Why is Azurill’s gender odd?
Most baby Pokémon match their family. Azurill does not, and in older games it could even flip.
Case status: Open. The games leave it unanswered, so nobody can say for sure.
What the games say
Pokémon games give each species a chance of being male or female. Marill and Azumarill are 50% male and 50% female. Azurill, the baby that grows into Marill, is 25% male and 75% female. Most families keep the same mix from baby to adult. This one doesn't.
Because the two mixes are different, older games sometimes changed an Azurill's gender when it grew up. A female Azurill had about a one in three chance of becoming a male Marill. Azurill is the only Pokémon known to do this. Newer games keep the gender the same when Azurill evolves.
What fans think
Fans worked out the maths themselves. Going from 75% female to 50% female means about a third of the females have to turn male, which matches what players saw.
Why Game Freak set it up this way is a guess. Most fans think it was a quirk that nobody expected to matter, added when Azurill came along in Generation 3 as a baby for the older Marill line.
Our verdict
Case status: Open
Open. How it works is clear: two different percentages and a hidden number. Why it was built that way is not explained by anyone at Game Freak that we could find.
What do you think?
Would you want every baby Pokémon to match its family?
- Yes, keep it simple
- No, quirks are fun
- I did not know this
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