So I thought, while the recent Pokémon games are on everyone's minds, I'd blog about nicknames.

I never used to nickname my Pokémon back in the days of G1 or G2. I only started in G3, when I decided on a whim to name my Sceptile "Katana". I don't think I nicknamed any of my others, and that's kind of a relief, considering what my Sceptile's nickname says about my naming skills at the time.

I didn't nickname my team in Pearl Version, and felt bad about it. So from HeartGold and SoulSilver onwards, I made it a point to nickname my party. Not right when I caught them; this time I wanted them to have names that meant something. After I was sure they'd be in my party for a while, I took them to the Name Rater and gave them nicknames based on their species, element, nature, characteristic, or any other factor that made me think a name would fit.

My party's nicknames were as follows:

• Typhlosion/"Prometheus" (After the Greek God who gave fire to humanity)
  
• Ampharos/"Svetlana" (I once met a girl named Svetlana, and thought it was a beautiful name. Derived from the Slavic word for "light")
  
• Golem/"Mason"(Derived from the profession of bricklaying. A common name for a somewhat common Pokémon)
  
• Xatu/"Miranda" (Created by Shakespeare for the heroine of "The Tempest". In Latin it essentially means "one who must be wondered at")
  
• Azumarill/"Santiago" (After the protagonist of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea")
  
• Victreebel/"Bluma" (Means "flower" in Yiddish)
  

I continued to nickname my Pokémon in Black Version. Their nicknames were:

• Serperior/"Adonis" (From the Semitic "Adonai", adopted by the Greeks as a mythological character whose blood became the mythical origin of the anemone flower)
  
• Simipour/"Gyatso" (From both the character in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the current Dalai Lama. This name literally means "sea")
  
• Chandelure/"Fyandor" (From an entry in the Lyttle Lytton Contest, a competition to think of the worst possible opening for a novel. One year's sub-contest had participants write a worst second line to Paul Clifford. The winning entry was as follows:

  It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. Steeling himself for battle, Fyandor, the oldest and bravest of the lamps, proclaimed, "Nay, foul wind, this will not be the night of our extinguishment!"

  I knew this was the perfect name for my Chandelure)
  
• Archeops/"Icarus" (After the mythological character who flew with the aid of wax wings but fell and died when he flew too close to the sun)
  
• Gallade/"Valentine" (After a character in the movie MirrorMask. Flamboyant, and wears a mask like the majority of characters)
  
• Forretress/"Stalin" (After the Soviet dictator. The name literally means "steel")
  

Gallade and Forretress replaced earlier members of my party:

• Munna/"Daniel" (After the Biblical figure who interpreted dreams, and the character in The Sandman who became the new king of dreams)
  
• Scolipede/"Ligeia" (After the eponymous character in the short story by Edgar Allen Poe. In the story, she writes the poem "The Conqueror Worm")
  

Now that I have Black 2, I need to get to naming my party once more. And this time, I decided I'd let you BZPowerites help me decide! So far I've decided on four:

• Samurott/"Tohru" (A variation on the Japanese "Toru" which can mean "sea")
  
• Lucario/"Moses" (After the Biblical prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt)
  
• Zebstrika/"Zecora" (After the wise zebra character from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic")
  
• Gardevoir/"Helena" (After the protagonist in MirrorMask. Ties in with "Valentine", above)
  

I'll consider any suggestions for the following:

1. Leavanny. Must be a female name. Preferably a name with a connection to either caretaking or fashion. Best if it fits with a Bashful nature.
   
2. NEW: Vibrava, soon to be Flygon. Adamant, likes to fight. So a warrior-related name would be good, preferably one related to the desert.
   

Think you can help? Feel free to comment! Note that I am not in any way required to use a name submitted to me. This is only so I can get ideas. I reserve the right to use a name of my own if I think of a better-fitting name than any submissions.

EDIT: And so far I haven't gotten any submissions! C'mon guys, I still need two names!