Ever tried to name them all? You know the song. The "PokeRap" that played at the end of every episode, drilling the names of 150 pocket monsters into our skulls. Well, 151 if you count the secret one. But for most of us growing up in the late '90s, that list of pokemon 150 felt like the absolute edge of the world. It was a complete universe.
You've probably heard the legends. "Mew is under the truck!" "If you beat the Elite Four 100 times, Professor Oak battles you!" Most of that was schoolyard garbage, obviously. But the actual history of those first 150 creatures is way weirder than the rumors. Honestly, the way these games were stitched together on a tiny Game Boy cartridge is a miracle.
The Weird Truth Behind the List of Pokemon 150
If you look at the official Pokedex today, Bulbasaur is #001. It’s the face of the franchise's beginning. But here is the thing: Bulbasaur wasn't the first Pokemon ever made. Not even close.
Rhydon was actually the first.
Internal data from Game Freak shows that Rhydon (index #001 in the game's internal code) was the baseline for everything. Designers used its "monster" silhouette to build the world. If you look at the statues in every single Kanto gym, they all look like Rhydon. That’s not a coincidence. It's a tribute to the "Alpha" of the list of pokemon 150.
Why the Numbers Don't Actually Make Sense
The Pokedex isn't a family tree. It's basically just a catalog based on when the developers felt like slotting someone in. For example, why is Kangaskhan #115 while its supposed "pre-evolution" (the baby in the pouch) doesn't even have a number?
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Simple. Space.
The Game Boy cartridges were tiny. Like, "I can't believe this works" tiny. To save room, the developers had to share sounds. Did you know that Charizard and Rhyhorn have the exact same cry? In the list of pokemon 150, there are only 37 unique sound files for cries. They just pitched them up or down to make them sound "different."
- Charizard and Rhyhorn: Identical twins in terms of audio.
- Polite/Politoed (later): Many shared the same base wave patterns.
- Ditto and Mew: They share the same weight and the same shiny colors. Some fans think Ditto is a "failed clone" of Mew, though Game Freak has never officially confirmed that little bit of dark lore.
Breaking Down the Kanto Heavyweights
When we talk about the list of pokemon 150, most people's minds go straight to the big three. Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur. But let’s be real for a second. In the original Red and Blue games, Charizard was kind of a nightmare to use. Stealth Rock didn't exist yet, but its move pool was shallow as a puddle.
Psychic types were the real kings.
Back in 1998, the Psychic type had a massive programming oversight. They were supposed to be weak to Ghost moves, but due to a glitch, Ghost moves did zero damage to them. This made Alakazam and Mewtwo essentially gods. If you had an Alakazam, you won. Period.
The Poison Problem
Here’s a stat that usually shocks people: Poison is the most common type in the original list of pokemon 150. There are 36 of them.
Why? Because so many Pokemon were "dual-typed" with Poison just to fill space. Think about it. Bulbasaur? Grass/Poison. Oddish? Grass/Poison. Gastly? Ghost/Poison. Even the "cool" ninjas like Nidoking were half-Poison. It was the "default" flavor of the Kanto region, making the game weirdly lopsided.
The Mystery of the 151st Entry
Okay, the keyword is the list of pokemon 150, but we have to talk about the pink elephant in the room. Mew.
Mew was never supposed to be in the game. Shigeki Morimoto, a programmer at Game Freak, snuck Mew into the code at the very last second. He literally waited until the debugging tools were removed—which cleared up a tiny bit of space—and shoved Mew's data in there.
Nobody at Nintendo knew.
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When players started finding Mew via glitches (like the famous Long-Range Trainer glitch near Cerulean City), it created the first-ever "viral" gaming mystery. It transformed the list of pokemon 150 into 151, and Nintendo had to scramble to figure out how to handle a Pokemon they didn't even realize was on the disk.
What Most People Get Wrong About Evolutions
If you look at the original sprites, things were... rough.
Golbat looked like it was having a mid-life crisis. Mew looked like a weird embryo. But the weirdest part was the scrapped designs. We almost got a "Gorochu," a third evolution for Pikachu that had horns and fangs. It was cut for space.
Also, look at Venonat and Butterfree. Look at the eyes. The round, red, bug eyes and the little antennae. Now look at Caterpie and Venomoth. It’s a common theory that the sprites for Butterfree and Venomoth were accidentally swapped during development. It makes too much sense. Venonat is basically a fuzzy purple ball that should turn into a fuzzy purple moth, but instead, it turns into a slender butterfly.
The Missing Piece: #000
You can't talk about the Kanto list without mentioning MissingNo.
It’s the most famous "non-Pokemon" in the list of pokemon 150. It happens when the game tries to load a Pokemon at an index address that doesn't have a character assigned to it. It’s literally a "Missing Number."
It wasn't a ghost. It wasn't a secret. It was just the game’s brain breaking. But because it could duplicate your items (hello, 99 Rare Candies), it became a staple of the Kanto experience.
Actionable Steps for Kanto Fans Today
If you're looking to dive back into the original list of pokemon 150, you don't have to dig out your old Game Boy with the dying screen.
- Play "Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee": These are the most polished versions of the original Kanto journey. They keep the original 151 but add modern mechanics.
- Check out the TCG "151" Set: This was a massive hit in 2023 and 2024. It’s a card set that only features the original Kanto crew, and the art is honestly some of the best the series has ever seen.
- Hunt the Glitches: If you have the 3DS Virtual Console versions, the Mew glitch still works. It's a fun afternoon project to finally catch the "151st" member that was never meant to be there.
The original list of pokemon 150 wasn't perfect. It was glitchy, the types were unbalanced, and some of the designs were literally just a pile of sludge (looking at you, Muk). But there’s a reason we’re still talking about them nearly thirty years later. They weren't just characters; they were a phenomenon that changed how we think about collecting things.
The next time you look at a Pokedex with 1,000+ entries, remember that it all started with a rock rhino and a last-minute pink cat.
Ready to complete your collection? Start by focusing on the trade-evolution mons like Golem and Machamp first, since those are always the hardest to get without a friend. Or just get a second Game Boy. We won't judge.