I’m Luke Summerhayes and I love Okidogi.
In the classic Japanese fairy tale of Momotaro – about which we’ll be hearing much more in the coming weeks – the boy hero is joined on his quest by three animal companions. The first of these is a dog, who in some tellings attempts to rob Momotaro but the hero wins his respect and shares his rations, while in the common child-friendly versions the dog is immediately friendly and offers to join Momotaro in exchange for his dango – more about that later too.
The animal companions of Momotaro don’t have individual names. One of the possible regions of Japan claimed as the setting of the story is Inuyama, near Nagoya – a name which means dog mountain. The mountain and the castle atop it are still there, but the story behind that name is lost to time, so perhaps it was named after the legendary hero’s dog.
Okidogi is the first of the so-called Loyal Three, a trio of Legendary Pokémon inspired by Momotaro’s animal companions. Our first impression of it comes from a power-ranger-esque festival mask, a shrine and various artwork, giving the impression of a superhero. When we finally meet the monster, the story is a little different.
Okidogi is a poison and fighting type, a hulking, muscular humanoid with a dog’s face and smug grin. It wears a purple chain as a neckerchief, and this is key to its ability Toxic Chain, allowing a 30% chance of poisoning on ALL physical attacks.
Scarlet
After all its muscles were stimulated by the toxic chain around its neck, Okidogi transformed and gained a powerful physique.
Violet
Okidogi is a ruffian with a short temper. It can pulverize anything by swinging around the chain on its neck.

Kitakami is nowhere near the real-world Inuyama, instead being based on the Northernmost regions of Japan’s main island of Honshu. The prefecture of Akita is found in this area, home to the dog breed of the same name. Often seen wearing fetching neckerchiefs, Okidogi resembles one of these lovable dogs, especially when in its white-and-cream shiny form.
The name Okidogi is of course a pun on the phrase Okey dokey, and the word Dog. The Japanese name Iineinu combines Inu, dog, with II ne, which best translates to “yeah, yeah, right.” Both these names hint to Okidogi’s place as a yes-man; it and the other two of the loyal three have the species name “retainer Pokémon”, a hint that another mythical Pokémon may be lurking behind the scenes.
We’ll delve deeper into the in-game lore and the myths which inspired them over the coming weeks, but for now we can appreciate that a generation with multiple new dogs, and a region with so many dogs overall, in a game where one dog was key to a heartwarming story, its nice to add a dog Legendary Pokémon.
Music for Luke Loves Pokémon is composed by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork for the show is by Katie Groves. Writing, Producing and Editing is by me, Luke Summerhayes. Funding is provided by my lovely listeners. If you’d like to join them, to help keep the show online and find other podcasts by me and my pals, head over to Patreon.com/PodcastioPodcastius.
Coming up are Munkidori and Fezandipiti, so if you thoughts about those or any other monsters, hit me up with a DM @LukeLovesPKMN or an email to LukeLovesPKMN@Gmail.com. And of course, I’d love if you could leave a 5-star rating and review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much just for listening.
I love Okidogi. And remember. I love you too.