others you can think of? Drop us a comment to tell us your thoughts.