When Nintendo first revealed Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon earlier this year, they made sure to mention that the game would be available in nine languages. Two of those nine languages that the new Pokemon games will support are Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
While this meant that the game could be played by fans across all of China, it has also resulted in a change to one of the series most iconic characters: Pikachu.
According to Quartz (via GameRant), the issue stems from the different dialects of Chinese in China. The official language of Hong Kong is Cantonese, but the new Pokemon names are based on Mandarin.
“Pikachu was originally translated as 比卡超 (Bei-kaa-chyu) in Hong Kong. Now it is named 皮卡丘 (Pikaqiu). While the name 皮卡丘 in Mandarin sounds similar to the global name Pikachu (as it was always called in China and Taiwan), it reads as Pei-kaa-jau in Cantonese, which doesn’t sound the same at all.”
A result of this name change has been protests in Hong Kong by fans demand their Pokemon names be returned and holding up banners that read: “No Pei-kaa-jau, give me back Bei-kaa-chyu.”
It seems as though the protesters are using the name change as a way to bring attention to their other cause, the protection of the Cantonese language. Hong Kong citizens believe that Cantonese is being pushed out of the schooling system and replaced by Mandarin, a push they have already protested against.
Nintendo hasn't commented on the name change for Pikachu, but it's unlikely that the game will be overhauled to appease these fans.
Pokemon Sun and Moon are set to release on the 3DS on November 18, 2016.
