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Some of the Pokemon-Species flavor_text_entries are not in chronological order. #1488

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Description

@HybridShivam

For many pokemon-species the flavor_text_entries array is not in the correct sequence for example:
This happens randomly with different versions coming to the top of the list for random pokemon-species.
Example: for pokemon-species/solrock

Image

I store the data for my offline pokedex-app
I previously fetched this on 1st April, 2026.

{
"v": "ruby",
"e": "SOLROCK is a new species of POKéMON\nthat is said to have fallen from space.\nIt floats in air and moves silently.\fIn battle, this POKéMON releases\nintensely bright light."
},
{
"v": "sapphire",
"e": "Sunlight is the source of SOLROCK’s\npower. It is said to possess the ability\nto read the emotions of others.\fThis POKéMON gives off intense heat\nwhile rotating its body."
},
{
"v": "emerald",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of this \nPOKéMON’s power. On sunny days, groups of\nSOLROCK line up facing the sun and absorb\nits light."
},
{
"v": "firered",
"e": "It absorbs solar energy during the day.\nAlways expressionless, it can sense what\nits foe is thinking."
},
{
"v": "leafgreen",
"e": "It absorbs solar energy during the day.\nAlways expressionless, it can sense what\nits foe is thinking."
},
{
"v": "diamond",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "pearl",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "platinum",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "heartgold",
"e": "When it rotates itself, it gives off\nlight similar to the sun, thus\nblinding its foes."
},
{
"v": "soulsilver",
"e": "When it rotates itself, it gives off\nlight similar to the sun, thus\nblinding its foes."
},
{
"v": "black",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "white",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "black-2",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power,\nso it is strong during the daytime.\nWhen it spins, its body shines."
},
{
"v": "white-2",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power,\nso it is strong during the daytime.\nWhen it spins, its body shines."
},
{
"v": "x",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power,\nso it is strong during the daytime.\nWhen it spins, its body shines."
},
{
"v": "y",
"e": "It absorbs solar energy during the day. Always\nexpressionless, it can sense what its foe is thinking."
},
{
"v": "omega-ruby",
"e": "Solrock is a new species of Pokémon that is said to have fallen\nfrom space. It floats in air and moves silently. In battle, this\nPokémon releases intensely bright light."
},
{
"v": "alpha-sapphire",
"e": "Sunlight is the source of Solrock’s power. It is said to possess\nthe ability to read the emotions of others. This Pokémon gives\noff intense heat while rotating its body."
},
{
"v": "sword",
"e": "When it rotates itself, it gives off light similar to\nthe sun, thus blinding its foes."
},
{
"v": "shield",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power, so it is\nstrong during the daytime. When it spins, its\nbody shines."
}

But today, I fetched again the order is disturbed:

{
"v": "white-2",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power,\nso it is strong during the daytime.\nWhen it spins, its body shines."
},
{
"v": "ruby",
"e": "SOLROCK is a new species of POKéMON\nthat is said to have fallen from space.\nIt floats in air and moves silently.\fIn battle, this POKéMON releases\nintensely bright light."
},
{
"v": "sapphire",
"e": "Sunlight is the source of SOLROCK’s\npower. It is said to possess the ability\nto read the emotions of others.\fThis POKéMON gives off intense heat\nwhile rotating its body."
},
{
"v": "emerald",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of this \nPOKéMON’s power. On sunny days, groups of\nSOLROCK line up facing the sun and absorb\nits light."
},
{
"v": "firered",
"e": "It absorbs solar energy during the day.\nAlways expressionless, it can sense what\nits foe is thinking."
},
{
"v": "leafgreen",
"e": "It absorbs solar energy during the day.\nAlways expressionless, it can sense what\nits foe is thinking."
},
{
"v": "diamond",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "pearl",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "platinum",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "heartgold",
"e": "When it rotates itself, it gives off\nlight similar to the sun, thus\nblinding its foes."
},
{
"v": "soulsilver",
"e": "When it rotates itself, it gives off\nlight similar to the sun, thus\nblinding its foes."
},
{
"v": "black",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "white",
"e": "A new Pokémon species, rumored\nto be from the sun. It gives off\nlight while spinning."
},
{
"v": "black-2",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power,\nso it is strong during the daytime.\nWhen it spins, its body shines."
},
{
"v": "x",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power,\nso it is strong during the daytime.\nWhen it spins, its body shines."
},
{
"v": "y",
"e": "It absorbs solar energy during the day. Always\nexpressionless, it can sense what its foe is thinking."
},
{
"v": "omega-ruby",
"e": "Solrock is a new species of Pokémon that is said to have fallen\nfrom space. It floats in air and moves silently. In battle, this\nPokémon releases intensely bright light."
},
{
"v": "alpha-sapphire",
"e": "Sunlight is the source of Solrock’s power. It is said to possess\nthe ability to read the emotions of others. This Pokémon gives\noff intense heat while rotating its body."
},
{
"v": "sword",
"e": "When it rotates itself, it gives off light similar to\nthe sun, thus blinding its foes."
},
{
"v": "shield",
"e": "Solar energy is the source of its power, so it is\nstrong during the daytime. When it spins, its\nbody shines."
}

white-2 is at the top for some reason.
For some species the order actually got fixed example Kingdra

Steps to Reproduce:

  1. Fetch Pokemon-species for any of the randomly bugged pokemon-species pokemon-species/solrock , pokemon-species/meloetta etc.
  2. The order for game versions is disturbed.

Activity

  1. changed the title [-]Some of the Pokemon Species flavor_text_entries are not in chronological order.[/-] [+]Some of the `Pokemon-Species` `flavor_text_entries` are not in chronological order.[/+] on Apr 13, 2026
  2. jemarq04 commented on Apr 13, 2026

    @jemarq04
    Member

    This is because the entries in the CSV files are not created in order of games/generations. You added a comment on the new XD encounters PR about this, but to have 'ordered' it properly we would've had to go back and insert 100+ entries earlier in the file, meaning thousands of IDs would need to be updated including any references to them in other files. This would be incredibly bug-prone, and would make PR review a nightmare.

    An alternative to smaller endpoints would be to introduce an order field, as has been done in some of our endpoints (i.e. pokemon). However, for something like encounters, this would once again be very difficult to maintain.

    I'm not sure that there is a way to specify endpoints in a certain order, so it would be the role of whatever script queries the API to sort it in the desired order. If you're looking through the pages manually, I think searching for the version/game/generation manually isn't unreasonable.

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