News

You can now ask Siri your pressing Pokemon questions

What type of Pokemon is Blastoise?

You can now ask Siri your pressing Pokemon questions
|
iOS + 3DS
| Pokemon X / Pokemon Y

We've all been there.

Ace Trainer Anna is about to send out Nosepass, but we have no idea what type of critter Nosepass even is, and we don't know what elemental monster we should choose to gain the upper hand.

Now, you can ask the person to whom you put all your most pressing questions. Yep, iPhone virtual PA Siri.

Apple's digital assistant can now answer questions about 649 different Pokemon. Siri can also tell you their type, Pokedex number, evolutionary tree, natural abilities, and base stats (like hit points, speed and defence).

Siri owes its new Pokedex-style capabilities to computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha, which acts as one of the iOS secretary's sources.

Siri

The Wolfram Alpha team recently added data on most known 'mons (it will add the new Pokemon from X and Y soon) after it noticed in its server logs that Pokemon searches were popular.

Wolfram Alpha's Michael Feltes says: "Pokemon are an ideal subject for a computable knowledge engine. They have a set of well-defined characteristics with lots of numbers to which we can apply our analytic capabilities."

So, here are some questions you can now ask your iPhone:

  • What is Pikachu's type?
  • What species is Charmander?
  • Into what does Scyther evolve?
  • What percentage of Meowths are female?
  • What is the Pokemon with the highest special attack?
Siri Thanks to Andy Kelly for the tip.
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer