Magikarp Pokedex Error?

Question

Here is magikarps pokedex entry for Pokemon heartgold and gold versions:

An underpowered, pathetic Pokémon. It may jump high on rare occasions, but usually not more than seven feet.

Ok, yeah that's reasonable. Now let's take a look at the black/white entries:

A Magikarp living for many years can leap a mountain using Splash. The move remains useless, though.

Leap a mountain?! Well, duh, there is a big difference between 7 feet and a whole mountain! Furthermore, jumping over something that huge is practically impossible!

Comments

could be a tiny 7ft mountain

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This is a bit like ho-oh who shines with 'all the colours of the rainbow'.
Nice try gamefreak, he's just a big red pigeon

Answer 1

I am guessing they mean it in a term like leaping like a salmon. Like jumping up a mountain. Everytime they jump they try not to be washed down by a stream. This was also shown in an anime. So they don't leap over an entire mountain at once, but they leap 7 feat eachtime before they reach the peak of the mountain. Then again not all magikarp can accomplish this, only magikarp that have lived for long can do this.

hope this helped

Answer 2

I noticed this too, and here's how I reason it.

'but usually not more than seven feet.' So normally, it jumps 7 feet at most.

'A Magikarp living for many years can leap a mountain' I read that as, a Magikarp that is older COULD leap a mountain. That doesn't mean it will.

See what I mean? Possiblities VS Normality.

Answer 3

This is a reference to an old Chinese folk take of which the magikarp line is most likely based. It states that an elderly and experienced goldfish (magikarp) will turn into a dragon (gyarados) upon climbing a large waterfall (or I suppose in this variation a mountain). Also, multiple pokedex entries state that magikarp were more powerful in the past. For example the red and blue pokedex states
"In the distant past, it was somewhat stronger than the horribly weak descendants that exist today."
So, it is possible that in ancient times, magikarp was powerful enough to clear a mountain in a single bound, but that nowadays, most can only muster seven feet at a time.

Answer 4

it probually means bounce wich is one of its other moves