One cool little feature found within Pokémon Sword and Shield is the way in which trainers have their very own jersey number, with players, rivals, and Gym Leaders all having their own numeric identities. It would be easy to assume that each character's number has been plucked out at random as there's no obvious link between them (to our western eyes, at least), but a common theme across all Leaders has been discovered.
That theme has been shared online by Twitter user @aevanko (thanks, GameXplain), who explains that the numbers are all wordplay jokes in Japanese. We did a little more digging on the topic and came across Goroawase, a common wordplay system in which Japanese speakers associate numbers with a series of letters. The system is apparently used in phone numbers amongst other things, where a dentist might feature a string of numbers which equates to "no cavities", for example.
As you can see, each Gym Leader has a code which relates to the type of Pokémon they use. In the replies to this tweet, @zessdesu notes that Bede's number of 908 also means 'kureba' (clever), Marnie's 960 is 'kurou' (hardship/bother), and Hop's 189 is 'hiyaku' (leaping).
Did you think there was any hidden meaning behind the jersey numbers? Which number did you go for and why? Let us know in the comments below.
[source twitter.com, via youtube.com]
Comments 37
That’s pretty cool and clever. Now I wish I knew earlier so that I could do the same for my character.
My number is 420 'cause I love Cherubi.
I chose 626 for Stitch from Lilo and Stitch of course. Lol But this is so cool. I wondered if there was a meaning like maybe the number in the dex of a Pokemon with the typing of the gym and such. This is cooler however.
I chose 69 for some complex and we'll thought out reason...
This article goes into more detail on goro awase: https://legendsoflocalization.com/goroawase-japanese-number-wordplay/
But yeah, this is the Japanese having fun with numbers!
My number is 13. 😏
Yes, Thirteen.
Thirteen is represent my year number i started my destiny to become Original gamer. (2013)
Thirteen was my student's number when i was Grade 12.
I oftenly draw capital letter B like number 13.
I picked 420 for obvious reasons
Meanwhile player's numbers are 666, 69, and 420.
@Anti-Matter
Well, as far as my limited knowledge goes, four is the unlucky number in eastern Asia anyway.
That surely applies to Japan, at least. Dunno about other Asian countries to be honest.
@AlexSora89 China as well.
My number is 316, based on my fiancée's birthday.
692 is the number I choose 😂😂😂😂😂
Mine is 233, Porygon2's dex number.
So if Luffy became a Pokemon trainer, he'd wear 56 (gomu)...
Players numbers are 666, 420, 69, a Pokédex number, or their birthdate.
Meanwhile, my birthdate is June 9, so the number I put on my jersey was 069...
I just picked my birth month and day
Any fellow 666'ers out there?
Mine was the first set of my first phone number I had that coincidentally was "NIN-TNDO" if you used the alpha codes on the phones.
@Krisi
In case I end up "sucking it up" - as I described the idea of a purchase elsewhere - I might go with either 309 (day and month, my girlfriend's birthday) or 816 (month and year, when we first met).
@Soulblade
That won't get you a Giratina, you jolly little servant of the Prince of Darkness.
Meanwhile...
Hi there. Just wanted to come by and mention my number is also 420. Sincerely a pot smoker who loves Nintendo
753 all over again
This is the second time I see goroawase.
First one was in the anime "Darling in the Franxx", where the characters' code number of the sum of a pair's numbers, may have a hidden meaning.
@Archius9 Happy Birthday for either 9th June or 6th September my man
i use , 777, God's number, the number of perfection, the total opposite of 666.
i can't believe people actually use 666. it is the mark of the beast, the number of man. you cannot buy or sell without this mark, people might think it is funny now, but wait until it becomes a reality, when you can no longer buy or sell anything without this mark, then you won't be laughing anymore.
@BlackTalon2 I actually chose 616.. which is the actual number of the beast. 666 is actually a deliberate mistranslation that has been kept in most modern versions of the bible.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast
That's not why I chose the number however, 616 also happens to be number of the main Marvel Universe.. pretty sure that makes my trainer canon.
Well, I’m an old man and had to google what 420 meant.
I used to use the number 88 in various first person shooters as an unofficial clan tag in homage to the Crazy 88 from Kill Bill, but sadly I learned that the neo-Nazi’s use 88 to show their support for Hitler. (H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and it stands for Heil you know who).
Stupid Nazis. I probably had people thinking I was one of them or something.
Anyways, now for this I will probably revert to 69 to avoid looking like an idiot... Oh, wait.
@DanteSolablood the number 666 is mentioned not just in the NT, but also in the OT, and that article mentioned nothing about the OT. Wikepedia is controlled by the SJWs, it is not a credible source of info on the real important stuff.
@ImagineerNik much appreciated!
I remember this thing, but last time, Twitter speculated the numbers for if a Nintendo Direct was on the horizon. Good times
I chose 40. Don't ask why . . . I don't know.
3. Because of Zelda and the Power of Three (Charmed)
My new favorite number is 242 (Pu-Yo-Tsū)!
I went with 024. It's both 420 inverted, and a joke on a Brazilian gambling number system ("jogo do bicho", "the beast's game") in which 24 is the deer and the deer is associated with femininity, thus 24 is a gay number (latin uber-machismo can get really, really weird)
Mine is 37 because Clerks
I ended up going with 23 (Michael Jordan), it was either that or 99 (Wayne Gretzky), as my jersey number. I figured if I'm gonna be the very best like no one ever was, I needed to go with one of the greatest of all-time numbers.
I chose 231 in my sword play though because it was the vault code to Dimitri safe in Sly Cooper to get the knock out dive move after acquiring 30 secret bottles. The number honestly grown on me since I was 9, In my shield play though I’m still debating on 000 or 001, since clearly we become the strongest trainer in every multiverse of the Galar region or even just 0 since Leon is 1
Tap here to load 37 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...