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'Pokemon Sun and Moon' news 2016: Nintendo issues statement about Chinese pronounciation of Pikachu

Promotional image for Nintendo's game "Pokken Tournament" | Facebook/Nintendo

"Pokemon" fans in Hong Kong started protests last week over changes that Nintendo was supposedly making to the Chinese names of Pokemon.

Fans became upset over the new Chinese versions of "Pokemon Sun and Moon" that supported a unified translation using the Mandarin names of some "Pokemon" characters over the Cantonese names. The Cantonese versions of the names were the ones used in "Pokemon" merchandise and the ones by which the "Pokemon" characters were known in the region.

In addition, many "Pokemon" fans in Hong Kong took the unified translations as an affront to the Cantonese language. There are those in Hong Kong who fear that the language, as well as the city's culture, are being threatened by those of mainland China.

Following various protests about the proposed name change, Nintendo's Hong Kong office released an official statement about the backlash in an attempt to soothe fans' fears.

According to Nintendo, it was not the company's intention to limit the pronunciations of the "Pokemon" characters' names to a specific language. Instead, it had only hoped to create a uniform translation that would allow future games to cross language barriers.

Nintendo also emphasized that Pikachu's name in Cantonese should be pronounced "Pee-ka-chu" (its universal pronounciation) and not "Pei-kaa-jau."

Reader VZ Blade of the Nintendo Everything blog provided a translation of Nintendo's statement. It read, in part, "We understand the unfamiliarity caused by changes in the pronunciation of some Pokémon."

"Even though Pokémon Sun/Moon's content cannot be change," the company said, "the inclusion of the Chinese language is a meaningful first step. We truly hope that this franchise will reach greater accomplishments, and please continue your support and encouragement."

In addition, Nintendo announced that it is delaying its Pokemon National Championship for Greater China, which is set to take place in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Kotaku reports that Pikachu may not be the most well-loved of all Pokemon after all. According to the website, a general election between all 720 Pokemon has yielded some interesting results. The election, which was recently held in Japan, revealed the country's top five favorite Pokemon.

The top five winners were:

5 - Sylveon

4 - Pikachu

3 - Mew

2 - Arceus

1 - Greninja