I was going to say straight to hell… 
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Not mispronounce but here as we speak another language we call some species a bit different, for example while in the US they call Gyarados like “geredos”, here it’s more like “jiarados”. And I don’t mispronounce a single Pokemon name, everyone else just pronounce it wrong.
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I had always done the same thing for Milotic because it is spelled like a Serbian surname. Having watched sports for so many years, you see a lot of Serbian players, so you get used to it. For example, there was a player in the NBA named Nikola Mirotic. His last name is pronounced “meer-oh-TICH.” So for that reason, I had always pronounced Milotic as “mee-lo-TICH.”
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Heh. Nice!
I always pronounced it ghee-ar-a-dos because that’s how James pronounced it in the animated, and it just stuck with me. Stadium I think combined the "ghee-ar* to ghir… such a complex name.
I also use japanese names sometimes, since that was my first introduction.
Hatsamu = Scizor and Rekuza = Rayquaza, for example.
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I love how you point it out on Patreon every time too
I remember there was one kid in elementary school that would always mispronounce ‘Psyduck’ as ‘pissy duck’.
My parents also used to call ‘Ho-oh’ as ‘Ho-ho’.
For the longest time I would pronounce ‘Smeargle’ as ‘sem-er-agle’. Seriously, don’t ask. Reading is hard.
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Seems no one else mentioned it, I used to call Kyogre, Kai-org instead of Kai-oo-gur.
I believe I used to call it that because the name was similar to the great bay temple boss in legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask, “gyorg”. As a kid I thought the names were very similar and as such, just rolled with it.
Oh, also the quintessential
Ray-kwa-za or ray-quay-za, I still can hardly decide.
And I am also on the ar-see-us side due to the Japanese pronunciation as well, ar-kee-us sounds dumb to me 
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I have always pronounced Dialga as “die-all-ga” instead of “dee-all-ga” and Palkia as “pal-kia” instead of “p-all-kia”
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I always default to Japanese style pronunciation if I have no idea how to say a character or Pokemon’s name since Japanese is phonetic. Sometimes the English pronunciation will override the way I say a Pokemon name though. For instance:
Raikou is Rhy-koh but in English we say Rhy-ku.
Entei is En-teh but in English we say En-tay.
Suicune is Sue-ee-ku-neh but in English we say Swee-coon.
English Pokemon use a lot of puns/portmanteaus (Celebi like Celery, Oranguru like Orangutan + guru, Decidueye like deciduous trees) so that approach to pronunciation takes priority over Japanese style pronunciation.
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Raikou is accurate. In Japanese it is ライコウ so it does have the elongated “koh” sound instead of “Koo”.
Entei in Japanese is the same as entei in English. The English spelling is the exact same as the characters in Japanese as well. It is spelled エンテイ that last イ is what turns the name from “teh” to “tay”. With テイ(tei) in Japanese it tends to form the same type of pronunciation as “tay”. It can be mildly distinct from that “tay” sound, but that’s only when you get deeper into Japanese study where it may matter.
Suicune is also the same in both as well, or at least very close. In Japanese it is spelled スイクン there isn’t a “ne” sound in the name. That last character ン is just a straight up “n” sound. So it should be pronounced phonetically as su-ee-ku-n, but we say swee-kuun with an elongated “u” sound. In Japanese the “u” sound should be quick.
Sorry if it sounds like I’m destroying your post. I don’t intend it to sound argumentative. Just kinda hard to correct without sounding like a know-it-all. I just figured the knowledge
could be helpful given the topic of the thread.
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Not offended, very informative! I actually never looked at the Japanese spellings of the legendary dogs, I just assumed they were direct romaji translations of the katakana/hiragana. Nor have I heard them spoken so I assumed the ‘ei’ in Entei was just a long e (like sensei). And I’m guessing they completely rewrote Suicune to help with English pronunciation. Interesting!
I’m not a native speaker so I’m curious what makes the ‘ei’ in Entei sound like ‘ay’. Can you elaborate? Doesn’t Entei come from 帝(tei - emperor)?
edit: I just realized all Pokemon names are written in katakana
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In Japanese lots of sounds get mixed together, much the same as in English. If you read something like ます(masu), phonetically “mah-su”, the “u” at the end is hardly ever pronounced.
Before I start the following explanation, just note that it’s very hard to describe without actually having some type of audio to accompany it. (Edit : Decided to find clips haha)
You’re correct that Sensei is more or less the same. But it is often shortened as well just because it’s easier and it’s such a common word. Probably the most similar example to entei’s, but with different characters, is something like てんのう(tennou), meaning emperor. That のう(nou) part actually has a very slight “u” sound that tends to be quickly voiced. And to most listeners it may just sound like an elongated “ooh” sound. However, if you pay close attention though, it is actually pronounced “noo-u” not every speaker does this though, so it’s not a perfect science. It might be generational, as in older generations are more likely to follow the stricter pronunciation whereas younger generations prefer to shorten the words.
Entei is the same. That tei tends to sound like tay to foreign listeners, but it is more close to “te-i” that “i” at the end tends to be subtle and is often overlooked. 【想像以上】理論上最強構築を1匹で倒せる『エンテイ』を使ったら結構強かったわｗｗｗ【ポケモン剣盾】 - YouTube (0:53 seconds)
This guy completely skips the “i” sound. And just says “ente”
In this clip 【公式】ポケモンジェネレーションズ エピソード6：再生 - YouTube (2:35ish) you can hear it’s a little bit longer of a pronunciation. Closer to the “tay” in English. If you REALLY closely listen you can hear a slight uptick of the speakers “e” that shifts into and “I” at the last second. Replay it a handful of times if needed.
Edit: forgot to mention, the reason for the important distinction is that some words sound similar but are actually drastically different words. For example
おばあさん(obaasan) grandmother
Vs
おばさん (obasan) aunt
That slight lengthening is crucial for the meaning of the word. With Pokémon names it’s not as crucial, but I’ve definitely had moments where I didn’t elongate a syllable and people looked at me with quizzical faces haha!
I hope that makes things a little more into perspective without being too wordy haha! My descriptions may be tough to follow, so it’s probs best to just watch the clips.
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Always LOVE your posts! 
And now I want a Legends style game in Jhoto, about ecruteak city.
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Clips were very useful. But to me it still sounds like a long e (teh not tay)! But you’re totally right that there is a hint of the ‘i’ in it if you listen closely. It feels like its somewhere in the middle. But I definitely trust you since you live in Japan. Thanks!
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Yeah, it can be confusing. And as I said, it’s not super crucial. It only really matters when you get to higher levels. At beginner, no one expects you to know those slight differences, and most people don’t really care. Japanese is already a super contextual language so people are good at deciphering intended meanings.
I edited the previous post as well with another example as to why it’s useful to know that there can be differences in elongation in Japanese.
@xileets thanks for the kind words! I agree with that sentiment too! Let’s just pray that that style of gameplay continues to exist and improve!
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As a kid these were some of my worst offenders:
Tangela
I would always say “Tan-jellah”
Omanyte
I’d say “Oh-manatee” instead of “oman-ite”
Gyarados
I’d say “Gy-ra-doss” instead of “-dose”
Somewhere I have heard Magnemite said as Magne-me-tay and was hella confused. Maybe it was a joke because I swear in the anime it was pronounced the same as might lol
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Those darn latin vowels… 
In my head, Alomomola’s name pronunciation never registered and still trips me up, I keep wanting to call it “Alolamola” instead of just feeling my brain slow down when I have to read its name. :') Maybe that would’ve been a fun name if it was from Gen 7.
ALSO WHY ISN’T IT A LUVDISC EVOLUTION? That’s the second most confusing part about it.
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