Pokémon/Etymology

Much as happens with many other, the Japanese name for the series, Pocket Monsters, became contracted into "Pokémon" during the development of the original games, likely as much for convenience when referring to it as to save on screen real estate, considering the small size of the Game Boy's screen. The official romanization of "Pokémon" at this time was derived from the contraction of Pocket and Monster, and can be seen explicitly in Primeape Goes Bananas, even in the dub.

The "Pokémon" name used today came about during the translation of the games for an English audience during 1997 and 1998. Whereas in Japan, Pocket Monsters was easily able to be trademarked, the release in the United States would prove difficult had this name been used, due to the unrelated franchise. Thus, an alternate romanization of the contraction was used, with an over the e to indicate its specific pronunciation, poh-kay-mohn. Despite this issue, however, the fact that Pokémon is short for Pocket Monsters has been referenced in English, with an NPC in asking the player what Pokémon is short for after thinking about the name of the Pokétch, itself a contraction, as well as on the back of the DVD set containing the first, second, and third s.