Pokémon Go screenshot of Bulbasaur

For a long time this week’s Thursday quiz had been scheduled to be loosely themed around Pokémon, with 12 questions all tenuously tied to the names of the beloved little pocket monsters. However, with the sad news on Tuesday of the death of Rachael Lillis, who for years voiced Misty and Jessie among other beloved characters in the anime series, the timing became even more apposite, and an opportunity to pay tribute to someone who bought great joy to the Pokémon world for many years. Rest well Rachael.

The Thursday quiz, No 173 – Pokémon week

  1. 1.Bulbasaur is Pokémon #0001 in the Pokédex, and is a grass and poison type. Which poison is sometimes said to smell of bitter almonds?

  2. 2.Charmeleon is #0005 in the Pokédox. Who wrote Culture Club’s worldwide smash hit Karma Chameleon?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Charmeleon

  3. 3.Blastoise is #0009 in the Pokédex. The largest human-made blast was detonated in October 1961, with a force estimated to be 3,800 times greater than that used at Hiroshima. Who detonated it?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Blastoise

  4. 4.Butterfree is #0012 in the Pokédex, and the episode Bye Bye Butterfree, in which Ash releases it, is one of the most emotionally scarring pieces of art made in the 20th century. But when was “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” launched as a product?

    A Pokémon Go screenshot of Butterfree

  5. 5.Beedrill is #0015 in the Pokédex. There are about 20,000 different species of bee in the world. How many of them – roughly – are native to the US?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Beedrill

  6. 6.Exeggutor is #0103 in the Pokédex, and appears to be a walking palm tree that grows eggs with faces instead of coconuts. That’s Pokémon for you. But which came first, the chicken or the egg?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Exeggutor

  7. 7.This is a picture of Mew, #0151 in the Pokédex. Particle physics is incredibly complicated, so to make it simpler, scientists use Greek letters to describe it. Which of these – PUN ALERT – is the symbol for the muon mass?

    Screenshot from Pokémon Go of Mew

  8. 8.Easily the worst Pokémon is Mr Mime, #0122 in the Pokédex. What was the name of the character that Marcel Marceau famously played in his mime act?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Mr Mime

  9. 9.Unown is a psychic type Pokémon, Pokédex number #0201, that comes in 28 different forms, all uncannily resembling letters and punctuation. Probably the kind of symbols used in the famous complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir. What commodity is the world’s oldest known customer complaint about?

    A Pokémon Go screenshot of Unown

  10. 10.Smeargle is #0235 in the Pokédex, and sounds very much like Sméagol, the original name of Gollum in Lord of the Rings. But what is the name of Sméagol’s friend, whom Sméagol murders to get hold of the One Ring when his friend finds it in the River Anduin?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Smeargle

  11. 11.Piplup is a penguin-like Pokémon that is #0393 in the Pokédex. Where does the children’s animation Pingu come from?

    Screenshot from Pokémon Go of Piplup

  12. 12.This is Quaxly, a starter Pokémon in the Paldea region and a whopping #0912 in the Pokédex. What do ducks eat?

    Pokémon Go screenshot of Quaxly

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, or several missing regular in-jokes, you will have to keep it to the comments, as the quiz master is otherwise occupied. Why not enjoy the official Magikarp song instead? At least until Pidgeotto carries it away …

The official Pokémon Magikarp song


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