Kanto Champion Red

With the GEN I run down, its time for the Champion Red and his team to take their eternal place on the Indigo Plateau!

Lance, the Master Dragon 

Gorochu, the Thunder Demon 

Mimey, the Loveable Goofball 

Brock, the Rock Hard Battler

Blaine, the Hot-Headed Quiz Master

Blue

Koji

Erika, the Nature Loving Princess

Koga, the Ninja Master

I usually have a fairly easy time deciding on nicknames, usually deciding them as I go or going for a certain theme, but I had trouble with this one. The theme was to honor the first round of Pokemon games, and I wanted to name the Pokemon after various characters from the GEN I media. Dragonite was easy as it is the signature Pokemon of Lance. For Raichu, I decided on Gorochu, its unreleased evolution that is still alluded to in Cinnabar Island as a  way to remind us of what doesn't always make it into the games. Mr. Mime is named Mimey after the one who lives with Ash's mom in the anime. Snorlax is named Koji, after Koji Nishino on of the influences of the Pokemon itself. 

The next batch of names I had a harder time deciding on names for. Sandslash I decided to name after Brock, since there are alot of similarities between Rock and Ground types, and I don't think a whole lot of people back then weren't entirely clear on the difference. The other options were Bruno and Giovanni, but I felt Brock deserved the recognition more than they did. Next, Charizard is named after the fire gym leader Blaine. Vileplume is male, but I decided in the end to name it after Erika, since it is her signature Pokemon, and that the gender really doesn't matter. Scyther had sort of a similar issue, it doesn't really have a signature GEN I character associated with it, so I named it after Koga, since they are both ninjas. Tracey also would have worked, but it just didn't seem to fit as well. 

Blastoise I decided to name Blue for several reasons. Its the version pair of Red and appears on the box art. It's also the starter Pokemon of Gary in the main anime and his counterpart in Pokemon Origins. It was also the first one I used and received in the play through. More than anything else, my first Pokemon game was Blue version and my very first Pokemon was Squirtle. There was no other name to give it. This is about honoring the history of Pokemon, and what it means to us individually.