Riolu

A baby Pokémon with one unusual requirement

Riolu — リオル — is a Fighting-type baby Pokémon, introduced in Generation IV with Diamond and Pearl in 2006. It evolves into Lucario, and the condition is the part people remember: it has to level up with a high friendship value during the daytime. Not a stone, not a level, not a trade. It evolves because it likes you.

That mechanic is the reason the line has the reputation it does. A Pokémon that will only grow up if you treat it well is a small piece of design doing a lot of work, and it is why Riolu and Lucario turn up so often in lists of favourites. The whole evolutionary family is built around the idea of a bond.

Is Riolu a dog?

This is the question people actually type, and the honest answer is no. Riolu is a Pokémon; it is not any real animal, and it has no species. But the design is unmistakably canine — a jackal-like head, pointed ears, a muzzle, four legs and a tail — so the impression is not an accident.

What that design is based on is a different question, and it is one where the internet has run well ahead of the evidence. Lucario is very often described as being based on Anubis, the Egyptian jackal-headed god, and the resemblance is real. There is, however, no statement from the designers confirming it, and the claim circulates far more confidently than it is supported. Treat it as a reasonable guess rather than a fact.

Naming a dog after a Pokémon

ree-OH-loo. Three syllables, and four in the Japanese original if you count the way each mora is given its own weight. For a dog, three syllables is on the long side, and there is no obvious shortening: "Rio" is a different name, and using it puts you in a crowded field with every dog called Rio already at the park.

What the name does have is information. Anyone who knows the games will know exactly what you meant, and anyone who does not will hear a pleasant three-syllable word with no baggage at all. That is an unusually clean split — the reference lands on the people you meant it for. The obvious exception is a household with children, where naming the dog after a Pokémon is a decision you are about to make collectively whether you planned to or not.

See also: Eevee · Grogu · Goku · Ash

Common questions