Localization Glossary

This is a sub-page of Development:Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

Included in GFDocs.7z are localization glossaries for games ranging from Pokémon Red and Blue to Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. These xls files include explanations of the localized names and the process they went through to come up with them, as well as rejected names. These are all included in the subfolders of ★ポケモン監修用資料\ローカライズ関連\グロッサリ.

The following information comes from the XLS sheet 007005_【FRLG】北米経緯ナシ040225.xls, with translation notes appearing in [brackets].

Items (どうぐ)#

Early Name	Final Name	Explanation	Reason for Rejection
VOICE CHECKER	FAME CHECKER	[None listed. Literal translation of the Japanese name.]	*A literal translation would give the impression of an actual voice, so the wording has been changed. By using the word FAME (famous) here, it gives a natural feel as an introduction to someone who is likely to become the subject of people's gossip.

Locations (地名)#

Name	Explanation
SEVII ISLANDS	We thought of the number "7" as a motif. However, including the implication that it was "made in seven days" would be seen as a reference to a specific religion, so we avoided such nuances. We narrowed it down to something tied to the number "7." "SEVII" also has the motif of SEVEN, but with a slight twist. The last three letters are "V" "I" "I,", which visually expresses the number "7." It's a name that's easy for children to understand, and acts as a riddle.
TANOBY KEY	The phrase "seven flowers" does not exist in the United States, so we searched for expressions related to the number "7". After surveying more than 40 native speakers, we found that the most well-known expressions are as follows: Seven deadly sins Seven heavenly virtues Seven seas[*] Seven sisters Seven wonders Seven dwarfs Most people chose "deadly sins", with others scattered here and there. Unfortunately, none of them were usable, so we decided to change our thinking, taking the original approach and making it a little easier for English players to understand. The rule we adopted was to combine a written out number with the name of a flower. We chose a name that would seem innocuous at first sight, but would bring an "Aha!" moment to those who figured it out. Since there was no alternative name to "Askana", we decided to use the word "BOTANICAL" as the base. We had a hard time coming up with names for each stone chamber.
MONEAN CHAMBER	We didn't make any contrived changes, but simply combined the name of a flower with a number. We also tried to avoid overlapping with plant names from "Red and Blue" and "Gold and Silver". This name comes from ANEMONE and ONE.
LIPTOO CHAMBER	This name comes from TULIP and TWO.
WEEPTH CHAMBER	This name comes from SWEET PEA and THREE.
DILFORD CHAMBER	This name comes from DAFFODIL and FOUR.
SCUFIB CHAMBER	This name comes from HIBISCUS and FIVE.
RIXY CHAMBER	This name comes from IRIS and SIX.
VIAPOIS CHAMBER	This name comes from POINSETTIA and SEVEN.

Characters (人物)#

Name	Explanation
CELIO	A play on the English name for the family "celastraceae", to create an English-sounding name.
LOSTELLE	From "LOST CHILD", with "elle" added at the end to express femininity. It sounds like a person's name.
DADDY	A general term. If we used "DAD" there's a chance he could be mistaken for the player's father, so we chose "DADDY" instead.
SELPHY	A self-interested person is called "selfish," which somehow sounds similar to a person's name. Adding the Y makes it sound feminine. It has a lovable feel to it.
SEBASTIAN	Unchanged from the Japanese name. It sounds service-y. Since he is Selphy's butler, we chose a name that matches the beginning of "SEL".

Trainers (トレーナー)#

Name	Explanation
BURGLAR	Same meaning as the old name. [Renamed in Japanese from "かじばどろぼう" (Post-Fire Burglar) to just "どろぼう" (Burglar) in Generation III.]
JUGGLER	Same meaning as the old name. [Renamed in Japanese from "ジプシージャグラー" (Gypsy Juggler) to just "ジャグラー" (Juggler) in Generation III.]
GAMER	Due to various circumstances, the name has been changed.
CRUSH GIRL	We've reconsidered. We'd like to propose the following two ideas to create a fighting feel and differentiate it from the existing BATTLE GIRL. From the vibe, we think CRUSH GIRL is good.
CRUSH KIN	Since "BROS" and "SIS" are limited to either male or female siblings, we used KIN (kinship) to represent both genders.