I watched through a video of how to pronounce each Pokémon’s name, just to sort of take stock of where my pronunciations sit against the official word. I don’t feel like it’s really worth mentioning instances where I maybe slightly deviate from the standard due to me being a wet-brain flesh man with a mellifluous, organically accented human voice as opposed to a stiff, robotic text-to-speech program, but here are the ones where I felt like I was more deliberately going against the grain:
The Nidoran family - I say Nih-do instead of Nee-do
Omastar - I say OH-ma-star instead of AH-ma-star. Interestingly though, I’m more naturally inclined to pronounce Omanyte the correct way (in line with the actual word ammonite).
Kabuto - On the other hand, I say KAH-boo-to here, instead of Kah-BOO-toh. I pronounce Kabutops the same way, with the emphasis on the first syllable.
Ariados - I say AHR-ee-a-dose, like the letter R, or like the musical term “aria,” instead of AIR-ee-a-dose. This name has always been very unintuitive to me, though, because I remember that for a long time, I pronounced it at Air-ee-AH-dose, and before that, I think I landed independently on the official pronunciation.
Nincada - I’m from a region where cicada is pronounced with a long A sound, so that’s how I came at Nincada. Nin-KAY-duh rather than Nin-KAH-duh.
Aron - Like with Ariados, I pronounce the first syllable like the letter R. R-on, rather than Air-on.
Zangoose - These ambiguous A sounds, man. I say ZAN-goose, rhyming with man, instead of ZAYN-goose.
Wormadam - I very deliberately and knowingly wrongly say Wor-MAD-uhm, instead of WOR-muh-dam. Like “madame,” obviously, because she’s female!
Mismagius - This is my buggest bugbear with an official pronunciation. Miss-MAG-ee-uss just sounds absolutely awful to me, and feels bad to say. Miss-MAY-juss, on the other hand, like “mage,” sounds cool and fits the Pokémon’s design theme.
Gabite and Gallade - Lumping these two together since it’s the same phenomenon; I say GAB-ite and GAL-ade instead of Guh-BITE and Guh-LADE. Gallade in particular I’m a bit of a stickler about since it presumably comes from gallant.
Pidove - I’ve always said this as PIH-dove rather than PEE-dove. I mean, it’s drawing from “pigeon,” no? Like Pidgey? (As weird as I’m now realizing it is to just mash up “pigeon” and “dove” to make a Pokémon name…)
Druddigon and Hydreigon - Again, lumping these together because it’s kind of the same thing, but this case is a little more complex. I think it’s weird that these are officially pronounced with the third syllable as “gun” rather than “gon,” because on the other hand, the official way to say Flygon, Bagon, and Shelgon isn’t FLY-gun, BAY-gun, and SHEL-gun. I get that in the case of the Unova dragons, it’s probably pulling from the pronunciation of “dragon,” but to me, the three dragons from Hoenn already established a sort of precedent. Consequently, I’ve pretty much always said High-DRY-gon, and I originally said Druddigon as DROO-dih-gon, but then switched to DRUHD-ih-gon when I read that the name was probably drawing from “ruddy.”
Skiddo - My second-biggest bugbear. I refuse to say Skih-DOO. Line in the sand. It’s SKIH-doh. Obviously. Like “kiddo.” If they wanted me to say Skih-DOO, then they should have spelled it with two Os.
Pangoro - I say Pan-GOR-oh, like I’m a Goron who just ended a sentence about cookware.
Clawitzer - I’m aware of the etymology on this one, but I just prefer the sound-to-look ratio of “claw” over “clow.”
Diancie - I say Di-ANN-see instead of Di-AHN-see.
Dewpider - I say Doo-PYE-derr instead of DOO-pih-derr.
Silvally - I say the back half like “valley.” I know that it’s supposed to be “ally” as in a companion, but my initial reading of the name locked onto “valley” and I haven’t really been able to decouple that.
Solgaleo - I say Sol-GAY-lee-oh rather than Sol-guh-LAY-oh. I used to say Sol-GAL-ee-oh, like how I say Gallade. I’m not really sure why I changed, but clearly I prefer the emphasis being on the second syllable in any case. I do think the official pronunciation sounds fine, though. I don’t have a gripe with it like I do with some others.
Runerigus - I say Roon-AIR-ee-guss. A three-syllable pronunciation just doesn’t feel right to me when looking at the word.
Morpeko - This one is signficant to me because I have a story to go with it. I initially read it as Mor-PEE-koh, and I think about a year and a half after SwSh came out, my wife and I were looking to adopt a new pair of guinea pigs. One of the two that we got had white fur with a brown spot on the right and a black spot on the left, which reminded me of Shiny Morpeko, and so I named her Morpeko, though we later shortened it to just Peko (which, amusingly, happens to be another Pokémon reference). Only later did I learn that the official pronunciation is Mor-PECK-oh, but now that our little Peko has since passed away, I’m inclined to keep saying Morpeko with the long E sound as a little memorial.
Dracozolt and Dracovish - I say both of these with a long A: DRAY-koh-xxxx. For some reason, whenever I’ve read “draco,” I’ve naturally interpreted it with a long A sound. (No, this tendency has nothing to do with Harry Potter — I’ve never read those books, and although I’ve seen the films, I’ve been saying “draco” this way since before then, lol.) Whereas when I look at, say, Drakloak, I read it as “drack.”
Zacian - I say ZAH-see-an instead of ZAH-she-an. To be honest, I don’t really understand where the SH sound is coming from in the official pronunciation — I know the name comes from “cyan,” but I’ve only ever heard that color pronounced as see-an or sigh-an. And I work in printing, so I hear it a fair amount!
Regieleki - I put the stress on the third syllable rather than the fourth, so I say Reh-jee-ELL-eh-kee instead of Reh-jee-ell-ECK-ee.
Glastrier - I gather that there’s some uncertainty as to what the official pronunciation for this one actually is? I say GLAY-stree-ur, because it is presumably drawing from “glacier.”
Wattrel (and Kilowattrel) - I say WAH-trell instead of WAHT-rel.
Omastar - I say OH-ma-star instead of AH-ma-star. Interestingly though, I’m more naturally inclined to pronounce Omanyte the correct way (in line with the actual word ammonite).
Kabuto - On the other hand, I say KAH-boo-to here, instead of Kah-BOO-toh. I pronounce Kabutops the same way, with the emphasis on the first syllable.
Ariados - I say AHR-ee-a-dose, like the letter R, or like the musical term “aria,” instead of AIR-ee-a-dose. This name has always been very unintuitive to me, though, because I remember that for a long time, I pronounced it at Air-ee-AH-dose, and before that, I think I landed independently on the official pronunciation.
Nincada - I’m from a region where cicada is pronounced with a long A sound, so that’s how I came at Nincada. Nin-KAY-duh rather than Nin-KAH-duh.
Aron - Like with Ariados, I pronounce the first syllable like the letter R. R-on, rather than Air-on.
Zangoose - These ambiguous A sounds, man. I say ZAN-goose, rhyming with man, instead of ZAYN-goose.
Wormadam - I very deliberately and knowingly wrongly say Wor-MAD-uhm, instead of WOR-muh-dam. Like “madame,” obviously, because she’s female!
Mismagius - This is my buggest bugbear with an official pronunciation. Miss-MAG-ee-uss just sounds absolutely awful to me, and feels bad to say. Miss-MAY-juss, on the other hand, like “mage,” sounds cool and fits the Pokémon’s design theme.
Gabite and Gallade - Lumping these two together since it’s the same phenomenon; I say GAB-ite and GAL-ade instead of Guh-BITE and Guh-LADE. Gallade in particular I’m a bit of a stickler about since it presumably comes from gallant.
Pidove - I’ve always said this as PIH-dove rather than PEE-dove. I mean, it’s drawing from “pigeon,” no? Like Pidgey? (As weird as I’m now realizing it is to just mash up “pigeon” and “dove” to make a Pokémon name…)
Druddigon and Hydreigon - Again, lumping these together because it’s kind of the same thing, but this case is a little more complex. I think it’s weird that these are officially pronounced with the third syllable as “gun” rather than “gon,” because on the other hand, the official way to say Flygon, Bagon, and Shelgon isn’t FLY-gun, BAY-gun, and SHEL-gun. I get that in the case of the Unova dragons, it’s probably pulling from the pronunciation of “dragon,” but to me, the three dragons from Hoenn already established a sort of precedent. Consequently, I’ve pretty much always said High-DRY-gon, and I originally said Druddigon as DROO-dih-gon, but then switched to DRUHD-ih-gon when I read that the name was probably drawing from “ruddy.”
Skiddo - My second-biggest bugbear. I refuse to say Skih-DOO. Line in the sand. It’s SKIH-doh. Obviously. Like “kiddo.” If they wanted me to say Skih-DOO, then they should have spelled it with two Os.
Pangoro - I say Pan-GOR-oh, like I’m a Goron who just ended a sentence about cookware.
Clawitzer - I’m aware of the etymology on this one, but I just prefer the sound-to-look ratio of “claw” over “clow.”
Diancie - I say Di-ANN-see instead of Di-AHN-see.
Dewpider - I say Doo-PYE-derr instead of DOO-pih-derr.
Silvally - I say the back half like “valley.” I know that it’s supposed to be “ally” as in a companion, but my initial reading of the name locked onto “valley” and I haven’t really been able to decouple that.
Solgaleo - I say Sol-GAY-lee-oh rather than Sol-guh-LAY-oh. I used to say Sol-GAL-ee-oh, like how I say Gallade. I’m not really sure why I changed, but clearly I prefer the emphasis being on the second syllable in any case. I do think the official pronunciation sounds fine, though. I don’t have a gripe with it like I do with some others.
Runerigus - I say Roon-AIR-ee-guss. A three-syllable pronunciation just doesn’t feel right to me when looking at the word.
Morpeko - This one is signficant to me because I have a story to go with it. I initially read it as Mor-PEE-koh, and I think about a year and a half after SwSh came out, my wife and I were looking to adopt a new pair of guinea pigs. One of the two that we got had white fur with a brown spot on the right and a black spot on the left, which reminded me of Shiny Morpeko, and so I named her Morpeko, though we later shortened it to just Peko (which, amusingly, happens to be another Pokémon reference). Only later did I learn that the official pronunciation is Mor-PECK-oh, but now that our little Peko has since passed away, I’m inclined to keep saying Morpeko with the long E sound as a little memorial.
Dracozolt and Dracovish - I say both of these with a long A: DRAY-koh-xxxx. For some reason, whenever I’ve read “draco,” I’ve naturally interpreted it with a long A sound. (No, this tendency has nothing to do with Harry Potter — I’ve never read those books, and although I’ve seen the films, I’ve been saying “draco” this way since before then, lol.) Whereas when I look at, say, Drakloak, I read it as “drack.”
Zacian - I say ZAH-see-an instead of ZAH-she-an. To be honest, I don’t really understand where the SH sound is coming from in the official pronunciation — I know the name comes from “cyan,” but I’ve only ever heard that color pronounced as see-an or sigh-an. And I work in printing, so I hear it a fair amount!
Regieleki - I put the stress on the third syllable rather than the fourth, so I say Reh-jee-ELL-eh-kee instead of Reh-jee-ell-ECK-ee.
Glastrier - I gather that there’s some uncertainty as to what the official pronunciation for this one actually is? I say GLAY-stree-ur, because it is presumably drawing from “glacier.”
Wattrel (and Kilowattrel) - I say WAH-trell instead of WAHT-rel.
I’m completely winging it with my phonetics transcriptions, and I don’t actually know how any of the Berry names are officially pronounced.
