Pokémonis no stranger to referencing other major anime series, particularlyNaruto. Its most blatant and bizarre reference, however, took place during theSun & Moonera, with a character named Pikala.
Pikala was a trainer who was obsessed with Pikachu in particular. She not only dressed like a Pikachu, but owned dozens of Pikachu and lived in an area known as Pikachu Valley. She even had a shiny Pikachu with a pompadour, known as The Boss, who helped to defend the valley from Team Rocket when they attempted to steal the Pikachu. Pikala would later appear again inthe Battle Royale round of the Alola League, where she would bring a very distinctive Pikachu as her primary combatant–one known in English as “Bolt.” That translated name doesn’t provide the whole story, however.
Pikala’s Pikachu is a Walking Boruto Reference
“Bolt” Has a Closer Tie to Boruto Than You Might Think
The Japanese romanization of the English word “Bolt” would actually be read as “Bo-ru-to”, since there is no distinction between r and l sounds in Japanese.Thus, “Bolt” in Japanese is spelled the exact same way as Naruto’s son’s name, Boruto. The anime was well aware of this fact, and gave Bolt the Pikachu a distinctive hairstyle that looks exactly like Boruto’s hair from that series. Pikala’s Bolt didn’t fair too well in the tournament, hilariously enough. Bolt was taken out by Jessie’s Mimikyu, and only managed to eliminate one opponent, a Magikarp, before that happened.
Boruto/Bolt the Pikachu just doesn’t seem particularly well-trained for battle, with its only known move being Electro Ball. It’s not clear if this was meant to be some kind of slam againstBorutoor just a reference, but either way, it’s a confusing one.Pokémonisn’t produced by the same studio asBorutoor anything like that, so there’s no clear reason why the series would referenceNaruto. It isn’t the first time, though; inXY,Ash visited a hidden ninja villagethat was extremely reminiscent ofNaruto, and it even helped his Greninja to evolve.
Why Did Pokémon Reference Boruto, Anyway?
The Most Likely Answer is a Coincidence
There’s no clear reason whyPokémonwould choose to shout outBorutoat this point; it’s likely that someone simply noticed the naming coincidence of Bolt/Boruto, and that led to the Pikachu’s design referencing Boruto’s own hairstyle. They weren’t particularly concerned if the reference still made sense in other languages, leaving it so that the reference was most down to Bolt’s appearance in localized versions.
It’s pretty rare for Pokémon to be nicknamed with references in thePokémonanime. Another notable referenceinSun & Moonis Horacio’s “Red Comet” Charjabug, which is a reference to Char Aznable fromMobile Suit Gundam. Often, though, nicknames simply reflect attributes of the Pokémon, such as Lillie’s Alolan Vulpix, Snowy, or are diminutives of their names, such as James' Growlithe, Growlie. Nicknames could certainly have been used as references more, so one must wonder: why didPokémonreferenceBorutospecifically? The world may never know.
