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Mudkip (ミズゴロウ, Mizugorō, Mizugorou in original Japanese language versions) are one of the Template:Pokenum fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar Pokémon media franchise – a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. Mudkip are one of the three species of Pokémon players can choose from at the beginning of the Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire and Pokémon Emerald games in the Pokémon series. The purpose of Mudkip in the games, anime and manga, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both wild Pokémon, untamed creatures encountered while the player passes through various environments, and tamed Pokémon owned by Pokémon trainers.

Mudkip's name is a portmanteau of mud, being a surrounding of its natural habitat, and Kip, which refers to Skip, relating to a the Mudskipper, the fish it resembles. It also resembles an axolotl. Its Japanese name, Mizugorou, is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for water (水, mizu) and mudskipper (鯥五郎, mutsugorō). The name Mudkip refers to both the overall species, and to individual Mudkip within the games, anime and manga series. Japanese Anime Room 6 FTW!

In the Pokémon anime

The Pokémon anime series and films are a set of adventures separate from most other versions of Pokémon, featuring Ash Ketchum as the main character, and various companions that accompany him through the lands of Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. During the Hoenn adventures, Brock, a Pokémon breeder and former Gym leader who travels with protagonist Ash Ketchum, obtains a Mudkip in Dewford Town during Episode 301. "A Mudkip Mission". As Ash and his companions climb a waterfall, they come across a group of young Mudkip, Brock rescues a young Mudkip from being washed away in a stream. Brock then conveys to Ash his love of Mudkip. Brock's Lotad and Mudkip work together to defeat Team Rocket, at which point the Mudkip decides to join Brock's team.

Mudkip's primary role is to assist Brock during water related situations, such as searching for objects in the ocean, such as an Illumise and a pearl belonging to a Spoink. Mudkip also guides the Pokémon when Brock, Ash and May aren't around. It evolves into Marshtomp during Episode 425, entitled "Chip Off The Old Brock!".

A separate Mudkip also appears in Episode 281 "In the Knicker of Time!", when the group meet a trainer called Nicolai, a young trainer, who is training his first Pokémon, Mudkip, which later defeats May's Torchic in a battle. Nicolai connects with his Pokémon in battle by dressing up in a suit resembling his Pokémon, wearing both Mudkip and Zigzagoon outfits in the episode.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

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Ruby, the male protagonist in Pokémon Adventures during the arc based off of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, obtains a Mudkip named Zuzu as his Starter Pokémon from Professor Birch. Ruby is a Pokémon coordinator, a person who uses their Pokémon for contests rather than battles, and uses Zuzu in those contests. Zuzu evolved into a Marshtomp unexpectedly while Ruby was in Slateport City, and again into a Swampert, while training near Fortree City. Zuzu was first used to battle in "Chapter 183 VS. Torchic", against Sapphire, his rival in the manga.

In the Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game first published by Wizards of the Coast in North America, in 1999. The concept is similar to that of a Pokémon battle in the video games in that each player takes turns to hit the opponent's Pokémon. In the card game, Mudkip is a Water-type Basic pokémon, just like its video game counterparts. As a basic pokémon, it can be played in a battle, as the competitions of the card game are called, without the use of a special card. If the player has a Marshtomp card in their hand, they can play it on top of the Mudkip card, which is the card game's equivalent of evolving.

Mudkip has appeared several times in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It has appeared in the sets EX Ruby & Sapphire (two different cards), EX Dragon, and EX Emerald. It also appears in EX Team Rocket Returns, but as "Mudkip Star". This card is different to the other Mudkip cards, in that fact that it is rarer than the rest of the cards in the set.

One rule when playing with Star cards — including Mudkip Star from the EX Team Rocket Returns set — is that Pokémon with significant terms in their titles (often used to denote Pokémon that are all part of one set) can only evolve into Pokémon that also share this term. Though there is no mention on how to evolve Star Pokémon, if the rule for other suffixes is followed, Mudkip Star could only be replaced by a Marshtomp card with Star in its title — a card which, at this point, does not exist. However, since players can only have one "Pokémon Star" card in their deck, then they couldn't evolve Mudkip Star into Marshtomp Star. This makes Star cards somewhat impractical, since they cannot be upgraded from their Basic stage state; they are primarily savoured for their rarity instead. The "Shining Pokémon" cards from the Wizards version, on which the Star cards are based, get around this problem by treating the evolved versions as Basic Pokémon.

Popular culture

Mudkip is often used as reference to the phrase "so i herd yuo liek mudkips". This refers to a story that someone wrote referring to the molestation of a Mudkip plushie by a mentally handicapped child, causing mass riots and fighting. In the end. the phrase that was to be remembered was "so i herd yuo liek mudkips". In mid-2006, Mudkip started to be mentioned in various internet communities such as 4chan, YTMND, Gaiaonline, and Encyclopedia Dramatica as an Internet meme. It consists of the question "so i herd yuo liek mudkips," "so do u liek mudkips?" or other variants, which is sometimes followed with the reply "i luuuuv mudkips!" This Internet meme was spawned from a comment on deviantART, which intended to invite people to join a Pokémon group. This comment was later copied into 4chan's boards and quickly erupted.

Notes

• The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Publications

• Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Ruby Version & Sapphire Version Player's Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 2003. ISBN 1-930206-31-3
• Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player's Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
• Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector's Edition: Prima's Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
• Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player's Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5

References

1. "Pokemon Franchise Approaches 150 Million Games Sold". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2006-02-28.
2. "Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire Review (page 1)". Ign.com . {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessedate= ignored (help)
3. "Pokemon Dream :: PokeDex (258 Mudkip)". pokedream.com. Retrieved 2006-05-29.
4. "Synopsis of Pokémon Anime; Episode 301 - A Mudkip Mission". Serebii.net. Retrieved 2006-06-04.
5. "Synopsis of Pokémon Anime; Episode 318 - Love At First Flight". Serebii.net. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
6. "Synopsis of Pokémon Anime Episode 355 - Pearls Are a Spoink's Best Friend". Serebii.net. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
7. "Synopsis of Pokémon Anime; Episode 425 - Chip Off The Old Brock!". Serebii.net. Retrieved 2006-05-29.
8. "Synopsis of Pokémon anime; Episode 281. In the Knicker of Time!". Serebii.net. Retrieved 2006-06-18.
9. "Synopsis of Pokémon Adventures Manga; Chapter 183. VS. Torchic". Serebii.net. Retrieved 2006-05-29.
10. "List of Mudkip's Pokémon Trading Card Game appearances". Psypokes.com. Retrieved 2006-06-18.
11. ^ "Trading Card information of Mudkip Star". Shuffleandcut.com. Retrieved 2006-06-18.
12. "Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook on Illegal Evolutions". Pokémon-tcg.com. Retrieved 2006-04-13.