Note- While much lore from the time of Generation 1 presents Air as male, because of Air being assigned the female gender when transferred to Generation 2, where genders were first introduced, Air is referred to as a female in this article.
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| Nickname(s) | "Air Jordan", "Air", "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" | |||||
| Pokémon Species | Lapras | |||||
| Level | 31 (Gen 1), 77 (Gen 2), 88 (Gen 5.5) | |||||
| Status | Active | |||||
| Attacks | Confuse Ray, Mist, Surf, Strength | |||||
| Gender | ♀ (Gen 2 transfer)
♂ (Mt.Silver Battle) | |||||
AIIIIIIRRR, also known as "Air Jordan", "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", or simply as "Air", was a Lapras gifted to Red on 08d 22h 59m. She was present for the defeat of the Elite Four and Blue. She was the first Pokemon in Red's party to learn the ability SURF.
History[]
Air's Sprite designed by Hamigakimomo
During Red's attack on Silph Co while it was under Rocket control, Red managed to reach a man in the tower who was being held hostage. Upon his release, he graciously donated a Lapras to Red's cause, who was subsequently named AAIIRR.
While Air's combat ability remained low for the remainder of the game, she proved invaluable as an HM user for the team, possessing both Surf and Strength.
TPP Lore[]
Gen 1[]
In most lore depictions of Air, prior to the discovery that Air was female, she is said to be a prince, fitting in with the notion that Fonz was a king, and that they had joined Lord Helix on his quest out of a sense of duty.
She was also regarded a prophet by the Followers of Old Amber.
Air quickly became underleveled as compared to the rest of the party, and soon did not find much use in battles, although due to being a fan-favorite as well as the fear of the PC after Bloody Sunday, Air remained in Red's party. Air's greatest contribution to the party was her ability to use SURF. After the accidental evolution of Eevee into The False Prophet when it was intended that Eevee be evolved into a Vaporeon for the purpose of learning Surf, Air became the next choice to learn the move (although part of the community wanted to get a Lapras to teach Surf to very early on).
Gen 2[]
Air appeared with the rest of Red's final team on Mt. Silver at the end of the Gen 2 playthrough, though due to technical restrictions Air was assigned as male in Gen 2 when the ROM was hacked with Red's party. She was at a considerably higher level at this point. Some lore points to her having spent the three years between the end of Red's journey and the start of AJ's training on top of the mountain.
Different interpretations have Red's Pokemon dead after the final battle with AJ, while others say that they were just defeated, and went about their ways after the final confrontation.
Name[]
Due to the erratic nature of the stream's inputs, the Lapras' name was accidental, but player's quickly took on to calling her Air. Soon variations of this name rose, including Air Jordan, in which she was often pictured with a basketball or with her head on NBA legend Michael Jordan's body, and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air after the popular nineties television show starring Will Smith.
Trivia[]
- After the save file was avaliable for download, some users traded the team over to second generation games. It was discovered that AIIIIIIRRR was actually female. Because Pokemon's Generation I has no gender at all, Pokemon being transferred into a Generation II game had genders assigned based on certain stats.
- Humorously, the Lapras that Red had in Twitch Plays Pokemon Crystal was male. This was due to technical limitations.
- This, combined with complaints about the way Generation II assigns gender, has led to some debate as to if Air is considered male or female.
- Humorously, the Lapras that Red had in Twitch Plays Pokemon Crystal was male. This was due to technical limitations.