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A weekly Pokédex Podcast from Bald Man in Japan Luke Summerhayes. A different Pokémon family every week.
I’m Luke Summerhayes and I love Yoshi.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gaming-urban-legends/images/f/f3/DragoniteYoshi.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20181231225642
This was the tip, given in the April 1999 issue of Expert Gamer magazine, along with screenshots of Mario’s dinosaur steed Yoshi in Pokemon Red and Blue.
J. Ester is, of course, a jester, and this magazine was playing a little April fool’s joke. As I’ve discussed before, the early days of the Pokemon franchise were rife with rumors. From the true secrets, like Mew, to accidental glitches like Missingno, and false but believable rumors about unlocking Marill and Togepi.
In this environment, it really didn’t seem that crazy that Yoshi would be in the game. Game Freak’s game Mario and Wario is referenced in Saffron city, and that game’s predecessor was Mario and Yoshi. Throw in a, for the time, genuine-looking magazine scan and you have playground stories for the rest of time. Or, at least, until Pokemon Gold and Silver came along and we realized that Pokemon like Ho-oh were not secretly in the original games, but teases of an upcoming generation.
Yoshi first appeared in 1990’s Super Mario World. Hatched from a white egg with green spots – very reminiscent of the egg sprite used in most POkemon games, probably a deliberate homage – baby Yoshi can eat apples to grow big enough for Mario to ride.
Atop his dinosaur steed, Mario can use a flutter jump, swallow enemies, and hurl eggs – a comprehensive power set. After this game, Yoshi appeared in the Yoshi’s Island prequel series, where the dinosaurs took it upon themselves to deliver baby Mario, and become a mainstay in both the Mario series and its own games.
Just as Pokemon existed for years as the nascent Capsule Monsters concept before finally appearing on store shelves, so Shigeru Miyamoto toyed with the idea of Mario riding some kind of steed all the way from the release of Super Mario Bros in 1985. Some versions resemble a more bird-like creature, drawing inspiration from the Miyazaki film Nausicaa which would also inspire Final Fantasy’s Chocobos.
Since his origins as a ridable animal, Yoshi has also appeared as a more personable, intelligent companion to the Mario brothers, taking part in adventures as well as Kart races, tennis tournaments and parties. Like the divide between Pikachu, the species, and Pikachu, the specific character whom Ash Ketchum befriended, there seems to be the race of Yoshis and also a character, Yoshi.
Earlier this year, that character appeared on the big screen in the Super Mario Galaxy movie, voiced by Donald Glover. All the way back in 1993, Yoshi was represented in that Mario movie as a lifelike velociraptor animatronic – three months before the release of Jurassic Park!
In spite of all the schoolyard rumors and internet fake news, Yoshi has never appeared in a Pokemon game. It has battled several pokemon in the smash brothers series, and charmed the world all by itself.
Music for Luke Loves Pokemon was composed by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork for the show is by Katie Groves. Funding is by supporters at patreon.com/podcastiopodcastius.
I love hearing from listeners! Get in touch on youtube, social media or email and let me know about your favorite monsters. Coming up next are Fomantis and Morelull, so let me know your thoughts about those or any other monsters.
Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much for listening.