Pick the Pokemon - Gen 1 Pokedex Quiz

Answer:

Generation 1 of "Pokemon" launched on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1996 in Japan as the parallel titles "Pocket Monsters Red" and "Pocket Monsters Green". A special edition "Pocket Monsters Blue" followed later in the year. The games were later localised for the North American audience, a process that involved reprogramming the game from scratch due to the fragile source code of the originals. They were released in North America in 1998 as "Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Blue". A further enhanced edition of the games, "Pokemon Yellow", was released in 1998 in Japan and in other regions in 1999 and 2000.

All of these games are considered Generation 1 of "Pokemon", and feature the same roster of 151 classic Pokemon that include many of the most iconic and recognisable little 'mons of the franchise. They are considered to have more simple designs than future generations, based more closely on real-life animals. When their Japanese names were translated to English, rather than using the direct translation, names were altered and localised with clever wordplay often used.

Pikachu is of course the mascot of the "Pokemon" series. It is a cute, yellow, electric-type mouse with a lightning-bolt shaped tail and red electricity sacs on its cheeks. Its name is derived from a combination of Japanese onomatopoeia - "pika" (a sparkling sound) and "chu" (a mouse sound) - and was selected to sound cute in multiple languages including English.

Charmander is a fire-type and one of the three 'starter' Pokemon players can choose. It is a portmanteau of "char" and "salamander". Ash Ketchum has a Charmander in the original anime series which eventually evolves into Charizard.

Ekans is a poison-type snake, shown coiled up in its sprite. Its name is simply 'snake' written backwards. Its design features elements of rattlesnakes and cobras, with its evolution Arbok (cobra spelled backwards and stylised with a "K") having a more clearly cobra-based design.

Jigglypuff is a cute, round, pink, normal-type Pokemon that can inflate itself with air or flatten itself. It features in the original anime, and is a playable character in the Nintendo "Super Smash Bros." franchise. Its name evokes its jelly-like appearance.

Persian is a normal-type Pokemon that evolves from Meowth. Its name is thought to be derived from Persian cats, though its design more resembles big cats, and so may actually derive from the more obscure Persian leopard. In the original anime, Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, owns a Persian.

Alakazam is a psychic-type Pokemon. Its name and those of its pre-evolutions Abra and Kadabra are derived from the magical phrase "Abracadabra, Alakazam!". Its design is rich in magical symbolism, with its body based on a humanoid magician, five-pointed star-shaped head resembling a pentagram, horns, moustache and talons resembling a Chinese dragon, and the signature spoons it holds for spoon-bending. It is one of four Pokemon in the game can only be obtained by trading its pre-evolution (Kadabra) between two games using a link cable.

Tentacool is a water/poison-type Pokemon resembling a jellyfish, with two tentacles projecting from a blue body with two large red false eyes. It is very commonly encountered as a Pokemon when surfing on water, but is rather weak and undesirable.

Golem is a rock/ground-type Pokemon, the final evolution of the Geodude/ Graveler/Golem line. It features a spherical rock body with segmental rocks evoking tectonic plates. Its name refers to "golems" - mythical earth-based creatures. Similar to Alakazam, it can only be obtained by trading its pre-evolution (Graveler) between two games using a link cable.

Electrode is an electric-type Pokemon resembling an upside-down Pokeball
(a sphere with white on top and red on the bottom). It also evokes the real-life phenomenon of ball lightning.

Eevee is a unique normal-type Pokemon. Its design takes features from foxes, cats and dogs and was intended to be a blank slate from which multiple evolutions could be derived. It takes its name from the first two letters of "evolution". Its gimmick is its ability to evolve into multiple forms depending on environmental exposure. In Generation 1, it can be evolved into water type Vaporeon with a WaterStone, fire type Flareon with a FireStone, and electric type Jolteon with a ThunderStone.

Snorlax is a normal-type Pokemon with a large blue/white body. It may be based on hibernating bears, with a penchant for eating vast quantities of food, then taking a nap in inconvenient places. In the Generation 1 games it can be found sleeping and blocking progress on Routes 12 and 16, and can only be moved by playing a PokeFlute to wake it up.

Mewtwo is a legendary psychic-type Pokemon with only one copy available for capture in each save file. Its Pokedex entry states it was "created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments", referring to its origins from cloning and modification of the DNA of the ancient Pokemon Mew, hence the name Mew"Two".