European Localizations

This is a sub-page of Pokémon Red and Blue/Translation Errors.

French#

Player's TV#

In Pallet Town, interacting with the television in the player's home will bring a message which references the 1986 movie Stand by Me. This message remains unchanged in all versions of the games except the French one, where it instead references Son Goku from the then hugely popular Dragon Ball anime.

There's a movie
on TV. Four boys
are walking on
railroad tracks.
I better go too.

Un dessin animé!
Un petit garçon
avec une queue de
singe.
Bon, j'y vais!

An animated show!
There's a little
boy with a monkey's
tail.
Okay, let's get
going.

Drunk NPC#

While the old man in Viridian City retains the changes to his dialogue from the English version, his granddaughter's is actually much closer to the Japanese original.

Oh Grandpa! Don't
be so mean!
He hasn't had his
coffee yet.

Papinou! Tu vas
t'lever, ouais?
T'as vidé la cave
ou quoi?

Grandpy! Say, you
gonna get up?

Did you empty out
the cellar or
what?

Hiker Dialogue#

The wild mushrooms hiker had the reasoning behind his laughter changed in the French version. There, he's instead having a nervous breakdown.

Ha-haha!
Not laughing!
Ha-hay fever!
Haha-ha-choo!

Ha!
Je ris pas!
C'est les nerfs!

Ha!
I'm not laughing!
It's my nerves!

Haha-ha-choo!
Ha-choo!
Snort! Snivel!

Haha-ha-ha!
Nyahahahaha!
Hohohoho!

Tamer Dialogue#

One of the Tamers in Koga's gym gives some flavor text regarding his training and the ways of the ninja. This message remains unchanged in all versions of the games except the French one, where it instead references the tokusatsu show "Space Sheriff Gavan", known in France as "X-Or".

I also study the
way of the ninja
with master KOGA!
Ninja have a long
history of using
animals!

J'veux être un
ninja et sauter
d'arbre en arbre!
Comme à la télé.
Comme X-PORC, le
goret d'l'espace!

I wanna be a ninja
and jump from
tree to tree!
Like on TV.
Like X-HOG the
space pig!

Silph Co's Foreign Branch#

The Scientist mentioning the Silph Co. branch in Tiksi instead mentions it as being located in "Trifouilli", a fake town name meant to evoke the idea of it being set in a small, insignificant rural setting.

However, the French version did add an unintentional reference to the real world, with the first Psychic in Saffron City's gym telling the player "Tu va en baver comme un russe.", a saying which makes reference to Russia.

That rotten
PRESIDENT!
He shouldn't have
sent me to the
TIKSI BRANCH!

Quel porc ce
PDG!
Il a décidé de me
muter au siège de
TRIFOUILLI!

That rotten
PRESIDENT!
He chose to
transfer me to the
PODUNK branch!

TIKSI BRANCH?
It's in Russian
no man's land!

TRIFOUILLI?
C'est au beau
milieu de nulle
part!

PODUNK?
It's in the middle
of nowhere!

Pokémon Mansion Diaries#

The reference to "Guyana, South America" was removed altogether. The February 6 entry also added a comment from the author wondering whether it would be appropriate to call Mew a dad or a mom.

Diary: July 5
Guyana,
South America
A new POKéMON was
discovered deep
in the jungle.

Rapport:
5 Juillet.
Jungle X.
Un nouveau type 
de POKéMON fut
découvert.

Report: July 5
Jungle X.
A new kind of
POKéMON was
discovered.

Diary: Feb. 6
MEW gave birth.
We named the
newborn MEWTWO.

Rapport:
6 Février.
MEW est papa 
(ou maman?)
Le petit fut
baptisé MEWTWO.

Report: Feb. 6
MEW mothered (or
is it fathered?)
a child.
The newborn was
christened MEWTWO.

Pokédex Entries#

Venomoth's French entry was slightly mistranslated, but in a fairly interesting way. Rather than talking about the small scales that make up its wings (like those of real moths), here there is a mention of a yellowish motif, mentioned nowhere in either English or Japanese. A leaked localization glossary actively mentions using artwork for inspiration in both Venonat and Venomoth's entry, so the translator most definitely got confused with the spots featured on Venomoth's promotional artwork, a design revision which never appeared in any released version of the games.

This error isn't present in the French version of Silver, which correctly talks about the shade of the scales. As for the Red and Blue entry, it was properly retranslated for FireRed and LeafGreen, omitting any mention of Venomoth's spots.

The dust-like
scales covering
its wings are
color coded to
indicate the kinds
of poison it has.

Les motifs ocre
de ses ailes
changent en
fonction de son
type de poison.

The yellow motifs
on its wings
change depending
on what kind of
poison it has.

Mewtwo's French entry completely removed the part about who created it, a trait which is oddly shared with the German version. This entry was only retranslated in Legends: Z-A, now properly stating Mewtwo to be the work of a lone scientist.

It was created by
a scientist after
years of horrific
gene splicing and
DNA engineering
experiments.

Il est le fruit
de nombreuses
expériences
génétiques
horribles et
malsaines.

It is the result
of many morbid,
horrific genetic
experiments.

TM Acronym#

The "Technical Machine" (TM) acronym was localized as "Capsule Technique" (CT) for Rouge et Bleu, though one instance of "TM" slipped by unnoticed. If the player exchanges a Lemonade for CT49 in the Rooftop Square of the Celadon Dept. Store, the little girl will tell the player "TM49... TRIPLATTAQUE!"

Pokémon Used Move Text#

In the French version, any time a move is used, the corresponding text lacks an exclamation point.

German#

Move Names#

The following moves were mistranslated in the German version (only being corrected in Sword and Shield):

• Pound became "Pfund" (as in the currency, not the act of pounding).
• Peck became "Schnabel" (literally "bird beak", not the act of pecking).
• Glare became "GiftBlick" (literally "poison glare", which was assumed to be a literal translation, as seen in a leaked localization glossary.)

Pokémon Mansion Diaries#

The reference to "Guyana, South America" was removed altogether. Despite this, the reference to the Silph Co. branch in Tiksi still remains.

Diary: July 5
Guyana,
South America
A new POKéMON was
discovered deep
in the jungle.

TAGEBUCH:
5. JULI
Der Dschungel
im Niemandsland.
Wir haben tief
im Dschungel ein
völlig neues
POKéMON gefunden.

Diary: July 5
Jungle, deep in
no man's land.
We discovered a
new POKéMON, deep
in the jungle.

Pokédex Entries#

Mewtwo's German entry completely removed the part about who created it. This is also the case in the French version, which almost feels like a concerted effort. This entry was only retranslated in Legends: Z-A, now properly stating Mewtwo to be the work of a scientist.

It was created by
a scientist after
years of horrific
gene splicing and
DNA engineering
experiments.

Dieses POKéMON
ist das Resultat
eines jahrelangen
und skrupellosen
Experimentes.

This POKéMON is
the result of
years worth of
unethical
experiments.

Spanish#

Ghost Mentions#

Oddly enough, every capitalized instance of "GHOST" (as in the Pokémon Tower encounter, not the type) is left as-is, in English, in the Spanish version of the Generation I games. Stranger still, it wasn't fixed in FireRed and LeafGreen.

Move Names#

The following moves changed their names in later games, mostly due to mistranslations. The following list does not include moves that changed only due to abbrevations or hyphens.

Fishing Message#

Encountering a Pokémon by fishing displays the message "The hooked attacked!". However, in the Spanish versions, this string was incorrectly translated as "¡El malvado atacó!", where "malvado" translates to "wicked" or "mean". This oddity makes more sense when taking into account that an early version of the Pokémon Tower Ghost encounter string, which is found right before the fished Pokémon encounter string, originally stated "A mean appeared!".

It's thus likely the Spanish translators were given an outdated/incorrect base script, which wouldn't be the first time something like that happened.

Pokédex Entries#

In the Spanish versions, each Pokédex entry is systematically missing a period at the end, a mistake which also occurs in the Spanish versions of Pokémon Yellow.

Channeler Dialogue#

In the Spanish versions, there's a gender issue with a Channeler in Pokémon Tower 3F. Though Channelers are female, she uses a male adjective.

Italian#

Poké Ball Miss#

The message that shows up when a Poké Ball fails to catch a wild Pokémon is mistranslated in the Italian version. The original "Shoot! It was so close too!" became "Colpisci! Era così vicino!", which doesn't make much sense. "Colpisci" literally means "Shoot" as in "to hit", and can't be used as an exclamation.

Move Names#

The following moves were mistranslated in the German version (only being corrected in Sword and Shield):

• Pound became "Libbra" (as in the measuring unit, not the act of pounding).
• Counter became "Contatore" (as in the measuring instrument, not the act of countering a move).

Prof.Oak Dialogue#

The line skip issue in Professor Oak's optional dialogue wasn't fixed in the Italian versions. If anything, a new issue crept up, where one word in a different part of the exchange going over the text box's frame.

Pokémon Tower#

After defeating the rival at the Pokémon Tower, in the Italian version he will mistakenly refer to Marowak as "Marowax". This was fixed in FireRed and LeafGreen.

Pokédex Entries#

The italian version of Squirtle's Pokédex mistakenly translated "shell" as "conchiglia" (seashell), rather than the correct "guscio". This entry was fixed in FireRed and LeafGreen, though the proper term "corazza" was used in the Pokédex as far back as Yellow.

After birth, its
back swells and
hardens into a
shell. Powerfully
sprays foam from
its mouth.

Dopo la nascita
la schiena gli si
trasforma in una
conchiglia. Sputa
potente schiuma
dalla bocca.

After birth, its
back swells and
hardens into a
seashell. Power-
fully sprays foam
from its mouth.