Alakazam may also refer to a magic word. This article is about the Pokémon species named after this word.

Alakazam (フーディン, Fūdin, Foodin in original Japanese language versions) is one of Template:Pokenum fictional species of Pokémon in the Pokémon franchise. Alakazam's name is a common word in magicians' parlance. In fact, the whole evolutionary line is a pun on the phrase "Abracadabra Alakazam!" (Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam make up this evolutionary family.) Alakazam's Japanese name, Foodin, is a reference to either the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin or his namesake, Harry Houdini.

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Alakazam is vaguely fox-like in appearance, although it loses the thick tail it once possessed as Kadabra (which might explain why it is 19 pounds lighter than Kadabra). It stands on two legs and always holds two silver spoons - this can be taken as a reference to psychic Uri Geller, who can allegedly bend spoons with the power of his mind. (For the controversy involving Geller and Pokémon, see Kadabra.) As seen in Pokémon: The Movie, these spoons bend due to an extremely powerful psychic attack from the antagonist, Mewtwo. Parts of Alakazam's body are brown, but its predominant colouring is gold. Alakazam wears a long gold moustache - nonetheless, some Alakazam are female, though in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, females have dramatically smaller moustaches, while the males have longer ones.

Alakazam's brain is the most powerful of any Pokémon, with an IQ said to be in excess of 5,000. It can outperform a supercomputer and memorize anything that it sees. It is able to calculate a great deal of information in order to gain the advantage over its opponent. (Compare with Metagross.) However, its large brain is too heavy to be held up by its neck and shoulders, so Alakazam must use its psychic powers to keep its head aloft. In fact, its muscles are far underdeveloped, so Alakazam uses its psychic powers to move parts of its body. This makes Alakazam's frail body its weakness, but often it does not need to worry because its mental powers can thoroughly defeat most Pokémon before they can attack.

When it closes its eyes, all of its other senses are heightened dramatically, which is its cue for attack, as seen when using Calm Mind, one of its attacks.

Alakazam possesses the largest intelligence among all the common Pokémon (that are not legendaries). It holds two metal spoons that increase its psychic powers, a reference to the spoon bending phenomenon.

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Alakazam must be evolved from a Kadabra by trading it to another Pokémon game. It will evolve immediately once the trade is completed.

Alakazam is a popular Psychic-type Pokémon, known for extremely high Special Attack (which is tied non-legendary wise with PorygonZ), high Speed, and a wide movepool. It can take on a wide range of opponents for this reason. It is often compared to fellow stage-2 Psychic-type Gardevoir for battling prowess. In the third generation it was popular because of its special punching (including fire, ice and thunder punch), yet when the new battle system in Diamond and Pearl was introduced, it lost power since it would now need high attack to use the three moves correctly.

Strangely enough, Alakazam can learn the Steel-type move "Iron Tail" through a TM, even though it no longer has a tail, unlike its previous forms.

Alakazam is the leader of a gold-ranked rescue team in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. His team is made up of himself, Charizard and Tyranitar. He is the first to suspect that the main character is the cause for the natural disasters, and believes that the only solution is to eliminate the character (and his/her partner, for that matter). Later, after Ninetales clears the protagonist's name, Alakazam's team goes underground to quell the mighty Groudon, but fails later on and is rescued by the player. He also helps the protagonist, along with Xatu's help, to get to Sky Tower to get Rayquaza's help after hearing about a meteor that may destroy the world.

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Alakazam has not had any prominent roles in the continuity of the Pokémon animé and movies. It was glimpsed once as a Pokémon attempting to battle Mewtwo at the Viridian City Gym, both owned by Giovanni, in Pokémon: The First Movie. Alakazam's spoons were bent by Mewtwo's psychic powers and thrown against the wall, knocking him out. Another role involved a giant Alakazam battling a giant Gengar in episode 74, "The Ancient Puzzle of Pokemopolis". This episode is also the first to feature Alakazam on Ash's pokedex. Luana, the Gym Leader of Kumquat Island, used an Alakazam along-side a Marowak against Ash in a Gym Battle.

Anabel, the second most powerful Frontier Brain next to Brandon, has an Alakazam.

Alakazam was also featured in the first episode of the NA dubbed Battle Frontier episodes, where he and a multitude of psychic Pokemon are left behind in an old miner town with some rival Ghost Pokemon. Alakazam is seen many times, but the "main role" of the episode is Abra's.

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Alakazam has had six cards:

• Base Set
• TeamRocket (as Dark Alakazam)
• Gym Challenge (as Sabrina's Alakazam)
• Expedition
• Skyridge
• EX: Crystal guardians (as a Pokemon STAR)

Alakazam was one of the most popular Psychic-type cards in the early stages of the game. Its original appearance in Base Set sported the Damage Swap Pokémon Power, which allowed any damage on the player's side of the field to be arranged in any way. Alakazam made a potent defensive combo with the original Chansey in the same set.

References

• The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Publications

• Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
• Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
• 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

External links

• Official Pokémon website
• Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki) ’s article about Alakazam as a species
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• Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
• PsyPoke - Alakazam Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
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